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!

I bought my first O scale train as an adult when I was 25. Now that I’m 10 years older, I can afford to buy higher quality locomotives and now that I own a home, can actually build a "permanent” layout. 

I prefer O scale because it’s easier to handle (compared to smaller scales), seems to have more details (or maybe I can’t see details on smaller scales), and it was the scale of my first set that was around the tree.

Cool story!

-Greg

I helped a high school aged neighbor, Mason Moore, get his late grandfather's HO layouts working this past Saturday.  The grandfather had two fine layouts; one large one in a game room and another larger one in an upstairs room dedicated to the second layout.  Mason could not figure out the control systems on either layout so nothing would run.  The first thing we did was clean some long neglected mainlines, and then we unraveled the control setups and fixed some broken connections.  By the end of the morning we had trains running on both layouts for the first time in several years.  It was a stunning lesson to me as to how difficult it is to keep a large HO layout running smoothly.  The least bit of corrosion on the track will bring every train to a standstill.  We found automated switches that would not actuate due to broken linkage, and locomotives that needed oiling. It took a while to get trains running continuously around the mainline loops.  We did not get every function on each layout working, but we did make significant progress.  Neither one of us has the time to troubleshoot every aspect.

As well, O gauge track and locomotives must be cleaned and maintained for proper operation, but I found HO to be taxing on my eyes and unsteady hands.      

Give me O gauge every time. 

I got into O gauge at age 27; I'm 54 now - I must have been an old man for a long time 

DaveP posted:

I got into O gauge at age 27; I'm 54 now - I must have been an old man for a long time 

Savor your youth. I'm 70. When/how did that happen??

I don't like trains that you need a microscope to see. But whatever scale you're into as long as you like it that's all that matters.

71 and still waiting to become an old man.

Traingeekboy posted:

I thought so too.

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

Can't use sarcasm with old folks - they don't get - thanks for sharing your surprise

Moonman:

"Can't use sarcasm with old folks - they don't get it."

Sure, kid - what else could it be?

Dave Ripp. posted:

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.

Don't worry … the number that we each perceive as old will only get higher as we age.

If I really want to recapture that youthful feeling, I'll go to a train show. The last one I attended I was in my very early 50's, boy did I feel YOUNG! This was about 8 years ago.

Lenny the Lion posted:

If I really want to recapture that youthful feeling, I'll go to a train show. The last one I attended I was in my very early 50's, boy did I feel YOUNG! This was about 8 years ago.

I'm sure I resemble those remarks!  LOL

Friends of old men.

I admit it's getting harder every year but still hanging in, next week I begin a a 200 kilometre walk in the bush should be grateful I can still do it at 76 years old. The trains are easy to maintain because they are O scale no problems there and I don't have any duck unders ! Roo.

A few comments from an older man.

First and I think most important, O scale modeling is for real modelers who love detail.  You can put details on an O gauge car or locomotive that few have the dexterity to do in HO.  I love operating at the O scale club in Gardner MA.

But O gauge toy trains are on a different planet from O scale.  I love old O gauge trains, especially prewar.  I buy, clean, repair sell and collect them.  But that's another world from the HO model railroad club where I am a member who delights in reproducing actual railroad operations in 1955.

BTW, I'm 81

Malcolm Laughlin

I may grow old, but I'll never grow up. 

Tom

Tom Densel posted:

 but I'll never grow up. 

Tom

Who wants to!! Ha Ha.

I peruse quite a few Facebook O Gauge train groups.  Its AMAZING how many newbies are joining our ranks... and how little base knowledge they have about toy trains or electricity or basic carpentry or real trains.  Its a sure sign of the effect of two generations growing up without fathers...

Jon

I agree with you, Jon!  I have seen the same thing on FaceBook groups.  Many young people are interested in trains,

cjack posted:

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.

I disagree and have a totally different opinion on HO.  It's a scale for operators.  I belong to a club that has enough track in a 40 x 90 restaurant basement to model a long main line with intermediate classification yard, local yards and branch line.  We model actual railroad operations as they were in the 50's  In the Boston area there are a few dozen home and club layouts of different sizes that have operations as one of the key objectives.

For us operators, the art part is background to give better context.

Modern O gauge trains can operate as well as HO can. I know because I have done it.