In the near term, I think the hobby will thrive. Baby boomers, who I am guessing are the core of the of the hobby participants are retiring and have the disposable income to keep up demand. Long term is another matter. As we begin to tip over, are there going to be enough younger model railroaders to take our place? Forgive me if I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about that.
I keep hearing that the LHS is going bye-bye. I’ve been hearing that for years but the anecotal evidence says otherwise. Although I moved out of Columbus, OH in 2001, I still frequent the LHSes there. There are three LHSes within walking distance of each other in north Columbus. The Train Station has been there since the 1970s and Hobbyland goes back to the 1960s. Robbie’s Hobbies opened a few years ago.
We sometimes forget that for many LHSes, model railroading is just a portion of their business. While some are exclusively or primarily RR oriented, others carry lines that are more appealing to younger hobbyists who could keep them in business even if the RR market declines. Maybe they will devote less space to RR, but that doesn’t mean they will abandon it altogether. As long as there is demand, someone will be selling it.
We all know that any and every decline in the hobby and the price increases and yada yada yada has been caused by the demise of the BB line. Geez, how many times are we going to have this philosophical discussion?
Mike pretty well nailed it. I don’t know whether the hobby in general will decline. I really only care whether MY hobby declines. I hope to continue with it for a long time. For now, there are lots of new folks who come on the forums with questions every day. The hobby will continue to exist as long as any hobbyists are around to pursue it. Beyond that, is it sensible to worry about it?
Ah, good morning. Another round of wailing, teeth gnashing, hair pulling and rending of clothes. Dire predictions made here. It’s all made in China, costs too much, breaks too easy, rewards instant gratification and robs good ol’ Murican workers of a decent life. Maybe it’s all true. So what.
I’ve got a broken office calculator out in the shed. Got a little motor, a mess of gears, axles, and even some little guide wheels for the ink ribbon that have flanges. There’s a bunch of steel in it’s chassis, and a transformer to run it with. It’s keyboard got fubared and that’s why it got tossed. I shagged it from the trash. A hacksaw, files, hand drills, some strip steel and wood ties with slots for the strips to act as track and I got a home made railroad. Yes, it wouldn’t be instant, easy or look “realistic”. But that didn’t stop the early guys. They wanted to railroad. We want to railroad. Are we not men? If it all (the commercial side of the hobby) ended tomorrow, would our railroading. I think not.
Carry on gents…I shall enjoy the discussion as always
From what i have read, I could be the youngest in the hobby here to speak. I started my own layout when i was 15 and now 17 i am finishing my first of hopefully many layouts. I hope to even start a club where i live some day. I have always been facinated by looking at others model railroads and seeing the trains wander through tretorous scenery. Operation of such trains was only a dream at the time but a basement that belonged on an episode of Hoarders posed the perfect oportunity for me. If i cleaned the entire basement spotless, i could have some funding to start my first layout. After going through several hundred garbage bags, and 48 man hours of work, i was fortunate enough to start my layout. Two years later, here i am. I only have one other friend that has a small layout and nearly nobody has an interest in trains it seems like. As for the hobby, yes, unfortunately it is becoming a rich mans hobby. People starting off dont have extra money and the railroad doesnt have an impact on nearly as many families as it did “back in the day”. Unfortunately, i dont think we have enough people like me to keep the hobby going. Its much easier to sit on a couch and be entharlled by a phone than to learn how to make benchwork and wire turnouts. I hope i am as wrong as can be.
The cost-as-a-barrier-to-entry thing is hilarious to me.
Price out getting going with any hobby.
A couple years ago, I got hired at my first real grown up job (I was 29 at the time) and I decided I could finally afford more than one hobby. I’d always wanted to play hockey so I started to get equipment. I knew it was pretty expensive. I never finished getting all my equipment together because it was even more expensive than I’d estimated and I’d significantly under estimated the cost of ice time. In theory, you can reach a point where your layout is done and you have no additional expenses to reach a usable point. You don’t have constant costs that you are always being obligated to pay in order to keep going. My brother shoots competitively. His hobby requires him to pay for going to the range and pay for ammo. He has no choice in that matter. He has few one-time costs. Model railroad has plenty of one time costs.
The hobby is fine and there are more serious hobbyist than ever before. We are shrinking as a percentage of population but the numbers of us keep going up. The hobby shop is pretty much dead in most parts of the country but then that is true of a lot of retail types. True I miss the hanging arround the hobby shop chats but I can chat online, not the same but what can you do. The products available are amazing now but how much have prices really gone up, if you are careful and patient, the hobby can be quite cheap, if you pay retail, quite expencive.
Geez, how many times are we going to have this philosophical discussion?