Maybe this is another reason for fewer young people in the hobby. How many children from a young age are in sports for hours at a time? Some of these places sound and run like the Eastern Block facilities before the Berlin Wall fell down. Families in this trap have no time or money for trains.
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They can not get out and see the real railroad in action.
Andrew
Hmm. My son has played hockey for the last seven years. He is now on a junior team, plays two games a weekend and has three practices a week.
When he was six, he used to ride with me in my locomotive as I made the last home bound leg of my daily run. He also ran a real GP-38 on a Freight train at an early age, under close scrutiny of course.
If I had him on my engine now, I would be fired. He has been surrounded by trains all his life, but...the spark never caught.
Kids have their own personalities and interests. We can try to influence them, but in the end, they tend to go their own way. One of his best non-hockey friends is a heavy duty railfan. His other best friend is his girlfriend...
times have changed....
Tom
I was also in sports (back in the 50s).
Please add the following to your list of reasons for decline : social media, smart phones, instant gratification syndrome, 1000+ channels of cable versus 3 in the old days, lower family disposable income, much smaller houses, fewer families owning a home, etc.
I wonder if the model car/airplane industry is having the same decreasing market?
For that matter the wristwatch industry is bound to be smaller than it used to be.
There is a dramatic drop in all hobbies, not just ours. Reasons are all that you mentioned. Think of how few hobby shops are still around.
My Dad played sports from First grade through his time at Marshall U. Still had time for a number of hobbies. They may take more time today but that is a parenting issue too.
Make a list of activities available to a 8-10 year old in 1955.
Now make one for 2018.
Yeah...technology and time are changing everything. Everything at your fingertips at lightspeed. Kids don't seem to have the patience to enjoy a hobby because they have so much at their fingertips that requires little thought or effort. Not dissing the younger folks. This is what they are growing up with. Just a different animal. I used to build models...ships, planes, etc. Revell and Monogram were my two favorites. Do kids even build models anymore? I sure don't know any that do. Things change. We are lucky our hobby has made it this far. BigRail
There is something else that worries me more than young people not getting into hobbies. Seems many parents are using objects and activites to do the parenting for them.
I was out of the hobby from age 12 to age 55, but now back, not uncommon, the sky is not falling
Unfortunately, the demands on parents are greater now than in my youth. I see it in my own grown children and my grandchildren. My father worked hard, came home to his family and found the time to spend with me - no matter what.
"Just say no to addicting kids to technology, former Facebook, Google employees, investors urge."
BigRail posted:Yeah...technology and time are changing everything. Everything at your fingertips at lightspeed. Kids don't seem to have the patience to enjoy a hobby because they have so much at their fingertips that requires little thought or effort. Not dissing the younger folks. This is what they are growing up with. Just a different animal. I used to build models...ships, planes, etc. Revell and Monogram were my two favorites. Do kids even build models anymore? I sure don't know any that do. Things change. We are lucky our hobby has made it this far. BigRail
Mine do; my older boy is a better figure painter than I am. And they build LEGO, too.
Both are into re-enacting, as well, the older one both WWII and ACW. And they were both scouts.
I recognize that their activities aren't common, but they aren't unique, either. Over the last eight years alone, there have been a dozen youths in my artillery company.
Next time you're on Facebook see if you can find the "logout" in less than 15 seconds. Not close the browser, actually logout. They have crews working to keep you on so I doubt they will embrace making it less addictive.
GVDobler posted:Next time you're on Facebook see if you can find the "logout" in less than 15 seconds. Not close the browser, actually logout. They have crews working to keep you on so I doubt they will embrace making it less addictive.
Upper-right corner, click on the triangle, click on Log Out.
Is it about trapping young people, or more about confusing old people?
Here's a perspective from the other side of the spectrum. I'm what you'd refer to as a "young person" and haven't had any other family members who took an interest in railroading. Family members who used to work for and around railroads yes, but for people who had an interest in modeling and railfanning no.
if you ever saw the response to the email about kids club you might have a different opinion. the spots fill up in about 30 minutes,
How about cost? Especially in 3 rail 0 scale the current prices scare people away. $1200 for a steam locomotive? For a teenager that money would buy them their first car. With the cost of sports, college funds, etc trains are the last thing on the list.
This is why trains are not a solid investment. The number of people interested in buying your trains is decreasing.
Times change and so do hobbies- my 9 year old son is a Cub Scout, does LEGO Technics which are more complicated than other legos he is also into Kano and jimlu, coding robots and computers. He is now getting into drones. He enjoys his Hot Wheels cars and racing Anki Overdrive. He also plays basketball like a fiend. Every now and then he’ll ask to run trains, and loves to show them off to his friends
Its all exposure- count the amount of real railroads that one sees today compared to 60 years ago. Today’s child is more tech-savvy, curious and ingenious and pay attention to trends and follow what their friends do and say. That what influences their hobbies.
They lost everything in the stock market the last couple business days because they did not diversify; all they had were gaming stocks.
Seriously, teenagers aren't even interested in getting their driver's licenses. Hell, I couldn't wait for my 16th bday to get mine. It is a different time and things change. Unfortunately, that change is happening at an ever increasing rate.
*Cough cough...
I’m 15 and I have not met anyone my age who likes trains. Sometimes I look on eBay for trains during free time at school and people think it’s weird to be interested in trains. I’m trying to get my mom to like trains like me but I don’t think I can get my dad into it. I feel like I can’t talk to anyone besides this forum who knows about trains. For example, my dad thinks all trains look the same. My dad likes to hunt so I said he can see the difference between an axis doe and a fallow doe (type of deer) just like I can the see the difference between an es44ac and a sd70ace. This helped him understand trains and I hope to help my friends understand too.
Boo Man posted:They lost everything in the stock market the last couple business days because they did not diversify; all they had were gaming stocks.
Seriously, teenagers aren't even interested in getting their driver's licenses. Hell, I couldn't wait for my 16th bday to get mine. It is a different time and things change. Unfortunately, that change is happening at an ever increasing rate.
I just got my learners liscence but I’m honestly scared of driving on the highway. The only reasons why I would want to drive is to go to hobby town and railfan. My parents won’t take me to these places because it’s boring and “too far away”
Logan -when i was much much much younger my Dad was interested in two things watching TV and opening beer bottles while watching TV, usually sporting events. You do your thing I do mine, if we can agree wonderful if not it cant be helped.
So hang in there, soon all of us will be gone and you will have all the trains.
I agree with all the statements above. I think there's still one more reason that we're missing here. I don't know anybody in N. Texas that's 10 years older or younger than me that's ever rode on a train. Passenger trains are a thing of the past (for all intents and purposes) and that loss of the experience may play into this conversation as well.
The way I see it, whatever was in the air we baby boomers breathed and in the water we drank, just isn't there anymore and hasn't been there for quite some time now.
I don’t think trains are a kids hobby today. I don’t think any scale train manufacturer is focused on children. No worry. They will grow up and earn a living as we did and get into the hobby as we did.
Arthur posted:The way I see it, whatever was in the air we baby boomers breathed and in the water we drank, just isn't there anymore and hasn't been there for quite some time now.
Lead 
The only time you live is in the present, you may remember something in the past or dream of something in the future however, you must go through the present.
Being a human you must use all three in harmony. no exceptions.
c Lee Kane
Do you think anyone offered all of the spiffy things out they would want to spend time on trains.
Computer games, TV, I Phones...opposite sex.
romiller49 posted:I don’t think trains are a kids hobby today. I don’t think any scale train manufacturer is focused on children. No worry. They will grow up and earn a living as we did and get into the hobby as we did.
I disagree. I was at the WGH here in Pittsburgh and IMO Lionel was totally focused on kids. 6 tables of trains, all geared towards kids, all hands on running. A lot of the Lionel sets are very much geared towards children.
MTH has embraced the technology through the DCS Explorer. This is slightly more advanced than the Lionel Bluetooth but is definitely aimed at getting Young adults started and interested.
Unfortunately trains are competing with too much technology in general. Too much competes for kids time and attention. So what do you do? Just make sure they are exposed to the hobby via train shows, clubs, or wherever you can. Lionel, MTH, and others are trying...we should too.
Todd Knoll posted:How about cost? Especially in 3 rail 0 scale the current prices scare people away. $1200 for a steam locomotive? For a teenager that money would buy them their first car. With the cost of sports, college funds, etc trains are the last thing on the list.
This is why trains are not a solid investment. The number of people interested in buying your trains is decreasing.
First of all I'm not a supporter of paying MSRP for engines. That's what I'm assuming the $1200 is right? Personally I just wait a few years till I can find said engine or rolling stock for less money.
First of all I'm not a supporter of paying MSRP for engines. That's what I'm assuming the $1200 is right? Personally I just wait a few years till I can find said engine or rolling stock for less money.
LOL, how much less?
And anything used has no warrantee.
How good is the warrantee anyway?
I'm 76. In my day, we liked to PLAY with trains, but none of my friends, or I, had a layout. It became a "hobby" for me in my mid-40s. However, I remember "steam" running as a kid.
It really depends on the younger people. What I gather is a lot of the people are the forum are easily 20+ years older than me. There are a few that are younger then me. I played video games for years, then I got bored with that. I do things on Facebook, but most of the things I follow are Model Train related. I do watch quite a bit of YouTube, but again most of that is Model Train or Electronic Related. I build saber props that have electronics in them.
I used to do a lot of Models, models are not the easiest things to find anymore, they used to be at Walmart, they really aren't anymore. I still do build Legos, mainly Star Wars.
The whole point to that ramble is it really depends on the person. My Son loves seeing my trains go, and he likes to run my polar express set, usually backwards full speed, but he does have some fun running it.
C W Burfle posted:First of all I'm not a supporter of paying MSRP for engines. That's what I'm assuming the $1200 is right? Personally I just wait a few years till I can find said engine or rolling stock for less money.
LOL, how much less?
And anything used has no warrantee.
How good is the warrantee anyway?
Well for instance I bought a TMCC M1a for $600 with the MSRP being $1199.95 at the time it was made. Granted I bought it from a friend of mine who was generous enough to sell it to me for such a low price. Unless you have a stable job, or part time job in my case, (or wealthy parents like some of my friends) I don't see anyone my age or younger even touching engines this expensive. Which again is a reason why kids aren't getting into the hobby.
I don't care about warrantees because first of all the engine is custom weathered and second I have several friends who fix my engines if they needed it.
I think six hundred dollars is still an awful lot of money for one engine and most folks don't have access to free or discount repairs.
I think it's because passenger trains are mostly a thing of the past. No firsthand experiences for kids anymore, no steam locomotives, no magic to be experienced. These days most kids' exposure to trains comes from waiting for a long freight hauling a string of lookalike cars to clear a road crossing, so to them trains are boring.
Pete
As a parent in 2018. I disagree sports is an issue. IMO sports is one of the( if not the only) few good things left for kids that actually gets them off any device for a length of time getting them to use their brain and their body.
Kids need to move, they don't like they used to, because they are glued to their devices.
Not to mention, it teaches other values like cooperation, teamwork, communication skills and probably the only thing they do that remotely prepares them for the workplace.
With the right coaches, even the "everyone gets a trophy" idea goes out the window, and they learn that hard work yields reward.
Sports has always been good for kids, even before trains.
Kids aren't into trains because its 2018, its the elctronic age. No different than the kid who got the first Lionel train 100 years ago probably never played marbles much after that.
Kids today don't play with tonka trucks the way I did in the 70's either, it is what it is.
Just because you put a toy train in front of a kid doesn't mean they'll take to it. Just because you sit at a crossing and watch a train go by doesn't mean they will even care.
The internet can take them anywhere, a toy train only goes in circles.
Times change, people change, toys change too.
One must also agree that sports is far more effective when it comes to helping the childhood obesity problem( which didn't exist years ago) just look at the vast majority of adult modellers at the next train show.
Instead of blaming this or that, how about just the realization that kids don't like certain things?.....because they don't. They can't be programmed to think the way a child did in 1950.
C W Burfle posted:I think six hundred dollars is still an awful lot of money for one engine and most folks don't have access to free or discount repairs.
Kids are getting they're own brand new smartphone for $600.
Kids are getting they're own brand new smartphone for $600.
How many people pay cash for their Smartphones?
Phones are available for "free" or at greatly reduced prices by signing a two year contact for service.
Plus many service providers lease phones.
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