|
|
Post by david1 on Dec 19, 2023 7:18:19 GMT
I have said above that I have subscribed to CTT since issue number 1 and I have enjoyed it for those years but I have to admit like Walt that I get more info here from the Likes of Walt, David and a bunch more.
Will I renew my subscription when it ends this coming year? Right now I can't say but the issues have been very thin for some time now especially on issues and content that I feel is important. unfortunately magazines are too late to the party for any issue that pops up. They may be months behind on any news with the likes of YouTube, and the online content that you can read immediately. By the time the magazines get around to it, Nobody cares!
Just as David said its not 1987 anymore its 2023-24 and things change.
Dave
|
|
|
|
Post by Traindiesel! on Dec 19, 2023 9:21:40 GMT
The thing that I find annoying in all model train magazines are the dealer ads. Ever since the BTO era began, and probably earlier, a lot of the trains advertised are sold out by the time the magazine hits the news stands or our mailbox. It’s like being visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past and seeing all the trains that once were.
|
|
|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 19, 2023 15:22:35 GMT
I think there are niches of the "O" market that are thriving, but the evidence points to an overall decline in interest. The following generation(s) seem to have little interest, especially in the space required for even a small pike. Many of the die-hards will deny this, but I think even they realize it's winding down. When the "boomer" generation is gone, the "O" segment of the hobby will be one tenth the size it is now IMHO.
|
|
|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 19, 2023 17:29:40 GMT
I think the two-rail scale people will survive, as they are pretty hard-core and their modelling, electrical, and carpentry skill-sets exceed nearly everyone messing with three-rail. If it's broken, they fix it; they don't require a service center for repairs. Two-rail scale actually predates the mass-market three-rail part of the O-gauge hobby, and two-railer numbers have probably remained pretty stable throughout.
The segment likely to take the brunt of the decline is the three-rail RTR folks, and I think that is supported by the decline in the number of manufacturers, among other things, engaged in that market. Most of the young people I know that have come into the hobby are primarily interested in the electronic-operation aspect. They have little interest in building stuff, just running their gear using their iPhone or iPad. Much of that tech is becoming available in HO and N, so likely to accelerate the O-gauge exit.
Just my two cents, which might not be worth even that much, lol.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm continuing to have fun with the stuff I have (way more than I need). Offers to give stuff to young families and relatives draws no interest. When I'm gone, it all probably goes to the landfill.
|
|
|
|
Post by david1 on Dec 19, 2023 18:47:51 GMT
I think you two guys above are wrong, the hobby is changing, not always for the better but I see positive movement in the hobby. I have seen more younger people at shows, online, the YouTubers who seem to be everywhere are the ones that are pushing the hobby forward.
When I first got into the hobby in 1970 post war trains were crazy expensive and I started with MPC and they were modern trains. I bought quite a few of them. I had allot of fun for years. As time went on my tastes changed when the more scale trains came on line. In 1995 I sold all my mpc and I bought into tmcc and the more scale movement. I still have most of my tmcc locomotives and of course some legacy
Which I really like.
Yes trains are expensive but they always were expensive. The best way to buy trains now a days is shop on the secondary market and even now I shop on the secondary market. There have always been some people with funds that seem to be unlimited and they are buying the high end locomotives today. Good luck to them but I'm not in that market.
The pre and post war market is shrinking but there will always be collectors of almost any train but the thinking of O gauge trains going away is not happening from what I see.
I started going to the York show back in 1984 and I have been to every single one since. I can tell you I have never seen so many younger people there just not looking but buying the trains they can afford. Btw I'm not talking about 18 years old but guys and even woman in their late 30's,40's.
O gauge trains going away.......Rethink this again guys.
Dave
|
|
|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 19, 2023 19:04:32 GMT
I don't think O-gauge goes away, just the footprint of the segment becomes/is becoming much, much smaller.
Much of my opinion is anecdotal. I used to have about 30 O-gauge train mates geographically close by, most about my age. Now I have six, maybe, and the attrition is not because they are all dead. Some lost interest after many years and got out of the hobby, some downsized after retirement and no longer have room for a pike, some changed to a smaller scale (counter-intuitive to me, as vision and dexterity problems would seem to preclude this). About a half-dozen of them are, in fact, dead. A couple of them thought their trains were an investment and were greatly disheartened to find that they were not. The median age of the group has gone from around 47 to 67 in about twelve years. I go to York twice a year and while I do see people younger than me staggering around looking at stuff, I think that's primarily because I'm getting older (the demographics have shifted and now many people are younger than me).
I would agree totally that the model train hobby is changing...electronics and online content has seen to that, and I'm okay with that. But remember, online activity is a great amplifier...we've seen that in marketing/distribution, politics, health insurance, you name it. Also, I don't get much from online reviewers. Youtube and Amazon product reviews seem little different from those in the magazines in that they are seldom critical of the hand that feeds them.
All I'm saying is there'll soon be a lot fewer people involved in the O-gauge segment (those that are will likely be quite a bit younger), but then that's just an opinion.
|
|
|
|
Post by curtis on Dec 20, 2023 0:07:04 GMT
Please do not mis-understand me. I am expressing my views and only mine. I do admire people like Rocky Mountaineer and the others commenting here. I respect your views and I know you respect mine. I enjoy your thoughts and comments. As a matter of fact I have always hoped to make it to Allentown, especially since my wife is from there, to meet rocky mountaineer. I ALWAYS look for his insight as I usually feel the same way and he has enlightened me on several subjects as others also have. Hence why I LOVE this forum and the people in it. As I said I don't disagree with your thoughts and concerns about CTT. As for me I am still Okay with it. Maybe because I just enjoy what I read there or maybe because it gives me food for thought sometimes. Anyhow I sure am glad we all are still good friends here (or at least hope I am).
One more thing
Better get your shopping done as you now have less than a week.
Merry CHRISTmas
|
|
|
|
Post by Adam on Dec 20, 2023 0:53:34 GMT
Better get your shopping done as you now have less than a week. Merry CHRISTmas I like to do my shopping on Christmas Eve. Nothing like a bit of pressure to get the job done!
|
|
|
|
Post by runamuckchuck on Dec 20, 2023 1:51:22 GMT
Better get your shopping done as you now have less than a week. Merry CHRISTmas I like to do my shopping on Christmas Eve. Nothing like a bit of pressure to get the job done! The most memorable Christmas shopping experience that I had as a young adult was in downtown Baltimore. The malls were draining shoppers from the downtown retail district, but the big name department stores were still viable. Within very short walking distance there was Hoschild Kohn, Stewarts, Hutzler's, and Hecht Company, all their street level windows decked to the nines with festive decorations. Magic was in the air. It was Christmas Eve afternoon and the stores were not crowded. Merchandise was plentiful, of excellent quality and tastefully displayed. Despite the lack of mobs of last minute shoppers the sales staff at every store was extremely attentive and helpful to a fault. I suspect each sales associate knew that end of department store downtown shopping era was upon them, or at least close at hand. The details of the day have faded, however the feelings elicited from that experience remain as a watercolor impressionistic memory of a time gone by and an era likely never to be repeated. Kinder gentler days indeed.
|
|
|
|
Post by Traindiesel! on Dec 20, 2023 3:02:25 GMT
“O gauge trains are dead.” “Train shops are closing, Lionel isn’t what it use to be.” “Lionel got sold to a cereal company, O gauge will be gone soon.” “Kids ain’t interested in trains anymore.”
Sound familiar? This is what I’ve heard since the 1960s. It’s why my Grandfather and my Dad switched to buying N scale. It looked like that’s the way I was going to be steered towards the hobby.
Then an interesting thing happened. A couple guys named Jerry Williams and Maury Klein and Mike Wolf showed up. Even though they are gone or downsized they had uplifted the O gauge hobby to new heights. It’s not a coincidence that some quality has suffered without that competition.
The hobby is evolving in how trains are made, advertised and sold. You can’t determine the health of the hobby by the small number of hobbyists that participate in online train forums and not by the size of crowds at train shows. I know a lot of people that buy lots of trains that never heard of or participated in a forum. Why do you think some dealers don’t attend shows? Because they are getting more sales from their online presence.
When it comes to worrying about the hobby, you gotta chill, Brah!
|
|
|
|
Post by healey36 on Dec 20, 2023 13:18:35 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by Adam on Dec 20, 2023 17:16:37 GMT
“O gauge trains are dead.” “Train shops are closing, Lionel isn’t what it use to be.” “Lionel got sold to a cereal company, O gauge will be gone soon.” “Kids ain’t interested in trains anymore.”
Sound familiar? This is what I’ve heard since the 1960s. It’s why my Grandfather and my Dad switched to buying N scale. It looked like that’s the way I was going to be steered towards the hobby.
Then an interesting thing happened. A couple guys named Jerry Williams and Maury Klein and Mike Wolf showed up. Even though they are gone or downsized they had uplifted the O gauge hobby to new heights. It’s not a coincidence that some quality has suffered without that competition.
The hobby is evolving in how trains are made, advertised and sold. You can’t determine the health of the hobby by the small number of hobbyists that participate in online train forums and not by the size of crowds at train shows. I know a lot of people that buy lots of trains that never heard of or participated in a forum. Why do you think some dealers don’t attend shows? Because they are getting more sales from their online presence.
When it comes to worrying about the hobby, you gotta chill, Brah!
Where is the snow? What kind of Christmas is that?!! |
|
|
|
Post by Traindiesel! on Dec 21, 2023 1:37:56 GMT
That was July 2016 in Ocean City, New Jersey. Chillin’.
|
|
