O scale is for old men

Traingeekboy posted:

A couple weeks ago I spotted a post in a forum of someone giving away old train and hobby magazines.

Well, the guy had a bunch of magazines from my favorite era for reading 1950's-1960's model railroading and it turned out he was in the same city as me. I figured if he has a collection of old magazines he must be an older gentleman that is clearing out some junk.

When I got there I met his mom, and he came out of the garage. Lo and behold he is a younger train fan. Even more surprising, he said his favorite scale is O scale.

We hung out a little and talked trains. And I left with boxes of magazines.

I will let the pictures speak for themselves. I am the older dude in the pictures.

 

Seems I got a new train buddy. 

That's a nice floor plan.

I thought so too.

I hope people realize I am being sarcastic by saying O scale is for old men.  

Traingeekboy posted:

I thought so too.

I hope people realize I am being sarcastic by saying O scale is for old men.  

I used to think 56 was old but as I've gotten older and reached that age my outlook has changed. 3 Rails are better than none and age is just a number.

Oh, but it is indeed for old men! Not JUST for old men though.  What with arthritis and trigger finger my hands sometimes have trouble even handling/working on nice big O stuff. HO all I could do would be look at it. But it's all good because we DO have O scale so I'm a pig in mud 

I think the entire hobby may be mostly for old men. As an older fellow myself, I am not offended by the title of the original post. As evidence, I cite the attendance at train shows, membership of model railroad clubs, and posters on the OGR Forum - mostly older guys by my observation. That's not to say there aren't youngsters and younger people, too - but predominantly older males. I read a comment in another modeling magazine today to the effect that N is the most rapidly growing scale because it best fits the budgets and living spaces of younger people. The OP's statement will have absolutely no effect on my enjoyment of O gauge model railroading.  In response, I just say - so what?

MELGAR

Well, my friend's two young boys love Lionel trains. I showed him one of our train stores in Chicago and he had $1000 worth of trains shipped home to OK.

George

" O scale is for old men " 

Thank you no worries 

Back in the seventies, Johnny Cash did commercials for Lionel Trains in which he said "The big trains for small hands". The point was that the larger trains were actually easier for children to handle. How many of you remember that? 

O and large scale trains are harder for young people to put in mouth and eat.

Like Duplo is to Legos bricks.

GLAD to see a young man having fun with his trains as we once did at an earlier age - his smile tells it all! With arthritis and some carpal issues at 77, I moved to just standard gauge and LGB and PIKO G scale (1:22.5). I can see them better, and now all I have to do is struggle lifting the dadblamed things! LOL! 😁

tncentrr posted:

Back in the seventies, Johnny Cash did commercials for Lionel Trains in which he said "The big trains for small hands". The point was that the larger trains were actually easier for children to handle. How many of you remember that? 

I remember but I think he had it backwards 

I like the title now that I'm 50 years old I think It's true. About 4 years ago  started struggling with HO scale thought I would try O scale  and has became much easier for me to work with and I enjoy it so much better.  seems the O scale community is much older and a lot more friendly to me and it seems. 

I switched to O gauge when I was 56.  That was 7 years ago.  However, I am always glad to see young folks enjoying trains of all scales and gauges.

I have always been in o gauge from newborn on.........Seems to me anytime I meet someone in HO gauge they have their nose in the air and look down on me for being in o gauge. What's up with that.

My love of O gauge dates back to the late 50's as that was my first set of trains. They have been stored for years with the occasional Christmas display put up for kids and grand kids. At those times maintenance was done and interest kept alive. I would always look out for garage sales, auctions etc. and have added to my collection over the years. Now in retirement I will hopefully have the time and energy to put together a full layout. I have seen the smaller scales and for some reason, they just don't have the same appeal. Must be early O Gauge imprinting of my brain.  I do agree I have seen mostly older gentlemen at shows and hobby stores. I would guess that is because trains were THE mode of transportation when we were young and adventurous. Too bad the rail industry took being a railroad too seriously, had they viewed themselves as a transportation industry and ran trucking services in combination with rail service there maybe younger members at the shows. 10-4 good buddy this ain't the rubber ducky over

Dwayne B posted:

I have always been in o gauge from newborn on.........Seems to me anytime I meet someone in HO gauge they have their nose in the air and look down on me for being in o gauge. What's up with that.

I always thought HO was more of an art form...scenery and all that. Not to say that there isn't a lot of really talented art in O gauge. It's just that O gauge has a history in toys and HO seemed not toy like. I have no problem with all that, I don't do trains for the art or the layout, but more for the technical aspect, detailed models, and some toy value.

Many years ago, when I was a young man, a girlfriend told me that trains were a hobby for old men.  She was right.  I am older and my hobby is trains.....LOL

Tinplate Art posted:

GLAD to see a young man having fun with his trains as we once did at an earlier age - his smile tells it all! With arthritis and some carpal issues at 77, I moved to just standard gauge and LGB and PIKO G scale (1:22.5). I can see them better, and now all I have to do is struggle lifting the dadblamed things! LOL! 😁

Tinplate Art, I am with you, but where do we go from here?  At this rate we will be playing with 1foot=1foot by the time we hit 80.  I don't know about you but those might be harder to put back on the track when they derail.

Chris S.

He who dies with the most trains wins!