Number Of Enthusiasts Is Amazing

Dilly Dilly!

Never seen such a great bunch of guys and gals, all with one common goal.

I was into HO when I was younger, O Gauge is much better.

Bob

And here's the other thing:  We often get caught up here with the idea that our "forum family" is the defining group of O-gaugers out there. Yet, based on some anecdotal and other word of mouth evidence (talk to folks at York, for example) there are thousands of O gauge hobbyists who don't participate here or in any other online forums.

This is a great place to share ideas and learn but we are, essentially, the tip of the iceberg.

I joined this forum yesterday.  I think it is informative and worth being a part of.  I bing or google issues and it  usually brings me to this forum.

Welcome. 

This is indeed a great place to get info about repairs, history, etc. Seems there's a lot of experience here.

Just be careful when it come to opinions... Like most (all?) forums, things can "go south" rather quickly; just giving you the heads up... 

Mark in Oregon

RSJB18 posted:

Dilly Dilly!

….

Bob

I do LGB (indoors only) plus MTH and Lionel Classics standard gauge! Divested myself of the rest of my O gauge earlier last year! 

Since I am active in, or interested in, several scales in this great hobby (Z, Marklin HO, On30, O, and Large Scale), I belong to a number of forums and groups, including a good number of social media groups not affiliated with any publication, club,  manufacturer, or other type of more "formal" organization. There's no question that in the world of O gauge model railroading, this is by far the largest organized forum and the best source of information--much of it even correct--relating to the O gauge segment of the hobby.

Yes, as Dan noted in the original post, the number of participants on the Large Scale forums is currently much smaller, but their level of enthusiasm and interest remains high. Garden railroading is one of my favorite pastimes, even though I presently do not have a garden railroad at the home I moved into a bit over a year ago. I have all the trains I need and even a good amount of track, but have not yet had the time or $ to build a modest garden pike (that will come in the future after some othdoor landscaping is done).

To some degree, the Large Scale/garden railroading segment as a whole suffered considerably with the loss of the original LGB (the brand is now owned by Marklin), as well as the closing of Aristo-Craft and a reduced contribution in new product from Bachmann and others. The market in any scale reflects consumer interest and vice versa.

I'm also involved in Z scale and Marklin HO, and both of those scales have a good number of social media groups as well as several more formal/organized forums. I don't know what the total number of online participants might be for either of those segments, but the activity level in both cases is quite high with an international audience.

A scale that was really going and growing well over the past 15 years or so is On30, which enjoyed a market pretty much launched and dominated by Bachmann at its inception as a popular modeling scale with broad public appeal. Bachmann, for whatever reason, has tended to neglect that segment in recent years, and I still believe that was a bad move on their part because some of the finest modeling you'll ever see, in terms of gorgeous layouts, results from the activities of the narrow gauge hobbyists. You will see On30 (O scale trains and rolling stock on HO track, representing 30" real-world narrow gauge railroading) in the pages of O Gauge Railroading magazine simply because I firmly believe it serves as an inspirational resource for any and all O gauge/O scale modelers.

To be perfectly honest, I don't worry all that much about raw numbers, aside from the impact those number may have on manufacturing or, in our case, in the health of our magazine and its related activities. We admittedly have seen the peak period of O gauge--what we experienced in the late 1990s and the early decade of the current Century--pass, but that is quite understandable given the demographic and societal changes that cannot be reversed. However, O is still doing well in the overall scheme of things, and I have no worries about its future viability as a creative, educational, and satisfying pastime. This IS the world's greatest hobby as far as I am concerned, and I'm sure most here likely agree with me. I'm confident that it has a good future ahead.