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I remember a few years ago reading several articles which had various opinions on if the postwar era was considered the golden age of model railroading. Most opinions from many sources generally considered the last 20 or so years the golden age of model railroading. Simply put anyone could have almost anything and in large quantities of almost any scale. Anything from conventional to command control with several different systems were out there to entice the public. Shows were plentiful and while the user population was aging there seemed to be no end in sight.

Then COVID19 and the pandemic followed several smaller manufacturers leaving the industry. With the pandemic in full swing then the big bang of MTH going out of business. No more tinplate, standard gauge, European items, etc. along with their DCS system and parts to support the products out there. I have watched through the past few years as lost of new product was produced and sold and squirreled away by collectors so there is not apparent current glut of most of these items.

So now does everyone just hunker down or what does everyone think is next?

No nasty criticisms please. I am doing my part on promoting the hobby and my club has been doing COVID19 compliant parking lot meets inviting all clubs and all people to support the hobby. I am just curious what experts and novices both think.

Thank you, 

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Jeff,

I think there have been two "golden ages" of O gauge model railroading - postwar from 1946 to about 1960, and the most recent 25 years with the multitude of O gauge brands including MTH, Lionel, Sunset, K-Line, Weaver, Atlas O, Williams and maybe Menards offering a huge selection of products. Do I think it's ending or in decline - definitely - especially because of the demise of MTH, which I expect will result in fewer items of the kind I buy. These two "golden ages" coincide with the years I have actively pursued model railroading - first in O, then HO, and now O again. I think the outlook is better for HO and N scales. Nonetheless, I think 1:48 model railroading will continue but probably with less innovation and fewer offerings that will interest me. Entry level sets may continue as they are but they don't make a "golden age."

MELGAR

Last edited by MELGAR

I have a nice collection of Lionel PostWar - and that was the Golden Age.  No question.

I have a nice collection of modern Lionel Legacy/TMCC-controlled trains - and this is the Golden Age.  No question.

So there. 

Each "age" is different and each age has brought us wonderful toys and beautifully built (for their time ... and intent) trains.  The last 120 years has been the Golden Age of toy trains.

Let's just sit back and enjoy it all while we are made to stay at home more.  No handwringing just yet on my part.

It kinda depends on what you mean when you say the Golden Age is "over."

Do you mean over, in the sense that this is the end of new, different, available, high tech, high quality engines and trains?  No, I don't think so.  Frankly, as someone just getting back into it after a 48 year absence, I am stunned at the wide array of trains, engines and accessories that are available.  Unbelievable really.   But, as long as people are willing to pay  $250 to $1,000 for a new engine, somebody will make them.

On the other hand, if you mean over as far as it seems to be a  hobby of diminishing popularity in the U.S., then I tend to agree.

When I was a kid, there must have been 8 or 10 really big train layouts around, just in my subdivision, that my friend's fathers had in their basements.  Lots of them were old school prewar and early post war, but there were also several big time HO layouts .  The Dads were really enthusiastic, and were happy to show us how the trains ran, and even let us handle the throttle if we were careful.  Every kid I grew up with got some sort of train set around his 12th birthday.

However, in the past 20 years, I have lived in three different locals, in two different states, and have never known anyone other than myself that had the slightest interest in "toy trains."   Yes, there were occasional train shows around, and of course there were a fair number of people there, but nobody I knew of, and in the last 20 years, I never had a friend or business acquaintance at work say that was buying a train set for his son or daughter.  X-Box is now the right of passage gift at age 12, or even younger.  

In a similar vein, the sports of skeet and trap were really popular when I was growing up.  When I was a teenager, you often had to wait an hour for a range to open up to shoot one of these 25 shot games.

Now, most skeet and trap ranges have been closed, and the ranges that have survived have changed to Sporting Clays layouts ( a 50 shot game), and when I occasionally go there are not many people there.  Almost no women, and the men are in their late thirties to late 50s, all carrying $3,000 (or more) over/unders.   To shoot a single game, it often costs $30 to $40, plus the cost of two boxes of shells.  (For a game that takes about 45 minutes.)    It has morphed into an "elitist" sport, and is dying out.

Golf is also a dying middle class sport.  About half the public golf courses in America are going out of business (well before Covid 19), and Country Clubs are really hard pressed now to find someone who will pay  $5,000 to $10,000 (or more!) as a membership fee to join the Club, plus the green fees and cart fees per game.

If you happen to own a golf course, you are pretty much out of luck.  Nobody (not even the Japanese) will buy one from you now.  It is a money losing proposition.    Again, it is turning into an elitist sport, and that generally spells the end.  I have two clients that developed, constructed and own two large private country clubs about 25 years ago.  Both of them are barely breaking even now.     The old members are now dying out, and new members are few and far between.

Mannyrock

 

 

 

 

 

No criticism here, but your post kinda morphed from golden age to covid 19.

I would still consider the golden age of toy trains to be the post war era. Almost all young boys had train sets and every department store (prior to shopping malls) had train layouts at Christmas. Most of the people today in the hobby are in fact the same young boys, just older now. If I took inventory of all the people I know today with 10-ish year old boys, I would be hard pressed to find even one with a train set. 

Last edited by GVDobler

Yes and no.

The newer generation I’ve noticed tend to stear near the remote  control style equipment , which is very nice and fun .

But the older group of people seem to still be into the non remote style of trains.

I guess it depends on what and how your introduced into the hobby as to how you lean .

Last edited by mackb4

It's over for me. I can remember wearing out the Lionel 1984 catalogs. I haven't even seen the Lionel 2020 catalogs. Just don't have the interest anymore. Williams before Bachmann, Weaver, K-Line, ROW, and all the small manufacturers of detail parts, kits, and scenery, not to mention the magazines that were twice as many pages as now. I'm pretty much done. Hopefully, though, there is someone out there taking my place who is enjoying the current times. 

@GVDobler posted:

I would still consider the golden age of toy trains to be the post war era. Almost all young boys had train sets and every department store (prior to shopping malls) had train layouts at Christmas. Most of the people today in the hobby are in fact the same young boys, just older now. If I took inventory of all the people I know today with 10-ish year old boys, I would be hard pressed to find even one with a train set. 

Even setting aside the nostalgia factor for those of us oldsters, I would definitely agree. As you note, Lionel trains could be found all over the country, from large department stores to small local stores (like on the 2nd floor of the small hardware store in the town of 1,000 people I grew up in, which even had a nice Lionel display layout). Lionel trains were part of America's culture back in the 50s. As one source says, "Lionel trains are best known for their glory days—the 1950s—when young boys and their dads enjoyed designing train layouts as a great American pastime."

Still, the choices available today are many, and based upon sales I see (whether manufacturers selling out of items, or looking at auctions sites), demand is still pretty good, and given all the variety on the market, it's still a great age.

Last edited by breezinup

I don't think you are allowed two Golden Ages.  That period of time was the post war era.  Today is a great time for sure.  In the mid 80's when Williams showed us that you could produce a variety of engine styles at affordable prices to the 90's when all manor of engines began to be produced, we have enjoyed the best of times.

Perhaps this is the Gilded Age or the Platinum Age.  Whatever the age, it has been a great ride.  What I hope is that someone picks up the Railking Line.  It is by far the best 027 product on the market.  If the hobby is to continue, there has to be an entry level train that is a good value for the consumer.

My Golden Age will be my Golden Age for model/toy trains. I look forward to having the time to run them all and wish for more. If only I had more space....and more shelves....and more of all of it.....and more time here on the good planet Earth.  Will there be trains in heaven ?  HE went to prepare a place for me and that means a giant train room, with shelves stacked to the ceiling with mint PW and SG trains and two dozen ZWs to run them with. 

Stamp collecting has already fallen dead and just about everything else that is not fantasy based or instant gratification. No one wants hands on reality. Reality shows are not even reality.  But model trains will live on.  

 

 

 

 

I think there was a prior discussion what to call the last 25 years or so... the movement to realism and scale, digital control improvements, a variety of offerings. Perusing old issues of OGR, it seems there were so many dealers, train manufacturers/importers and ancillary industries that supported the market during the mid to late 90’s through mid 00’s. It’s interesting to see the contraction over the years. Id have to say it was more a modern era. 

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