I have noticed a lack of steam locomotives from vendors, and, articles in MRR magazine regarding steam locomotives. I guess this is not really unexpected. The last steam locomotives ran over 55 years ago, which means that many of the old modelers are dying off, those who actually SAW these big brutes run and loved to model them so much. Except for tourist railroads which still run steam, many modelers probably were never close to a real steam engine. I see a steady increase in sales adds and catalogs for all the various Diesel locomotives. This begs the question: Are model steam locomotives fading into the sunset to join the old modelers?
I’m not sure there is less steam is there? If you ask me we now have more reliable,affordable excellent running steam locos to choose from then we ever have. Non-brass HO and On30 scale anyway…
A quick search at Walthers of 'locomotives/traction and keyword “steam” came up with 16 manufacturers and 760 versions/road name of a steamer.
I believe that, as time passes, and the age of steam recedes, there will be fewer modellers interested in them. I doubt that the’ll fade to a purely custom market any time in the next 100 years, but their availablity in RTR will be a problem within about 30 years. Comparatively, I mean…we are in the good times with quality and quantity, even if some desperately wanted/needed steamers have not shown any promise in production.
That said, I can’t say I have noticed a falling-off of either availability or advertizing. It seems to be pretty good all around except for the P2K Heritage series that Walthers took over from Life Like. Those very pretty engines suffered a bit of negative press because they were light pullers. They aren’t so popular these days, or so I sense.
MTH is aggressive in HO steam (who could argue otherwise…), BLI is trying to hang on, Athearn still offers steam and have even seen the need to shop for a better decoder for their sound versions. Hornby/Rivarossi marketed a very nice H-8 Allegheny just two years ago. I may be wrong, but they also renewed their Big Boy I believe. And, of course, Bachmann’s Spectrum line seems to be doing well, although there have been some iffy qualty issues with some of the recent offerings. And there is the accompanying advertizing for those distributors and manufacturers.
You may be right, but I can’t say I can agree at the moment.
-Crandell
Bull Frog Snot fixes that, the P2K 0-8-0 I just purchased runs amazingly well, and now pulls as it should.
Your not alone. I’ve noticed the same thing. I just recently got back into model railroading after about a 20 year break from it and I did notice that there seems to be more releases of diesel engines then steam. I would guess that it has to do with manufacturing costs. A diesel having less moving parts then a steam engine with full valve gear as well as being able to use the same tooling for the shell with the substitution of misc. added pieces to cover a larger variety of roads reduces production costs. A lot of the steam locomotives were either built by the railroad themselves or to the company’s specs and therefore were unique to that particular railroad.
One thing I also noticed regarding the steam models is the lack of smaller steam locos that will run on some of the tighter radii that most modelers have. Not everybody is fortunate enough to have wide, sweeping curves to run that Big Boy or cab forward on. I had asked one of the leading manufacturers at one of the major shows last year if there was any plans to build some of the smaller steam locos for those of us radius challenged modelers and was told that there were some smaller locos in the works but they wouldn’t say what they were contemplating on building. Guess we’ll have to wait and see what they release.
Ive seen that two. I dont think its older modelers because Im 13 and I model deep steam in 1895, I think its just trends. What you just said ran a chill through my spine. If thats so, I really hope I dont live to see it.
Yeah, but did you Search diesel? I got 8385 items for sale.
I think as we older modelers ‘fade into the sunset’ that there will probably be a lesser emphasis on steam, unless newer modelers take to the ‘transition’ era. However, I don’t really see a lesser emphasis on steam locos at this point.
I agree with Crandell, that P2K has lessened their steam output over the past year, and I agree with him that it probably could be due to their poor pulling power. Though they were beautifully detailed, one wants to see a steam engine on a model railroad PULLING a train (without Bullfrog Snot to assist, LOL!).
However, BLI and MTH seem to be rather healthy in their steam offerings, even if their steam seems to be ‘specialized’ for specific roads in some cases (say, N&W, UP, Pennsy). Bachmann Spectrum offers some smaller steam that is more ‘generic’, and easily “kit-bashed” into more specific models. I have heard of quality control issues with the Spectrum line, however the several locomotives from them have proven to be smooth runners and quite nice haulers for their size.
For me, being still a DC modeler, and modeling a specific railroad, my best bet is–and always has been–brass. Right now, with the economy being the way it is, I see entire brass collections going onto the market at prices that are either equal or below the prices for today’s highly detailed plastic locomotives. I’ve been picking good used brass right and left, in the past several years, some of them WAY below their original market value price. And with a bit of tinkering, brass can be made to run like Swiss watches. Certainly as smooth as some of the current plastic, with a little work (brass is EXTREMELY easy to work on!).
But frankly, I think that there are quite a few very good current steam models on the market, and more seem to be appearing (even if they have to be pre-ordered on many o
My take on this is that steam itself attracts “steam people” no matter what age they are. I’ve seen younger (20’s/30’s) club members attracted to steam simply because they’d rather see driving wheels and rods moving like a fine Swiss watch even though they haven’t seen a wind up watch most of their lives. If their focus isn’t going to be on containers/intermodal, and other modern railroading industries, they still get lust for a pretty N&W J or a Big Boy or Challenger, etc. even if they run diesel too. Some young people model based on what they’d like to see running on a layout rather than an era to as a starting point. True, (old) Bowser, Penn, IHC (recently) have vanished but BLI, Proto, Athearn, MTH, Spectrum/Bachmann, etc. etc. are going strong. (Hopefully BLI will be able to remain strong with MTH’s legal wranglings). Don’t forget Lionel, some S Gauge manufacturers etc. are all still producing steam. I think it’s likely to stick around for some time to come yet. As prototype experiments with new technology in steam pop up from time to time (the UK) I think people will check out “older” steam.
This is all true and yet most of the buildings, trucks, automotobiles and even people seem to mostly be based on the steam era. I guess they haven’t caught up. Go figure
Another perspective is interests are cyclical. I was born after WWII, so my memories of steam are few. Likewise I have no memories of P-51 Mustangs and B17s but I still am fascinated by them and their RC versions.
I really believe steam is alive and well in the hobby as I would venture to say the most common era of modeling is the transition era so one can run both Steam and first generation diesels. I think the modern equipment just gets a little more press then the old iron horses do. After all some details aside to the average guy a steam engine is just something he see’s in video’s, book or museums but a diesel is something he can see and relate to every day. The great thing about the hobby is if you really like both modern equipment and Steam locomotives why can’t you have both? Not necessarily run both at the same time but tell me you don’t see new Dash 9’s or SD60’s or any other new type diesel pulling a train through a town say out in western Pa. or Ohio or anywhere USA that time forgot. The locomotives and the cars they pull change but the buildings and towns they run through change very little over the years. At a modeling clinic a gentlemen pointed out the obvious to everyone in the room by saying go home and look at the buildings on the main st. of your own town and see what has changed over the years. Not too much if anything usually the store fronts just get a face lift but the rest stays the same.
I need only point out that the Transition Era is, by far, the most modeled time frame in model railroading and that it has been consistantly so for the past 50 years, with no sign of any decline what so ever.
While the range and number of diesels coming onto the market in the past few years has indeed been extraordinary, the same has been true of steam locomotives relative to what was available say 15 years ago. Without question, there has been a wider selection of quality steam locomotives available in HO over the past few years than at any given time in the hobby’s entire history. I’m afraid that the diesel enthusiasts’ impression that diesels are taking over the hobby has been voiced repeatedly for at least the last 20-25 years, yet it is just as mistaken now as it was two decades ago.
CNJ831
Dick,I recall the the last years of the steam locomotive and yet am a die in the wool diesel fan even tho’ when I was in my teens I had brass steam locomotives and built a Penn-Line 2-8-0 when I was 10.My dad would check my progress and either smile when I had things right or grin and shake his head when I was going at wrong.
Of course here lately I been wanting a steam locomotive.Why? I don’t know.Really I don’t.
Here is a 13 year old example of why the theory that “You had to live in the time of steam engines to be attracted to them” doesn’t fly.
Keep that firebox hot John
[tup]
I’m not sure there’s less interest than like someone else said – manufacturing costs vs sales. Many of the lower price steamers used to be kits like Mantua and Roundhouse. Don’t see much kits of any kind anymore. Yet a well detailed steam engine in RTR has to cost more than the same diesel to make due to all the add on parts. Also, it appears & yes I know appearances can be deceiving, more recent steam entries have been for larger steam. Yet I suspect that much of the buying public ( as opposed to the hard core model railroaders) is still stuck with small layouts and tight curves that can’t support larger steam. And personally I would like to see more options in small steam and tank engines. But with batch production it can be several years between releases of 2-8-0s. So it will appear like there are less steam available.
As for age, it’s interesting that my preference is for diesel switchers and 1st gen road switchers yet my 10 year old son is a hard core steam fan.
Doesn’t look like it to me. Some old manfacturer’s of steam locomotive kits have either disappeared or stop making the kits. But then there are new RTR manufacturers to offset that. The percentage of layouts with steam covered in the model railroad press has gone down, but that’s natural since a number of layouts model the 70’s or later. But just as billboard reefers remain in good supply, so will steam.
Enjoy
Paul
One thing to consider is that we’re getting to the point that the bulk of the modelable timeline is no longer steam. Yeah, there were Civil War railroads and such, but I think for the most part if someone is building a model railroad its going to be from 1915 to 2010. So steam was around for 35 years of that time, really, and diesel was king for the next 60.
You are not using the same search terms. Geared Steam apparently looked at H0 scale only (without specifying that in his post). IVRR used “All scales”.
In H0 scale about 760 steam variants, and about 4000 diesel variants (many of which are the same engines in different colors).
Walthers numbers doesn’t include all manufactureres - e.g Athearn is not distributed by Walthers.
In either case, there are plenty of both steam and diesel engines available both in N, H0 and O scale. No need to bemoan the imminent death of model steam locomotives.
Smile,
Stein
Perhaps, but steam locomotives are inherently more interesting than diesel, just as windjammers are more interesting than steam or motor ships. When it comes to aircraft, piston engine planes are far more interesting than jets. A P-51D is a way cooler airplane than an F-22.
If you really want to get technical about it, electric locomotives have been around continuously since before 1915, so if it’s a case of what’s been around longer, then we all ought to be hanging catenary. It’s also appropriate given that our trains are electric.
Now, if only SP had electrified Donner instead of buying Mallets…
Andre