For Younger Forum Members...

The reason I love model trains, and O in particular, is that I don't need to be good at it.  I can just enjoy it and keep adding to it.

 

Why I model a particular theme, time, name?  I like to run trains that are from the first half of the 20th century. I ike to focus on NE names since that is where I live. Modern rail has no... romance about it compared to the early 20th century.

 

I think the 1930s-1950s was the golden age of rail with both diesel and steam running concurrently; the boom and progress during the post war years spurred the increased movement of people (thus also purring the increase in air traffic leading to apassenger rail's demise). The focus on the early and mid 20th century is where everything that is great about rail came to a head.

I am 33 I just run trains. It does not bother me to run my Fundiminsions NYC Hudson on the inner loop with my MTH sd70macs running on the outer loop.  Most of my recent purchases have been more contemporary road names and equipment mostly so that my kids have a chance to play with something they might actually see.  To me the best part of toy trains is the chance to run past and present equipment at the same time.

 

Steve mills

This is one of the best and most interesting threads that I have read on this forum in a long time. Kudos to you!

I'm in my mid 40's. And trains were genetically transfered to me all the way down from my grandfather and great uncle.
My great uncle was a conductor on the Pennsylvania RR.
I grew up running American Flyer S and Post War trains.
Most kids loved the slot cars, but they bored me.
I have all my dad's trains, and his brothers that were handed down to me.
I think the thing that gravitates me to the steam days are the unique engines at the time.
its like getting in an old car. Its still is new to me because I have never seen it!
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I'm 13 and I got my first Lionel steam set when I was 4. It was Santa Fe so from there on I wanted to add to my Santa Fe collection. The next year for Christmas I got an ATSF RS-3. It wasnt untill last year when I recieved the Lionel Norfolk and Southern RTR freight set with sound. That set got me hoked on the NS. Now I dont buy a piece of rolling stovk unless it is the Southern, Norfolk and Western, or Norfolk and Western. Ilike those three because they operate(d) near where I live and the massive Southern Railway Terminal is right here in my town.

Trainman13

Well,

 

I'm 44 and grew up in Hornell, NY which has a history of being a major fixture on the Erie (and later, Erie Lackawanna) railroad.  My dad worked for the EL but left about 6 years before they went belly-up.  He always had stories to tell.  I also inherited what must have been one of the last All Aboard sets A. C. Gilbert made  before going bankrupt from an older cousin.  I would pull it out and play with it every chance I got. 

As I got a bit older I tried some HO items but they were mostly the poorly made Bachmann discount store offerings and, well, the result was predictable. 

 

Fast-forwarding a bit, I discovered S-Helper Service’s S-Trax and their newly released SW-9 in a local hobby shop.  I instantly fell in love with the products – they were everything the Bachmann stuff wasn’t:  well-made, well-detailed, hefty and made to run.   So I started accumulating with the intent of building a layout.

 

Fast-forward a few more years and I ran into a club layout at a show in Charlotte (NC).  They had a modular layout with lots going on, long trains and… it was S-Gauge.  The club was the Atlantic Coast S-Gaugers.  I joined and instantly became active.  That’s been about 10 years ago now.   I’ve made some good friends.  We do 8-10 shows a year and we’re getting set to take our layout to the NASG convention in Chattanooga in a few weeks.  Work on my layout progresses slowly.

 

My favorite road is the EL, for obvious reasons – though I also like the B & O.   Our club does more Flyer and operating accessories; I like both these and more close-to-scale items and see no problem with mixing them.  Not content to let Chinese engineers have all the fun, I’ve also taken to building accessories and animations of my own.   

We're in a great hobby and I do everything I can to spread the word.

 

Nick C.

    I’m in my early 40s and can attribute my love of toy trains to my dad…as a lot of other guys (and a few gals) do as well. What also influenced me was my father’s employment with the railroad (PC and then Conrail in upstate NY) and my frequent trips with him to the yard where he worked. His #1 hobby was toy trains and Lionel trains to be exact. He was born in 1937 in New York City and as a young kid he was smack-dab in the middle of Lionel’s golden years at the top of the toy train hobby. When I was growing up (1970s) I was exposed first hand to his extensive post-war collection and in the 1980s he and I built a good size layout in our family’s basement as well as travelling to toy train shows with him on the weekends. I loved every minute of it.

 

    I think my personal motivation is not just being exposed to toy trains as a kid but it is a fascination of anything in miniature form…and a desire to recreate things in miniature form. Another hobby of mine is scale plastic model building and a desire to get every detail right…just like the original. My personal preference is to model the New York Central. This is an obvious connection to my father’s youth. He grew up taking trains between NY City and upstate NY in the 40s and 50s to visit relatives. When he would choose a road name in model railroading it was NY Central above everything else. An additional influence on him, and thus on me, was the draw to the NYC’s Hudson. That was hands-down his favorite engine made by Lionel…and what I have inherited into my collection today. When I was a child I was fascinated with the new diesel power that was emerging on America’s railroads. In the 1980s my favorite engine made by Lionel was the SD-40…I loved (and still love today) the lines on that one. But, it was not until recently while browsing videos on You Tube that I found old promotional footage from NY Central showing the Hudson, among other steamers, in action. It finally clicked in my head as to why dad loved these engines so much. It was a love and appreciation for the engineering that went into building these graceful behemoths. This engineering was evident on the outside of these classic engines where as today’s diesels hide all their intricate engineering behind the sheet metal of their bodies.

 

    An additional inspiration for me is an admiration for the age of railroading. While quietly changing when I was growing up – as the airplane took over as the prime mover for people over long distances – I look back into the history books and am fascinated by how transportation used to work in this country. These historic railroads were at the center of the evolution of transportation at the turn of the last century. Logistics isn’t sexy but it wins wars and it builds economies and nations. I find studying and understanding it very, very fascinating. This, coupled with my love of all things miniature, drives me in my love of this hobby. 

 

-Len

I think the answer to the question is simple. Their motivations are Daddy & GRANDPA!

ok i am 33 years old.  why do i like steam it makes me think of a simpler time.  as for why i like rock island, NYC, etc.  well rock island is because my grandfather lived there and when my grandmother was growing up she would sit on the curb and look  at the cars that said rock island on them.  as for NYC well i live in syracuse NY.  it use to run right though here  and the other resin is because i love trains.  

I often hear from older people why they like to model the Rock Island, Pennsyvlania, etc... They grew up with those railroads and saw them in operation. Why are younger people into those railroads especially if they never saw them?

 

Can we discuss that guys?

 

33, I guess the reason is the same as why I was into old cars for many years - I just liked the styles and the designs.  My first car was a 1968 Cadillac - in the year 2000.  Most of my friends were driving 4-5 year old cars.  

 

Honestly, I like the diesel passenger era up until the mid-1960s more than steam, but I appreciate the incredible machinery of steam engines.

I don't have a choice to model "new" railroads because the gov't and trucking industry basically screwed up the railroads, so there really isn't much for me to work with. 

Plus, I like the FEC because what Flagler did turning Florida from a mosquito-ridden swamp to what it is today is an achievement on par with anything else man has ever done.  The Key West Extension was widely regarded as the eighth wonder of the world for a time.  FEC was mostly out of passenger business by the end of 1962.  They are stuck in time like James Dean for me, with that beautiful red/orange paint scheme, passenger service, etc. 

Yes, I know they're still around, but there is a clear demarcation in their history, with passengers then without.

I'm 34, and I have always loved trains. What little boy doesn't love big, powerful, noisy and dirty? And when dad would get his postwar Lionel set out...well, it was big, powerful, noisy and maybe a little dirty, too. I have always preferred those older trains, even though the new ones are more scale-like and have more features. There is a certain heft and mechanical honesty, if you will, that is appealing to a person who came up in the computer age, who has no need for more things made of cheap plastic, with mysterious, intangible inner workings.

 

I think the choice of a long-defunct road to model or collect comes from an early impression that made it somehow seem significant or important. I like the Rock Island, because I learned early on that the line that went near my childhood home was former Rock Island. I like the NKP because I was so impressed by a Pentrex video of the 765 I saw playing at the Great American Train Store as a tyke.  I like the MoPac because I am from Missouri, and the Burlington because the Zephyr at the Museum of Transportation is shiny! I like the New York Central because I knew that Lionel made a NYC Hudson. It's the vague impression of significance imparted to a railroad by a sometimes only tenuously-related occurrence that makes us want to experience that railroad vicariously--unlike so many of the older modelers, whose interest is in continuing or reliving something they once knew intimately.

Wow. I am impressed and glad to see the replies to this post, All great stuff. Good to see the hobby is still kicking even in this day of video brain interference.

I can’t tell you my reasons because I am over the limit. I will be 60 next month. But now I know why I can’t win a bid on a replacement motor and drive truck for my DT&I 8111

I'm 13, but advanced for my age. The thing with model railroading is that there is always a way to expand or change. You can make additions to your layout, make an unconventional one. There is so much potential ideas that can be put into a model railroad that nothing else can match.

Let's keep this thread alive! Any more stories to post?

I have enjoyed reading this thread.

 

Doug

Hello. I'm 15 what motovates me to do model railroadig is the following. I'm a sophomore I love history class and science. I like doing this because I get to wire things up see if they run if they don't I learn how to rewire it. And I model railroads from pennsylvania like the pennsy, Conrail, reading, And the Bessemer & Lake Eire. I enjoy these roads because they had class and I like the looks of the older locomotives. I would much rather see a EMD Sd45 or an RS3 or steam run around the layout instead of a Gevo or a SD70ACE. It's also fun sharing the hobby with some of my friends that enjoy it like me.

I am 20 years old and just like many others have said, I got my start with Thomas the Tank Engine.  My parents bought me the wooden Brio Trains and that just fueled my love of trains.  I would spend hours in my bedroom setting up a layout and playing with the trains.  When I was about 5 years old, the History Channel came out with their series Trains Unlimited.  Since it aired past my bedtime, my parents would tape the episodes for me.  The episode on Lionel Trains made me want to get into O gauge (even though I was only 5) and I got a second hand set.

 

To answer the questions about passenger trains, steam locomotives, and fallen flags, I have always been fascinated with passenger trains.  My grandparents live within walking distance from the Nanuet Train Station (NJ Transit) and would take me there every time I slept over.  My Dad used to take my brother and I to watch the NJ Transit trains in the Suffern rail yard.  Also, my Mom's grandpa was a motorman on the IRT and my Nana would always talk about her trips with her Dad.  When watching Trains Unlimited and going to the Bergen County Model Railroad Club's Pearl River Train Show as a little kid, I was always mesmerized by steam locomotives.  In middle school, I started watching those old tapes again for a project in history class and that's how I got my interest in the New York Central.  Joining the Bergen County Model Railroad Club in the 8th grade and talking to the members along with hearing stories from my Grandpa about his journeys on the 20th Century Limited also fueled my interest.

 

Today I am a history major and a trustee in the Bergen County Model Railroad Club.  Unlike other posts on this topic that states their grandfathers and fathers interest in the hobby as an influence, I am the only person in my family who has such a love for trains, but my family always showed support for everything that I did and love.  My Dad even jokes that I "poisoned him" when I first joined the BCMRRC because he started to find the trains cool!

 

MUEagle, this has to be one of the best and most enjoyable threads on the forum, thanks!

 

~Jeffrey