Steam engines are no more, will they be in model railroading???

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’ve been wondering this for awhile now. I know the steam engines have came and gone, but what do you think in model railroading? I was thinking will the younger age people will keep the steam going in the near future or will they focus on the newer era.

I model 80s - now, and thats due to I don’t know much about the steam era. Also because thats what I grew up around. I guess thou that some people will choose to do steam rather than new cars/engines/etc.

Not trying to start a fight or get the topic locked…Just wondering what everybody else thinks.

2

I don’t think steam era modeling will ever completly disappear, there is so much information available out there now that it’s fairly easy if you want to do the research to model a time period even if you weren’t alive then. Like you I also model the late 80’s and early 90’s because that’s what I remember as well but for guys like us there are always steam excursions as an excuse to run that cool steam engine we just had to have.

3

I don’t think it will ever completely die out, as there will be those people and history buffs who will enjoy doing the research on the transition era.

Personally, I model the 1990’s/early 2000’s (just read modern era), as I’m a teen and this is what I’m growing up with.

4

I model HO back in the fifties on a small 4x8 pike and run nine ( not on track at same time ) 1st generation diesels. I am planning on buying a couple steamers ( maybe 2-6-2…have some 18" curves ) mainly because I do remember steam as I grew up with it. Seems there is nothing so sweet sounding as a Big Boy blowing it’s whistle. Although my pike is too small to run a Big Boy I have a UP Big Boy whistle sound for my e-mail. love it. [:D]

Anyway I kind of hope the steam trend will continue with the scale model railroad modelers of the future. time will tell.

5

The diesels today are really interesting and I tend to take more pictures now than ever due to the digital cameras. I don’t model the new era but it is great to watch and I would expect most of the newer modelers to model those diesels. I have several friends that model the 1970 to 1985 era and that is just as interesting.

For us who used to visited the roundhouse almost every week and spend time on those locomotives around the yard, steam will always be era we like. It was a time where so many people worked for the railroads and they were usually friendly and like to show off the locomotives to visitors. To watch the coal and watering process while the locomotive was lubed and the fire cleaned was simply amazing. On really cold days in Illinois, we would watch on the downwind side near the firebox. It was not like today’s railroads that have been sued until they do not want you any place near the tracks.

We certainly cannot tell the future, but it has been almost fifty years since that winter 59 and 60 when the N&W and the IC ran those last main line miles with steam and we are still buying them today in almost every scale.

CZ

6

I don’t think it is necessary to have lived in the steam era to have a fascination for it. I was born in 1951 but have almost no memories of steam locomotives other than excursions that I have either rode or railfanned. I believe I only saw one steam locomotive in regular service and that was at a distance during a car trip around 1957. I had toy trains as a kid and they were mostly steam but when I got back into the hobby in the late 1970s, I had no intention of modeling steam. First generation diesels were what I remembered and that is what I intended to model. I loved F-units. Still do. Then I bought my first steamer almost on impulse. From day one, I was hooked. I had to have both steam and diesels on my layout which dictated a transition era layout. Steam locos, even model ones, seem to be alive. You can see the moving parts. The transition era remains one of the most popular, if not the most popular era still being modeled today. I don’t see that changing even as younger modelers get into to he hobby.

7

The big engines around in the 1980’s were U30C’s (gone), C30-7’s (virtually gone), SD40-2’s (pretty musch pushed into secondary service) and SD50’s (gone from a couple roads). GP7’s, GP18’s, GP20’s, GP30’s all 4 axle staples of the 1980’s are pretty much gone from many class 1’s, except for those that have been heavily rebuilt. Pretty much the only thing from the 1980’s still going strong are SD60’s (many sidelined by the recession) and C44-9’s and C44AC, SD70AC’s.

If you are modeling the 1980’s within 20 years the engines and half the cars on your layout will be obsolete. So which do you think people will still be modeling in 20 years SD50’s or steamers?

8

Pardon a slight rewording of your title:

Wooden warships are no more, will they be in model boatbuilding?

There are two points of similarity about the two statements.

The first is that the initial premise is erroneous. USS Constitution is still in commission. HMS Victory still exists. And those fire-breathing, smoke-belching assemblages of boilers and machinery at Steamtown, Strasburg, Orbisonia and lots of other places outside of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are definitely real - as are the innumerable stuffed and mounted steamers scattered all over the world.

The second is that, even after the prototypes were withdrawn from service, modelers continued an unabated interest in both sail-powered warships and steam locomotives of every possible vintage. It has been almost a century and a half since USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (ex-USS Merrimac) proved that the days of sails and wooden hulls were over. I would be willing to bet that there have been more models of USS Constitution built in the 21st century than models of both Monitor and Virginia combined. I am also willing to wager that more modelers worldwide build steam locomotive models than build their frequently bland electric and diesel replacements. Railroad modelers who don’t have room (or desire) to model railroads are more likely to produce a few exquisite steam locos than a few cookie-cut electrics or diesel-hydraulics.

Much closer to home, there will be steam locomotives on my layout as long as it exists - which may be longer than I exist.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - including the steam locomotives that ran there)

9

Robby,

I will go to the wall on this one: Steam will NEVER die out!

By the time I was born (1959), diesalization was pretty much in full swing, as there were not really many steamers left on the RRs. (Granted, there were a few that went into the 60s but these were an exception.) So, essentially, I didn’t grow up with steam either. However, I find steam VERY fascinating and intriguing because it is as much a “visual” technology as it is a valid one.

Steam (i.e. vaporized water), incidentally, has been around for a very long time. The potential for it was realized even as far back as Greek and Roman times.

To set the record straight, I do like diesels - especially early diesels. That’s why I model them on my 40’s NYC layout. They were a part of the emerging technology at the time and I like the way they look. Granted, diesels eventually made life easier (and cheaper) for the RRs in the maintenance side of things. They were also more efficient at what they did.

However, whether you grew up with them or not, steam has a nostalgic aspect to it most diesels generally lack. With steam, you get to see raw “power in motion” - i.e. the movement of pistons, rods, crank shafts, and linkages - all moving in synchronized motion and harmony with one another. It’s a thing of beauty. With diesels, all this is sadly hidden under a hood and mostly masked by the exterior of an internal combustion engine.

I’ve also heard engineers affectionately describe steam engines as something that “lived and breathed” and that had their own “personalities”. I think diesels may have, too - to a certain extent - but not to the same degree as steamers.

Albeit either G, O, S, HO, N, Z - or even 1:1 - I will say it again: Steam will NEVER die out! And you can quote me on that. [:)]

Tom

10

I think that steam engines will always be a part of model railroading.

  1. Steam engines with their rods, valve gear, domes, bell, whistle, feed water heater, etc are inherently fascinating. While I appreciate the diesels (and have some myself) the steam engine has an appeal for me that diesels never will match.

  2. Period modeling will always be with us. A number of folks model the 1800’s or the early 1900’s (1900-1914), and never saw them. There are few among us who remember the 1920’s and 1930’s yet there are many who model that time frame.

  3. Certain types of railroads such as narrow gauge, trolleys, interurbans primarily existed in the steam era. Modeling these usually means having some steam engines around.

So while modeling the diesel era will grow as more and more people have this as their only memory and and the diesel era becomes a larger proportion of railroad history, I think the steam engine will always be a part of model railroading just like sailing ships are part of ship modeling and bi planes are part of aircraft modeling.

Enjoy

Paul

11

At only 26 I’m very into steam. My plan is to have one unit of every steamer my RR used, 0-6-0’s, 2-6-2’s, 2-8-4’s, 4-6-2’s, and possibley 4-8-2’s. I also plan to add more as a collection such as 4-6-4’s both streamlined and none, 4-8-4 non streamlined, and of course the SP GS (shoot was it -4 or -5) war baby. It maybe all black but one of the most beautiful steamers ever made. I also wouldn’t mind having a UP Challenger in the all gray scheme, also very beautiful. I’m more into the 6 and 8 wheel steam than the bigger ones. Diesels will mostly be relegated to what my RR would use, however i would like to get the new Spectrum DD40X WITH SOUND.

12

If a hobby exists, and there is a solid core of history buffs in the hobby, someone will want to model the historical components. That means steam, including the old puffer-bellies.

As long as there is a solitary steam engine used for any purpose, someone will find them sufficiently compelling that he/she will know they want one in scale…even if just a static model for them to admire. This applies to steam locomotives as well.

That said, I can be reasonably assured that each successive new type of railroad conveyance and traction machine will earn fans. That means, if the numbers remain the same relative to the growing population, the ratio of steam fans is likely to shrink a bit, but I can’t say how much. If the hobby numbers grow substantially as the population rises, then the absolute numbers of those who may fancy steam enough to keep it a commercially viable market is likely to remain…as a niche market.

-Crandell

13

Robby,

when I was born in 1956, steam was still the number one traction in Germany. I grew up with steam trains and in those early years, I was much more fascinated to watch those new and shiny electrics and diesels that entered service. In the mid 1960´s, steam started to decline rapidly and all of a sudden, seeing a steam train became a rare occasion. As a teenage boy, I started to chase the steam trains, armed with the simple camera I had in those days. By 1977, steam service officially ended in (West-) Germany.

With the end of steam operation in real life, it started to “flower” in small scale. Manufacturers found it more profitable to develop new steam locos than to market the umpteenth version of a new electric loco, which the competitors already had in the market. This leaves us now with a wide choice of steam locos from all eras and roads. If you model German railroads, you are in a much better position than if you are going for US prototype, when talking of steam locos (don´t look at the prices, though).

Steam will continue to fascinate people - much more than any diesel or electric will ever be able to do. Steam resembles a certain “animalistic” source of power and those who “master” that power earn a lot more respect than those who just turn a wheel to make things go… Just watch a little kid seeing a steam loco for the first time…

Without doubt, steam will remain the spice of model railroading!

14

There’s also the gain operationally and in space with going with a time that forces steam power. Many more industries with smaller freight cars is pretty appealing. And there’s a variety of operational aspects that are brought into the fold that way. And types of cars.

I mean, the layout I’m building has a brewery. The loading dock can fit three 57’ mechanical reefers or a pair of those massive 70’+ reefers. If it was 1935 instead of 2005, I could fit four or five 36’ reefers and also need an ice platform not far away. And everything came into all those factories (and they werent all abandoned), including the people.

15

Baby Boomers who seem to be the largest single group who buy and include steam engines on their layouts will soon be shuffling off to a distant rail head someplace else. The age grouping immediately behind the “boomers” will possibly be, for whatever reason, less interested in steam locomotives and will be looking for manufactures to fill gaps in their diesel fleets.My guess is that while there may always be some kind of interest in modeling steam locomotives this reduced interest in steamers may not offer manufactures the nessesary opportunities to continue producing them.Only time will tell I suppose, perhaps at some time within the next ten years or so brass may turn full circle and steam locomotives that are road specific may only be available in limited quantities for dedicated steam enthusiasts and will cost vast sums of money to buy. Then again, there may well be an oversupply of steam locomotives hitting the used model market as the families of baby boomers place once cherished steamers on sale.

16

My guess is that there will always be some kind of interest in the steam era locomotives----a few of us up here have incorporated an excuse—er-- story about some local eccentrics who opened up steam preservation societies and the like— on their layouts and are getting their kids more interested in that era as well.

Besides, it is a good excuse for those slightly out of time collections we’re building up.[:P]

17

I don’t think steam will ever fade away in the model railroading world. At the shows I attend the steam loco’s that either my club or others run are the most popular, well second most next to my GO Train. Nostalga is everywhere, just look at the new Dodge Challenger, Ford Mustang or the Chevy Camaro. Those are direct throwbacks to 69 and 70 for the Dodge. People enjoy the past and want to relive it or revive it. That’s why I think steam will never vanish from the model railroading world.

18

We model the steam era for the same reason you model another point in time that is not the present. We take a liking to that era.

19

I believe it will become minority modeling in the years to come…Even though I vividly recall the last of main line steam in the 50s and even owned some steamers but,I recall the 50/60 era all to well and don’t want to model the decay of that era.

On the other side of the coin I have these dark thoughts about changing eras and modeling the 50s so I can have a steamer or two…[:O]

20

Robby:

Hard to predict, I think. I grew up during the last of steam and that’s what I really remember with a great deal of affection. I frankly don’t think I’d have become a train buff (or for that matter, a model railroader) had I grown up in the diesel era. Trains would simply be another way to move a lot of material from one place to the other, LOL!

As to the ‘romance’ of steam, I think it’s still viable. I can remember the various “Railfairs” here in Sacramento at the State Railroad Museum, with still active steam being run in from all over the place. It’s what attracted the crowds of all ages, from Old Farts like me down to kiddies being pushed around in strollers.

When you can hardly see a big UP Challenger because of all of the crowds surrounding it just waiting for it to start up and run back and forth on a mile of track, you know that there’s a certain fascination that just doesn’t seem to be going away, at least not for a long time.

Same thing with Model Railroad shows. The display layouts that have a steamer pulling a freight or passenger train are the ones packed with crowds. There’s a certain intrinsic fascination with watching something that has ALL of its moving parts exposed instead of encased in a hood. Never mind that in reality, steam needed a LOT more attention and TLC than diesel or electric, the fascination is still there.

I think as we older modelers pass on and newer modelers take our place, steam modeling will probably become more of a ‘fringe’ area, but I don’t see it dying out completely.

And for that matter, who’s to say what the future of 1:1 railroading will bring as far as motive power. Who knows? Maybe someone will actually be able to come up with a coal-fired turbine locomotive that actually WORKS, LOL, and r