A Golden Age
As Don says, we all have our favorite railroads. I am reminded of the stack of magazines, timetables, rulebooks and brochures that sits next to the coffee pot at a local model club. I'm on the West Coast, and, by the end of the meet ing, anything SP, SF or UP is gone; what's left is Pennsy, NYC, Monon, and even Erie!. I toss a dozen dimes in the cup, and have reading material for a month. But many of us are transplants, and, like Don, we get good natured teasing. It's a big hobby and we all have our favorites.
I'm a Boomer, and close to retirement in 198 days, 7 hours and 55 minutes, and over the years, the hobby has become more hybrid. Half a century ago, one either joined a club, or had a home layout. Depending on the basement, or attic size, that home layout could be a 4 by 8 all the way up to a 30 by 50. Nowadays, we still have clubs and basements, but also we have modules. I find working on a module inspiring, nowing I am putting a lot of work into ten square feet, knowing it is a part of a 50 foot square empire. Plus, modeling is no longer relegated to the dungeon; a nice, scenicked module looks ok in a living room, especially if it lights up, and you can shuttle an 0-4-0 back and forth with short cars and a bobber caboose. "Clubs" are still around, but some have evolved into "cooperatives" - privately owned layouts where "members" contribute structures, talent (wiring, scenery) and help push the track cleaner for the next operating session. A dozen modules may arrive at one's garage, and, even though not a complete circle, and also stretch out to the patio or driveway, they become an operating session for a few evenings, and protected from dew with plastic tarps. Sometimes these modules are different standards, and as long as the mainline tracks are 2 inches apart, Free-Mo turns into Mo-Free-Mo.
We all see the hobby aging - Boomers make up a lot of the modelers. Gen-X has fans of television and video games, but does have a (proportionally) smaller collection of modelers. Behaviorists refer to this as "locus of control" - the modelers have an "internal locus of control", while the gamers have an "external locus of control". In plain language, this means that some people want to be externally entertained, while others "make their own fun", by doing things of their own creation. Of course, many gamers decide to model their video game scenarios, and get into model railroading through that path.
Millennials have a greater interest, and we should certainly encourage them. I try to tell everyone to make the hobby fun in their own perspective. I have one friend who models in TT. Another does Lionel - not "Scale O" but Lionel - like you used to see in big city department stores at Christmas. Another walked into a toy store in a mall, bought four dozen pieces of Snap-Track, and taped them to a piece of cardboard from a refrigerator carton. This lightweight layout gets plunked down on his kitchen table and he has a lot of fun with it. Lightweight cardboard buildings add to the fun.
Remember the stack of magazines next to the coffee pot? My job on Saturday means I leave work, and meet my wife at church, but I arrive considerably early. So, I sit and read an old MR, RMC, Trains, etc. And I get noticed, so I give the magazine to an interested youngster (which is anyone under 60)! And then I tell them how to get into the hobby, in a way that they might find interesting.
Like Pete says, the suppliers are not an "industry" - but a bunch of mom and pop small businesses. On the one hand, if something comes out, grab it now, because you may not see it again. But the friendshis live on forever.
cheers,
Mike O
