Model railroading isn't dead. Stop panicking.
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2024
- Ugggh. Can't believe a single store closing signifies "the dark age being upon us" or some bullshit.
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My mom summed it up best after looking at Facebook people saying it’s “ it’s not dying, it’s just that people don’t want to buy your overpriced Lionel or post war Lionel stuff when you can get better detailed stuff for cheaper”
No it's dieing. Blame football.
I have been an active model railroader since the early 1960's. Back then we we sure that model railroading was in a steep decline and was doomed to certain death.
Some things never change ...
6:55 i freaking died upon site of that train lmao
SAMEEE! This is what model railroaders are missing out on. Just to have fun and create a odd and weird consists
You are absolutely right; the hobby is changing, and I do hope it is for the better. At the model railroad club that I am part of (Green Bay Area Model Railroader Club), I love seeing kids joining and immersing themselves into the hobby and during the story hours that the library above (the club is in the lower level), I see parents bringing in their little kids and toddlers and the smiles on their little faces always make my day. Though I am very young in this hobby (I'm 25), it will depend on young adults like me to carry on the interest of model railroading to inspire further generations to come.
If video games were taking attention away from trains then I don’t think we’d have games like derail valley, railroader, and railroads online. Honestly I see these games as an alternative to model trains for someone that doesn’t have the space or the money for model trains
Here is a cool story that I would like to share.
My family and I had a Christmas party at our house last year. I wanted to set up a Standard Gauge train display in one of the rooms, (the room was facing towards the stairwell, as we live in a condo. I believe it was a good strategy since people could look at the window at the train display when they came in through the front door.) Needless to say, the train display was a smash hit. People were so amazed by the trains. In fact, it was so amazing that one of our auntie's kids and their friend's kids stopped looking at their iPads and wanted to play with the trains the whole time. They were having so much fun just operating the trains and they were just looking for random stuff to use as passengers. They love it so much that they do not want to leave the room, and when their parents told them to just play on their iPads, they did not want to play on their iPads because their imaginations were just running wild playing with the trains.
I am a part of a club and we too have adapted for the times with 70+ members strong and new members, young ones, joining all the time.
-We set up modules at train shows so no permanent club that costs money to upkeep thus it is free to join with no dues.
-Everything is voluntary. You can make modules but run no trains or vice versa.
-Meetings are through Zoom so everyone has a chance to join without traveling to a single spot thus membership can increase without worrying about running out of space.
-Layout has a WiFi Access Point so people can run their trains with their phones or tablets.
-No restrictions on what trains you run from whatever era you want (real or fictional). Just needs to be HO and DCC/Bluetooth.
The hobby is evolving, not dying, and people need to get with the times.
I'm 14 and money is the only reason I don't have a big old garden railroad right now! I'm also working on some indoor stuff but again money.
I recommend to look into second hand items. They worth it
@@gamerfan8445yeah I got a ho scale southern pacific sd40t-2 from athern at a train show for 92 dallors
It’s a great deal
And I have like 3 working hours scale model trains all priced over 200 $
Though my parents really bought them not me
This was really well done, excellently presented argument. There need to be more videos like this out there on UA-cam
As long as Trainworld remains, there is hope.
Trainworld isn't the only online vendor and they don't even have the best deals honestly.
@@OriginalBongoliath which online venders have better deals than trainworld?
Some just don't like change, and others expect everything to be put on a silver platter in front of them for next to nothing.
If you want to do it, you can. No matter the budget, no matter the space you have, the trains and the knowledge is out there waiting for you.
Best comment
5:53 look Gary there I am!!
I can't believe this video is how I find out about English's closing. We used to go there all the time in the summer when I was younger.
Companies come and go and inflation affects everything, with the help of social media and all the new preorders selling out quickly the hobby is definitely not going away anytime soon
As a young modeler, i realy like model railways, its not gonna die anytime soon, if they get model trains in toy stores train could sell
Model Train Stuff just closed this year after 111 years. This is where I used to order all my train supplies.
Blame Hattons for that.
@@FockeWolf100 Why Hattons? Their in the UK, and model railway stuff is in the US.
But Amazon didn't exist 111 years ago.... Things change.
@@seymoarsalvage ya, but we need to support our local retailers is the point. Amazon can’t do everything and people are loosing their jobs due to big companies like that. I ordered a locomotive from Amazon once, and due to inadequate packaging provided by Amazon for shipping, it arrived damaged. Retailers usually package stuff properly.
@@modelrailfan37 Hattons bought out Model Train Stuff. Then, they proceeded to go out of business less than two months later.
One thing I use to combat the "Young kids just don't like trains anymore" thing is this: kids are _very_ self-aware these days, they see right through a lot of stuff and are very much aware of things like pollution and major causes, and most importantly: major solutions, one of which being trains. I have asked many kids on how to reduce car crashes and road pollution and 70% of the time it's trains. 20% of the time it's good public transportation, which includes light rail and commuter trains. Kids are interested in trains.
I only put up a Lionel set under the Christmas tree every year. I live just outside the Philadelphia area. There are about seven model train stores within a 45 minute drive. The biggest being Nichols Smith. I only visit around the holidays and usually find something to add. I haven’t ordered anything online, cause I usually find something local.
Pennsylvania is a mecca for railfans and train lovers in general. Lots of railroad history, historic sites, museums, tourist lines, and huge train shows like the one in York makes it a viable state to be a railroad lover in. Pennsylvania should call itself the Railroad State since no other state has the amount of amenities for railroad lovers like it does.
Never take someone serious when they say “this (insert franchise, genre, hobby, anything) is dead/dying!” Cause they definitely have no idea what they’re talking about, for example half life hasn’t had a new official game that continues episode 2 in almost 17 years yet has a massive following to this day
Don’t forget TF2
Commie grifters tried to declare gaming dead yet here we still are.
I'm gen alpha and I'm below 14 and I LOVE trains, I have a Kato set
Ohhh nice! I am gen Alpha and I’m also below 14 ( I’m not gonna say my age though) but I have a bunch of Bachman HO scale stuff! And regarding actual models I have a bunch of Thomas stuff and I’ve been interested in trains my whole life
@@TheRailandAviationcentral you are just me. I used to have an intire finished layout, but we had to throw it out because my cats peed on it. but i have a lot of bachman stuff, but me and my dad are switching to kato, i got an amtrak and a caindain pacific, what you got?
@@lia_heeler Bachman Pacific flyer set Coastliner set Chattanooga set hornby flying Scotsman Thomas the Tank Engine set those are what I have for like sets and all my American stuff and for UK I just have flying Scotsman the Thomas stuff, including Donald Annie and Clarabelle and some rolling stock and I’ve built a custom Lego shed
@@TheRailandAviationcentral wait, do you have lego trains?
@@lia_heeler yes! The orient express, the 2023 passenger train
I’m gonna list the ones that are sense in pieces, but I did get
The Disney train the blue cargo train I forgot what was called though the Emerald night(I never knew how much it was worth so I’m still sad that I destroyed it. I was a dumb child.)
As a streamer myself on another platform. I sometimes will actually stream my model train projects on the channel. Shure I am a huge gamer and love trains, so it's the perfect combo.
I worked at a hobby shop for four years and have been into model trains all my life.
And at every point in my life, I have heard the same things: people still love model trains, but the price point (and space) are just too much for them.
And the trains that are in that price point range are... medicore.
Despite I'm relatively young (26), I don't really like the idea of e-commerce train websites anyway. I know it's more comfortable to just order from home and wait, but except to the fact that I already pass way too much time at home due to work and health, I prefere 100 times to actually go to a train store, talk with real people, see with my eyes what I am buying, and who knows, maybe I can also negotiate and have some small discounts. Online stores, especially Ebay, is also going completely nuts with the prices for both new and old stuff recently, so I'd definetly trust a shop more than a random dude which I will never see
" Online stores, especially Ebay, is also going completely nuts with the prices for both new and old stuff recently, so I'd definetly trust a shop more than a random dude which I will never see"
A) Check their feedback and score
B) Do research on what something is worth
C) If it isn't as advertised or damaged then do a refund through eBay who will get you your money back even if the seller said, "no returns or refunds".
I've bought and sold hundreds of items on eBay that I would probably never have seen at a train store or even train show for that matter. You should use every resource available to you and cutting yourself off from one is a huge disservice to yourself. It isn't 2004 anymore and eBay has way more safeguards now than back then.
IF the hobby ever does die, it won’t be for lack of public interest, it will be for inaccessibility. For example, I live in one of our states biggest metro areas, but we lost our only train show and the only model railroad shop is nearly 100 miles away. That leaves only the internet for used models, and with eBay price gouging people like me have been struggling to find adequate equipment for reasonable prices. The market is being narrowed to only push super fancy models, and that leaves out anyone who can’t afford $1200 for a short passenger train. Unless you want a hodgepodge you’re basically out of luck, especially when it comes to modern image equipment. The hobby won’t die, but it’s absolutely becoming far more restricted.
I am very fortunate that there is a local hobby shop that only does trains nothing else
I do have a few hobby stores in my city, however they can be difficult to get to and, Because I am focused mostly on European trains, I don't think they'll have much that interests unless it's figures, buildings, vehicles and landscaping material and the old AHM and POLA, Faller and model power rebrands of the pola and faller kits.
I do buy the occasional classic era US prototype piece though. Nothing bachmann made before the end of the 70's to 2002 is worth buying though loco wise because of the nylon gears, only the mid 7o's and post pancake motor stuff is worth even buying.
As someone who grew up training around 4-5 years old, starting off with Thomas and friends, yeah it is not dying. Model trains are more of a collecting that fits your style of trains, not just the collectible but more so of your taste in the hobby.
Used to have a set but the whole thing is money but someday soon I’ll get my n scale dreams started
Im11 i love treins
I live in Croatia, a country where you'll have a hard time finding any model railway related things, but I seriously wanna get into the hobby. Not only that, but I simply can't afford any model railway related things. Any suggestions on what I should do? I only have 1 Hornby trainset so far
You are in an EU country. You have tons of companies and options available to you from French, German, Danish, Austrian, Swiss, and Italian manufacturers. Heck, right next door to you in Slovenia is Mehano who makes a whole budget line of toy/model trains available to you! I'm American but jealous at all of the options Europeans have for model trains and companies that make them vs. here. I would look at your Slavic brothers in Slovenia for budget models through Mehano.
I've been to 3 different train shows in the last 4 months. All 3 were just jammed with people. Vendors were all saying they were having good shows. One venue didn't even have room for even one more vendor table. I guess the people that fear the end of the hobby are the ones seeing their favorite old train stores close, or their favorite aspect of the hobby dying off. As a whole though, no way. I'd say the hobby is as good as ever, if not better.
FINALLY someone who understands this!
I love the fact that you used the 700E as an example for this. It's the best example I can think of showing how prices have always been high for quality models.
As long as there are trains, there will be those who wish to model them. As technology improves and new features become available, it's only reasonable prices will start to increase at least a little bit. Times change, and we have to be ready to change with them.
Prices for trains have been keeping up with inflation. If anything we are getting better trains now with more features and better-looking details vs. the trains of old.
Now I don’t think model trains is dying per se, but it’s been monopolized by giant corporations which might leave people who are looking into the idea deterred from it because of prices, a lot of beginner sets are relatively pricey all things considered. The rc car hobby is pretty popular because of relatively low prices, the only exception is Traxxas whom sell pretty expensive stuff, but there are more alternatives to Traxxas like redcat, Tamya and others. I think the issue lies in little alternatives to Bachman and Lionel and other big brands.
It depends on the monopolization.
HO and N? Bachmann controls the train set/entry price market but lot of companies are making models outside of that and DCC is an open source standard. It isn't just NCE, Digitrax, or MRC anymore plus if you really want to you can set up your own DCC system with Arduinos. Bluetooth looks to be the next control type coming in which is also open source. The only monopolization in these scales are those making steam engines, especially HO Scale.
O and S have pretty much monopolized since they never developed any open standards and just fell back on Lionel and MTH. When small companies formed like K-Line and Weaver they couldn't compete with Lionel (didn't help that they relied on Lionel's components so every sale they made Lionel made a buck off them too) so went bankrupt and taken over by Lionel. Menard's and Bluetooth again will be the breakers of Lionel's stranglehold over O.
I just want my reading t1 😢
L gauge trains are the real wallet emptiers. But trains are only a small portion of Lego.
I just need to find a place to clean my models
The hobby is but isn’t dying in my opinion. It isn’t dying because no matter what it will always be here, but on the other hand it is dying because fewer people are getting into it at a young age due to high prices, and therefore less people are getting into it overall. Enjoyment for trains kinda has to start at a young age, especially for model trains, and if the hobby is too unaffordable for most people to get started in, then it is going to go under…. I get your point, and understand you are trying to keep things positive, but it is important to note that many people are now unable to afford this hobby due to the recent high prices…
There are high prices everywhere and there are still lots of budget models available for well under inflated prices. Yeah, they won't be as detailed or nice as a Rapido or Broadway Limited steam engine but starting off you shouldn't be going for the most expensive models there is. I started off with cheap Bachmann's, Life-Like's, and IHC's and was happy with it. Lots of eBay listings and train shows still around that sell cheap trains for those on a budget.
@@OriginalBongoliath I completely agree, but you shouldn’t be stuck with used for affordable options, as there is a fair risk of being scammed. I can’t even remember how many times I’ve bought something “in working order” and then it’s arrived damaged. I’d actually like to see a company buy some of the old Bachmann, Life Like and Tyco toolings and sell them for around $30-40. It would be doable, and it would get lots of people on budgets interested.
@@modelrailfan37If you bought it on eBay you can get a refund. It isn't 2004 anymore where you would be out of luck and eBay would do nothing for you. If the seller lied and it wasn't what was advertised even if they said "no refunds" you can still get your money back as eBay will back you. Train shows all have test tracks to test your purchase. Ask the seller to test the model before purchase or that he will give you your money back if you are unsatisfied with it. You have to know how to deal with people and negotiate. But back to what you said about new budget models. They exist. Bachmann, Atlas Trainman, Walthers Trainline are a few off the tops of my head that make new budget options. Never pay MSRP anyway that is a ripoff. Price compare various online vendors and do homework. Buying trains isn't like going to the local grocery store and picking whatever you want off the shelf nor should it. There are too many models out there for one store to have them all and the market has changed. They aren't the train set toys of old anymore.
When watching this video; ua-cam.com/video/zIfOoXblPmg/v-deo.htmlsi=ltQk78YU3rG74kBu someone said at 6:37; "...an exclusive model train that's only released at Christmas time!" I looked something like this up, but I got nothing but Christmas themed trains that aren't exclusive and are sold at any time. So are there really any exclusive model trains that are only released at Christmas time or during any other holiday?
Uhhhhhh. Not to my knowledge.
Well...
thanks anyways.
Very well said, I think a lot of people need to hear this instead of fear mongering.
This hobby isn't going to die and it most likely never will. Things simply change and change isn't a bad thing. It can sometimes be scary yes, but it's not bad.
I'm really video games also hi
I have argued with boomers before that think all model railroads should be set in the 50's and 60's... Model railroading isn't dying, its just there version of it that is dead and it triggers them. "Oh no ditch lights and wide cabs, scary!"
Just like I said on someone else's video just because hattons Went out of business Doesn't mean my hobby is dying. The hobby is just changing. And no 1 really thinks of inflation. If you really think about its been the same hobby since it's 1st started
Model Hobby not dead.It’s alive a well.Check out my Model Railroad
This is becoming a broken record.
It's been a broken record since the 60's when train popularity was at an all time low.
@@OriginalBongoliath yeah it being louder then usual.
I think its just a british thing. The hobby has declined there somewhat. It has no real bearing though, as most things will rise and fall.
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