that’s pretty awesome lion, as for myself my first couple years in the world we didn’t live by the tracks but when we moved to where we are now I remember seeing a BN diesel at night the moon was bright enough that I could see the logo(I think that’s when I fell in love with the BN and trains, thomas came after the real thing weird isn’t it?). As for the primary topic of the thread, there’s plenty of people my age, slightly younger, and slighty older that all own model trains. Is the hobby dying, no it’s just in competition with things that are entertaining at first but soon loose their appeal. before I got my model trains, I’d play video games a lot. Now, it’s the other way around I mess with my trains more than I do my poor xbox.
It was probably stated before that it was often a money and space issue reasons are why many don’t have model trains. to be honest every time I read a Model railroader or model railroad craftsman, I wished I had the money and space for trains. after my first year of being employed I took a chance, and bought an N scale trainset. That grew from a small oval, a steam loco, 8 or 9 cars to a full on fleet of varied rolling stock and locos.
If the worry is this great about the state of the hobby why not have manufacturers lower prices on train sets enough to were it’s appealing to parents/ beginners to not feel like they just bought something they will regret. Have Model railroader and other publications like that in school librarys, open tours of club layouts let 'em run a train, tell 'em about the train they’re running.
l. Hands on experiences that are designed to be fun.
Food. Have refreshments and a “bull session” to discuss what they liked/ were bored by.
Meaningful repetition so that they can correct and learn from mistakes.
A positive, helpful, reassuring attitude.
Ways to relate their MRing to peers. Either by keeping it “secret” if peer pressure/bullying is an issue or by starting a youth “club” or round robin repeat visits. One exposure, no matter how “turned on” they get will not last more than a few days with everything else going on in their lives.
In older grades, having a co-ed tour, club, one day thing (time savers with pizza?) will keep the kids just discovering the opposite sex coming and at the same time encourage girls to learn some skills often denied them, mechanically, scientifically or artistically.
ONE visit, one day will do nothing. Repeated exposure to the hobby at least for a few weeks time will ensure much greater success of kids remaining, even mildly, interested over a longer period of time.
None of this will happen magically. Hoping the kids will discover ANYTHING without bringing it to them and having adults who like and understand kids (and have infinite patience and ability to discipline) are absolutely essential. Herman, who is a MMR but can’t sequence instruction or deal with wise acres who are trying to impress their buddies won’t succeed.
I’ve done all of the above over the years, while teaching K-12 and it is definitely possible to “save” the hobby this way, but it would have to be done in a large scale, consistent way. NMRA could design a “curriculum” and materials and try harder to sell it to schools, youth groups, etc. Even the teen MR column is long gone. How can they expect to build upon or preserve a hobby if they don’t pursue this necessary (in my view) avenue?</
After reading the above, I’ll just agree with zugmann - “am I a true modeler? Who knows and who cares.”
I really could care less if I meet somones definition of modeler or get a badge with a “highly esteemed moniker” from the codgers club, seriously. If we have to conform to someone elses definition of some label while they look down their noses at us, it takes all the fun out of the hobby and the hobby looses it’s purpose.
The slogan on the front of Model Railroader magazine for many years said it all: "MODEL RAILROADING IS FUN. I’m not in this hobby to please others or get a “real” modelers approval or affirmation. I certainly hope most of the
Very well said and completely agree. What I have found is that when I open up my house to kids and their parents, it is great fun for me to watch them run trains and just generally have a good time. Do we have derailsments? - of course. Do I get upset when something goes a little haywire? - no. I always think it would have happened anyway and I look at it as way to find and fix issues that I may have not known before. So, I look at it as being beneficial to me.
I will relate a story that happened to me just yesterday. I was the speaker for my own Rotary club and, of course, I talked about model railroading. I brought along several props including 3 engines from my layout, some unfinished structures, some scenery materials and I used a series of pictures that I had taken over several weeks of one corner of my layout as the scenery was being built. When I was done, one of our members said her husband was a collector of early Lionel trains and two other people came up and said they remember how they got started in the hobby when they were kids and the encouragement they received from their parents. One of these guys has a layout and he also opens it up to youth groups on a regular basis.
My point is this - first, I had no clue that we have a collector in my club and there are active modelers who open up their layouts to kids. This isn’t an indictment os anyone who doesn’t but after reading and posting to this thread earlier, I was struck by what my 30 minute presention turned up in about 28 people.
If you don’t care, why even ask the question “am I a true modeler”? Also, I was only defining what I think a modeler is and not looking down my nose at anyone!
You guys who are buyers of RTR, are in the drivers seat in this hobby, right now! Kits are becoming less and less available. The writing is on the wall as to the direction the hobby is headed.
Although there is some truth in the last paragraph I wrote in that post, much of what I said is “Tongue in Cheek”. At least, c
Well, returning to the original topic of getting youth active in model railroading, you sure won’t do it by holding a kid up to the standard of “true modeler”.
If you tell a kid that he needs to buy kits and assemble them and scratch build structures, it ain’t gonna happen.
You have a big enough challenge getting kids today to get interested in the hobby without imposing such strict standards.
One way to get kids involved in model railroading is to donate magazines to schools, doctors offices etc. My friend, the infamous ex forum member TA462 used to buy magazines and donate them just to spark an interest in the hobby. Thats how I actually got interested in the hobby, my kid brought one of Dave’s magazines home from school one day.
Very good point Rich! Good enough that I’m going to change my opinion on this topic. I guess if the young folks we’re trying to attract to this hobby have no interest in building models, then it doesn’t matter to me if they become involved.
Well, I think that it is a 2-step process. Get the kids interested and involved with the hobby itself, and then get them interested in building models. What is that old adage? You have to learn to crawl before you learn to walk.
When I flew R/C planes you built your own, usually from kits. I built a few kits and then started building my own scratch builds. You go to the airfield today and see an awful lot of ready to fly out of the box planes and helicopters racing around the sky.
I for one am glad to see the kids there. But I wonder how much more satisfaction they would get out of their first airplanes if they had built them. And yes the people that stick with the hobby for any length of time usually start building their own.
I came to the hobby, not untypical of most of us back in the 50s & 60s, from starting out with building models. My interest in trains came after I built a bunch of planes, cars and ships. At that same time I also built flying model airplane kits and got involved in R/C in 68, the year I graduated from high school and went to work and could finally afford an R/C set-up. I was heavily involved in R/C and built kits and scratch built airplanes. I’m still doing R/C; but, like Batman said, almost everyone buys almost ready to fly (ARF) airplanes and very few build them from kits anymore, similar to Model Railroading, where RTR has taken over. First and foremost I am a builder of models, operating; or, even just running my trains is secondary.
Not being a young person anymore, I can only relate to what drew me into the hobby and that is from building models, buying Model Railroader Magazine and seeing the wonderful work being done in this hobby .
unfortunately the only kit’s in N are building ones, RTR is all we have. frankly some of the stuff that is being said is others opinion’s but it bugs me. RTR is taking over because people don’t have the time to build kits, it took me a month to build my three stall roundhouse. with work, school, and other activities taking up time. new model railroaders may not have the time many of you gentlemen have and they may never get that time either.
so much for model railroading for fun, just like so much for playing some of my video games for fun. then you guys wonder why younger people don’t want to join, because of the standards of others. I’m sorry guys but I’m afraid I’m just going to have to blunt, it struck a nerve. I wonder why SUX left, the more I think about it the more I regret saying what I had said in his final thread.
Some very good points about getting young people into the hobby.
Here, a neigbour has put together a rather good operating session ‘program’ together for the neighbourhood adults as well as the kids…and we seen something like a 3 fold interest in the hobby as such
This thread has grown tiresome and stale in my view.
Part of the problem is that the OP launched this thread with the cited statement and then didn’t stick around to manage the thread which I always feel that an OP has the responsibiility to do. So, we don’t even have any idea what the OP would do to get youth active in railroading.
The simple fact of the matter is that youth today is not interested in model railroading, certainly not to the extent that kids were interested in the 1950s or 1960s or even in the 1970s or 1980s. And why should kids today be interested in model railroading? Times change. New hobbies and new interests take over.
And, quite frankly, at least in my view, the introduction and promotion of RTR over kits and scratch building has nothing to do with the decline in interest in model railroading among the younger