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Post by runamuckchuck on Apr 23, 2024 12:59:38 GMT
While it may not make the current hobbyists (and train retailers) any more optimistic about the future of the model train hobby we are not the only ones grappling with the perpetuation of other pastimes/activities.
In announcing the Spring Sailboat Show locally the Annapolis Capital newspaper reported that the focus/theme of the boat show was to (imagine this) attract more young sailors.
Not being a sailor myself I have no idea what the cost of a starter sailboat such as a Sunfish might be new or used, but it it good bet that it is for more than an RTR set made by Lionel currently or MTH in the day.
In extolling the virtues of sailing as a hobby/sport wholesome activity, quality family time, learning new skills, and the like were mentioned as benefits/attractions to sailing. Gee don't those attribute sound familiar to anyone who even casually has read train ads from the teens, twenties , thirties and into the 60's.
Funny how no model train importer regardless of gauge that I know of is exploiting that aspect of the hobby in their promotional material. I suppose that heavy lifting is to be done by the parents, train clubs, associations, and train shows primarily at the grassroots level.
Much has been made of the decline of western civilization and certain hobbies/pastimes (particularly model trains in this Forum) with the invention and use of the cell/smart phone. While I would not disagree, I maintain that the proliferation of scheduled youth activities such as countless sports, dance classes, music lessons etc that parents enroll their children in are just as much to blame for the demise of down time in which hobbies live or die.
If my grandchildren are any indication, they have their days and sometimes nights planned out for them with activities seemingly almost 24, and definitely 7 year round. The extent of their down time may be meals and homework. Even when school is out, they seem to be constantly going thither and yon to this or that activity. Even though my now just preteen and midteen grandchildren have expressed an interest in and enjoy trains, they literally have no time to pursue them other than watch, or set up a loop around the Christmas tree.
If down/spare time is indeed an endangered species, how do we invent time? To which I ask what ever happened to school clubs? Anybody know? Have they too gone the way of the dodo? It would seem that if school clubs still exist that may be an excellent opportunity to expose students to model trains within an already allotted time frame of the school day.
Do local community train clubs meet often enough to maintain the interest of a youngster who daily is pulled an all directions for their time and attention?
Any thoughts?
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Post by Adam on Apr 23, 2024 13:26:04 GMT
My friends (2 to be exact) that are into boating joke that BOAT is an acronym that stands for Bring Over Another Thousand. Expensive hobby.
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Post by healey36 on Apr 23, 2024 14:07:49 GMT
For many youngsters, down time equals screen time, which to my mind is more responsible for the collapse of modern society than anything (ironically typed in response to an online forum, lol). Getting kids out from in front of their computers, phones, and tablets is a noble endeavor (although I'll admit, some parents take it too far). There's also the phenomena of parents living their lives through those of their children; that's not good either.
It's interesting to me that you mention school homework. Around here (central Maryland), teachers may give homework, but they no longer grade homework or even verify that the homework was completed. They tell me this is because there's no assurance that the kid did the homework. Maybe it was done by the student, but maybe by a parent, or maybe it was done using any number of online homework-assist sites available to the student. For this reason, very little homework is given anymore. That would seem a problem.
As far as sailing goes, I've been an occasional sailor for fifty years, everything from Sunfish/Force 5 to log canoes. It's a terrific sport, but one that requires a significant investment at anything beyond entry-level. Young people today are facing some huge social and financial issues, so investing in a sailboat seems beyond reach for a high percentage. There were a number of sailing clubs around that featured jointly-owned boats available for use by club members; I've no idea if those still exist, but that seemed a good idea for those interested in participating without the extraordinary burden of outright ownership.
Anyway, that's my two cents, for what it's worth.
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Post by steveoncattailcreek on Apr 23, 2024 14:32:36 GMT
My friends (2 to be exact) that are into boating joke that BOAT is an acronym that stands for Bring Over Another Thousand. Expensive hobby. Yep. Definition of "boat": a hole in the water, into which one throws vast quantities of time and money. BTW, we've discovered the best way to do boating is to have a pier, at which you can permit friends to dock *their* boat, and leave a spare set of keys with us! 
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Post by rtraincollector on Apr 23, 2024 14:33:08 GMT
The only sailing I did, I'm glad I didn't have to break out any money to repair as the cost would of been " Billions or At least Thousands "
It was in the U.S.Navy. I have never even been on a sail boat, but have been on other people boats from a 14' Jon boat to a 65' cabin cruiser that the owner would race with other owners of cabin cruisers, He had dual 426 hemi's in his lol.
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Post by dennym57 on Apr 23, 2024 14:46:03 GMT
I can say my grandchildren have zero interest in trains. When they come over they ask if they can see the layout which last about five minutes.
So if the basement is locked I tell them no I'm not unlocking the door just for five minutes. They're not interested seeing trains run they just want to see the layout.
I can say a club member brings his boys and they help him run his trains.
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Post by mrmeep on Apr 23, 2024 15:18:00 GMT
Several factors are contributing to the demise of our hobby.
Trains and railroads are disappearing from our daily lives.
They no longer appear in the media except during calamities.
You don't see them operate in our daily life much anymore.
So people don't associate with railroads much anymore.
The economy is in the dumper (thank you, politicians of ALL
STRIPES!), so people don't have the "disposable income" that
they once had.
TOY trains are disappearing and MODEL trains are EXPENSIVE
now even for the well-to-do. No real "starter sets" that can
be played with to begin the interest and capture the imagination
of the young. But plenty of hugely expensive and infinitely
delicate detailed "museum grade" stuff that does not stand up
to handling and costs in the THOUSANDS of dollars (far outpacing
the inflation of today) for even adults. (Lionel and MTH are
you listening?) (On the other hand, Menards is jumping in and
filling a MUCH NEEDED void now that Williams is gone. THANK YOU!)
Trains today have lost the "hands on" part of the hobby as the
stuff today is all pre-assembled (though OFTEN badly and defectively)
and pre-programmed so as to be controlled by ... wait for it ...
one's CELL PHONE. Buildings, accessories and even layouts are all
now prefabbed so the "hobbyist" just sits there and touches a screen
or pushes a computer key to "operate" things. We need to bring back
the "hobby" part! Spend QUALITY TIME with your kids and grandkids!
Work with them to actually BUILD their layouts and teach them about
electricity, construction and IMAGINATION! Hands on!
The "imagination" factor has also been eliminated from the hobby as
"realism" has advanced to the level of only lacking tiny cloned humans
to operate the scaled fully functional railroads. Scale sounds, scale
voices, SCALE SMELLS! Little people move on their own, little vehicles
move on their own, little freight gets loaded and unloaded without the
slightest touch of the operator or the slightest application of the
young child. Remember Christmas time and when you actually took your own
hands and loaded gondolas with toy soldiers, marbles and what not?
BRING THAT BACK!
Affordability is off the board! No longer can a child, or even some adults,
"save up" to "expand their railroad empire" like the hobby once encouraged
folks to do. The major manufacturers need to have some AFFORDABLE decent
starter sets and affordable building KITS to grow the hobby and welcome the
younger set! LEGO rules this area! THEY are primarily aimed at the hobbyist's
(both child and ADULT!) IMAGINATION! You begin with a bunch of blocks and
shapes and work from there! Imagination knows no limits! And if you don't like
what you did, or grow bored with it, you can RE-BUILD or CHANGE it to suit
yourself! The other train makers seem to have done away with that and also
seem to no longer be interested in encouraging this. Sad.
In closing, the BEST trains are the OLDER trains! The good old Tinplate and
Post War Plastic trains and Plasticville and K-Lineville building kits are
what is needed to grow the hobby and attract new members. And also to stimulate
the IMAGINATION of those hobbyists both young and old.
A hobby is something that requires INVOLVEMENT no matter what the hobby is.
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Post by david1 on Apr 23, 2024 20:28:06 GMT
As far as a boat goes I have never been on a boat or ship or anything on the water.I was never interested.
Don't have any children in my immediate family interested in model trains. Although my layout is in my living space nobody ever looks at it or seems to care.
There is one kid who is local heard about my trains and asked to see them. After he asked his mom and dad to bring him over. Very nice family and the kid who is 13 is very polite. Though they are not financially stable. After talking to mom and dad I asked them if their son had any trains which was no.
I called the dad a few days later and asked him to build a train table if he could. He had the wood that he has picked up from friends and anywhere he could. I told him I would take care of the trains.
I had a ton of O gauge track which I would donate to the family. Beings it was October I figured we could do this as a Christmas present for the kid. The dad built the table of 18x8 but he just could not afford a train set to put on it.
I got together a bunch of cars that I have had since the 1970's and if any had issues I fixed them. I also got him about 25 cars that my brother had from Menards of which I checked the couplers and any issues.
Now he needed a loco of which his mom and dad did not want me to give them. But I begged them to please give him this as a Christmas present from them I dug through my old stuff and found a Lionel 2046 hudson, after tearing it apart using grease and some oil it ran like new.
I had a better time this past Christmas by doing this than I ever had. Yes I spent more than I should have but the look and the thanks I got from this family was great.
Always help someone that needs help,
Dave
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Post by Joe Saggese on Apr 23, 2024 21:56:19 GMT
That’s really a beautiful story.
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Post by Adam on Apr 23, 2024 22:37:59 GMT
As far as a boat goes I have never been on a boat or ship or anything on the water.I was never interested. Don't have any children in my immediate family interested in model trains. Although my layout is in my living space nobody ever looks at it or seems to care. There is one kid who is local heard about my trains and asked to see them. After he asked his mom and dad to bring him over. Very nice family and the kid who is 13 is very polite. Though they are not financially stable. After talking to mom and dad I asked them if their son had any trains which was no. I called the dad a few days later and asked him to build a train table if he could. He had the wood that he has picked up from friends and anywhere he could. I told him I would take care of the trains. I had a ton of O gauge track which I would donate to the family. Beings it was October I figured we could do this as a Christmas present for the kid. The dad built the table of 18x8 but he just could not afford a train set to put on it. I got together a bunch of cars that I have had since the 1970's and if any had issues I fixed them. I also got him about 25 cars that my brother had from Menards of which I checked the couplers and any issues. Now he needed a loco of which his mom and dad did not want me to give them. But I begged them to please give him this as a Christmas present from them I dug through my old stuff and found a Lionel 2046 hudson, after tearing it apart using grease and some oil it ran like new. I had a better time this past Christmas by doing this than I ever had. Yes I spent more than I should have but the look and the thanks I got from this family was great. Always help someone that needs help, Dave Wow, that was a great thing to do David. You have a huge heart. That kid will remember this for his entire life.
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Post by atsda on Apr 24, 2024 2:33:01 GMT
Nothing comes to mind as to how to get young people interested in the hobby. (Although the school club idea sounds good.) Once involved, the question then becomes: How do you sustain their interest. Perhaps the social aspect may promote interest; however, clubs will have to be inventive about their meetings. Even though the hobby has become very technological, it may not offer tech-minded young any type of satisfaction – they can’t get a hands on experience with the equipment, save for swapping boards – some of the more interesting electrical and mechanical aspects have gone away; although the modeling aspect may be a draw. It’s tough to know what will work in attracting the attention of young people. Alfred
(Speaking of sailing – I was on the sailing team in college. One memorable (?) was a regatta at West Point in March – lost my high school ring through the boards in the boat house, and nearly froze my hands off on the Hudson.)
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Post by rtraincollector on Apr 24, 2024 5:32:29 GMT
As far as a boat goes I have never been on a boat or ship or anything on the water.I was never interested. Don't have any children in my immediate family interested in model trains. Although my layout is in my living space nobody ever looks at it or seems to care. There is one kid who is local heard about my trains and asked to see them. After he asked his mom and dad to bring him over. Very nice family and the kid who is 13 is very polite. Though they are not financially stable. After talking to mom and dad I asked them if their son had any trains which was no. I called the dad a few days later and asked him to build a train table if he could. He had the wood that he has picked up from friends and anywhere he could. I told him I would take care of the trains. I had a ton of O gauge track which I would donate to the family. Beings it was October I figured we could do this as a Christmas present for the kid. The dad built the table of 18x8 but he just could not afford a train set to put on it. I got together a bunch of cars that I have had since the 1970's and if any had issues I fixed them. I also got him about 25 cars that my brother had from Menards of which I checked the couplers and any issues. Now he needed a loco of which his mom and dad did not want me to give them. But I begged them to please give him this as a Christmas present from them I dug through my old stuff and found a Lionel 2046 hudson, after tearing it apart using grease and some oil it ran like new. I had a better time this past Christmas by doing this than I ever had. Yes I spent more than I should have but the look and the thanks I got from this family was great. Always help someone that needs help, Dave
I just wanted to give a HUGE shoutout for Mr. Bill Rifenbury, known on this forum as RTRAINCOLLECTOR. Bill saw my response to a post for FREE SWITCHES the other day, and reached out to offer some free switches and track that he had been storing. After we talked on the phone, he learned about what's going on in my grandson's (Ian) life right now (mom just had a stroke) and the fact that it was his 8th birthday on January 15th. So Bill not only sent me some free track & switches (Thank you!!), he also sent my grandson his own Lionel train set, hoping to create some diversion and fun in his life. I have to tell you, it's uncommon to see that much thoughtfulness and generosity nowadays, and I am truly indebted to Bill for that - thank you my friend!!!! As for Ian, well you can see his face for yourself - he was thrilled!!!
There is no feeling like doing something like this. I have done it a few times. I never had kids and don't really have anybody to leave my trains to, so I like doing stuff like this when I can and see it is warrantied.
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Post by atsda on Apr 24, 2024 13:10:08 GMT
dave1 and rtraincollector, thanks for being so thoughtful and generous. It is good to share OGF with guys like you. Alfred
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Post by dennym57 on Apr 24, 2024 13:56:35 GMT
As far as a boat goes I have never been on a boat or ship or anything on the water.I was never interested. Don't have any children in my immediate family interested in model trains. Although my layout is in my living space nobody ever looks at it or seems to care. There is one kid who is local heard about my trains and asked to see them. After he asked his mom and dad to bring him over. Very nice family and the kid who is 13 is very polite. Though they are not financially stable. After talking to mom and dad I asked them if their son had any trains which was no. I called the dad a few days later and asked him to build a train table if he could. He had the wood that he has picked up from friends and anywhere he could. I told him I would take care of the trains. I had a ton of O gauge track which I would donate to the family. Beings it was October I figured we could do this as a Christmas present for the kid. The dad built the table of 18x8 but he just could not afford a train set to put on it. I got together a bunch of cars that I have had since the 1970's and if any had issues I fixed them. I also got him about 25 cars that my brother had from Menards of which I checked the couplers and any issues. Now he needed a loco of which his mom and dad did not want me to give them. But I begged them to please give him this as a Christmas present from them I dug through my old stuff and found a Lionel 2046 hudson, after tearing it apart using grease and some oil it ran like new. I had a better time this past Christmas by doing this than I ever had. Yes I spent more than I should have but the look and the thanks I got from this family was great. Always help someone that needs help, Dave That's a great story Dave. Not only are you a really decent guy, but you are proof of what the hobby is all about.
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