Have you ever noticed, there are hardly any trains around Christmas time? I mean, not much merchandise for real railfans. It seems that most everyone I have talked to has never heard of a ‘Modle Train’. It is always a toy train. Why is that?
Railroads built America, without them, the west would not have developed, and I think that
it is about time that someone started to promote our hobby. Yes I am a part of MR’s Greatest
Hobby on Earth, but that still just doesn’t do our hobby justice. What do you think?
Ummm, well that depends on who you’re talking to. You should probably post your query as a separate thread on one of the MODEL RAILROADER sites. As a baby boomer, I certainly agree that toy (or to be more charitable, “entry-level”) model RR kits are far harder to come by than in the pre-Hot Wheels 1950s and 60s.
i resent that[:O]. Depending on who you ask, I’m still just a kid… and I DO want trains under the tree for christmas[wow][yeah][:D][tup].
I’ve seen all kinds of trains around at christmastime (granted in hobby shops) but just this past christmas, Lionel had a set in Target stores. I think that they were also in Walmart as well… sure they might not have been the $2000+ brass precision-engineered-like-a-swiss-watch locomotives that “serious modelers” buy, but it is a good starting point - I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the “Well, I was when Santa brought me my first train for christmas…” story from the older people here (i envy you guys).
Now, I don’t have much experience to speak from, but IMO people are wanting to “slow down” again. In seeing some of the current happenings around here, and hearing people talk, it seems that many people want to almost go back to the way (certain) things were in the '50s and '60s. It might not be much… but maybe the first steps for this “slowing down” are rooted in the activities that can/will bring families closer together again. I mean, I see some of my peers whose parents are… distant… from them, and you can kind of tell that they want something that will bring them closer to their parents…
edit:
I was rereading this, and it might be a little confising/misdirected (ah, the joys of caffeine and posting at all hours). What I mean overal