Our beloved hobby and society today

I tend not to think and/or worry too much about the status of the hobby....any hobby and I work in a different hobby(plastic staic kits)  Make the best product you can, promote it the best you can....let the chips fall.

My kids and grandkids all love my trains...the hobby will out last me...so I leave the worry to those that have the time.

My advice:  Take your health seriously, take your job/career seriously, and take your relationships seriously.  Anything else, and particularly your hobby, take far less seriously.  In fact, don't take it seriously at all because it is not a serious endeavor.  And most certainly don't worry about what the future holds because you, as an individual in an ocean of individuals, have no control over it.

I read that John Bruce essay some time ago, but still haven't quite figured out the point of it all.  Having been in the hobby and the hobby industry for a good many years, I was able to view it from a somewhat more informed perspective than most might have because I personally knew or still know a great many of the individuals and organizations he names and discusses.  Some of what he writes is quite insightful, but one has to know which points have some validity and which are just sour grape personal expressions (advanced for whatever reasons).  Bottom line, though, is that's a whole lot of time and effort to expend on something that really accomplishes next to nothing.

Don't worry about your hobby, boys and girls!  Just enjoy it in any way you can for as long as you can.  Have fun! 

We are no longer a hands on culture. In this I mean to say that throughout history no matter what you did for a living you had to know how to use your hands. This was true for farmers, doctors and candlestick makers. You better know how to keep your equipment working or you lost your income.

This became even more ingrained in people through industrialization thus well into most of the twentieth century.  People took pride in what they could build with their hands. In the early 1900's if a doctor told you that he built his home office you could bet he did that with his own hands, not just a check book.

But today things have changed. People look at working with your hands as belittleing. They have been traind to be thinkers, not doers.

Oh they may spend alot of time infront of the TV watching others work with their hands, but to actually do it them selves is mostly out of the question.

We, the hobby types are of a different type altogether. We enjoy working with our hands and get a kick out of the fact that others appreciate our hard work.

I think it will turn around again when we as a society get our collective heads out of our "butts" and come to the realization that the world dose not need, or wont any more thinkers, but builders and doers.

When our young folks can start building things again the skills that alow that will become prevalent, thus so will the need to express such talents in more ways then simply making money.

Whatever he is trying to say, he certainly is saying it in a lot of words. Reminds me of a famous comment about a piece of music: "It has too many notes." The essay is a rather banal assortment of observations, dressed up in a lot of pseudo-academic bafflegab. I skimmed about half of it, got extremely bored, and decided not to waste my time with the rest. 

IMHO, the article was written by someone with a big chip on his shoulder.

Yea "SWHiawatha", a true thinker!

+1

That's pretty much how I saw it as well!  

And, yes, that chip on his shoulder is apparently quite large.

I invested about 90 seconds in the article, and then cut short my losses. WTF.

Unfortunately I don't think this will ever be happening for the population in general.  We are heading to a technological future where ALL manufacturing is automated.  Think where 3D printing is going and then think about the Star Trek replicator.  Everything will be build on command.  The value in people will be in their ideas, not their manual skills.  I don't expect anything like this in my lifetime (or maybe my kids) but it will happen.  I just hope that society can organize itself so that ALL share in the bounty that is possible for this type of future. 

Wow.  I don't care a rat's butt if others like this hobby or not, except that if enough people don't, there will not be a market for Lionel to make more Legacy and Vision locos for me to buy, and I won't have enough locos!

The world, and our country, has been going to Hades in a hand-basket for generations.  That article was just one more "proof" that this is happening now - best to ignore it. 

Wow! I generally wish to avoid making controversial posts, but this article is one massive load of fertilizer. I sincerely mean no offense to ogaugeguy for sharing it, as the parts I read (2-3 sections) held a morbid curiosity for a few moments, but...

This is so poorly written it is hard to wade through. The section where the author denigrates the grammar used in forums is richly ironic.  I can't remember the last time I witnessed a greater collection of run-on sentences and fragments (to name two primary failings).

Unnecessarily verbose is an understatement in review of the article. The length alone, based upon the sections I did read, is sadistic.  I could have cut the whole swap meet section down to a sentence or two: 'I have not found very good deals at swap meets, and most of the cheaper items for sale are junk. Swap meet vendors' prices are too high, as if they have no interest in selling'.

The attack on the “clergy” as members of the hobby is so out of left field it negates any objectivity the author may have been granted by the reader. Furthermore, the nerve of this author to actually title a section with “Conclusions”, which might suggest there is any amount of professional research presented within, is offensive.  The article reads like the diatribe of a socially awkward and disenchanted hobbyist with one major axe to grind.  For example, one of the early ‘proposed’ theme’s of the article is, “One of the most clearly stated goals of the hobby is to improve its public image.” 

Gee, here I thought the stated goal was to have fun.  This individual needs more than a hobby.

I apologize in advance if my $.02 is too much for some, or too long itself.  It was an involuntary reaction to reading any portion of that nonsense.

I think it will turn around again when we as a society get our collective heads out of our "butts" and come to the realization that the world dose not need, or wont any more thinkers, but builders and doers.

A nation that draws too broad a difference between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools. – Thucydides

The same applies to builders and doers.

Wow.  Another forum-clogger, just like the cell-phone issue a week or so ago.  There is always somebody who turns a simple fun-filled, no-age-limit hobby into a major psychological or sociological dilemma.  For cryin' out loud, just ENJOY the hobby until you don't enjoy it anymore!  (that phrase almost sounds like something Yogi Berra would say.) 

Really, who cares about what someone else thinks about what you do with your time.

KevinB, your right. To me, my trains and layout are very personal. I never think how someone else will view my layout. It's made for me. Don

While true to a point, read through some old threads about (generally) "Do you tell others about your train hobby" and you will find many people indeed care about the perception of others, not only as it relates to the train hobby, but also to many facets of their lives.

It is human nature to care about the perception others have of you. It influences personalities and actions. 

So many of these threads have points made such "I don't care what other people think," when in fact they most certainly do.

Why wear your best suit and tie to a job interview? You want your prospective employer to think highly of you. 

Why take your new lady friend to a nice restaurant when McDonalds achieves the same purpose? You want her to think of you in a certain way.

Read through York threads. Complaints and back handed observations of dirty, infrequently bathed, unkempt train heads grumpily stalking the halls "crop dusting" along the way, bickering and arguing over prices, values, prototypical accuracy, who has what, whose trains are better than whose trains. 

While they may not care what others are thinking, those who make the derogatory comments certainly think enough of perception to negatively comment on the image of others.

The persona is a bunch of grumpy, belligerent old guys who who you wouldn't want to be in the same room with for very long. Read a few threads about prototypical accuracy or Lionel vs MTH and you'll find that perception is closer to the truth than most would be willing to admit.

That sums it up nicely for me!  

As Frank points out, there certainly are occasions in life where perceptions are important, but MY hobby is not one such occasion.  It's MY hobby and it has been MY hobby for a good many years.  I couldn't care less if someone else thinks I'm wasting my time, engaging in child-like behavior, or anything else.  The hobby gives me a whole lot of personal pleasure and relaxation, and it keeps the mind engaged and active.  That's really all that counts.

The fellow who constructed that rambling essay (and who needs to learn how to use quotation marks) may be a very fine modeler for all I know, but I can say for certain that he has way more problems with model railroading than I do or ever will have.  

quote:

Wow.  I don't care a rat's butt if others like this hobby or not, except that if enough people don't, there will not be a market for Lionel to make more Legacy and Vision locos for me to buy, and I won't have enough locos!

I don't think you are alone.

As for me, the current manufacturers and importers could close shop tomorrow, and my enjoyment of the hobby would not be diminished.

I am positive a out the state of this hobby.  At what other time has it offered the variety of product that it does today?  You can buy very detailed versions of every car of the California Zephyr train in every scale (except S and G) and the selection of rolling stock and both semi-scale and scale locomotives has never been better.  Control has become more elaborate and there is healthy competition among the manufacturers.  There may be fewer hobby shops but the Internet has opened this hobby up to those who live a distance from the major cities who were foreclosed from fully participating previously.

It could be worse.

No one is trying to ban this hobby.

Spoken as a life-long target shooter and sometimes hunter who has owned, built, and enjoyed numerous AR-15s and other firearms safely since the age of 18.

I like the way KevinB And Don thinks, I built my layout for one reason, I like trains. For those that see my layout, weather like it or not is no concern of mine. I have heard snide remarks from some people but I just ignore them, they are the ones missing out. 

This hobby has brought me allot friends, fun and some plain good times, I'm not the problem, the people that criticize are.  

Most of us are in this hobby as it is an important part of who we are and what we enjoy. I really do not take seriously what pundits have to say about the future of our hobby. What is important to me is the positive impact it has on my life with the many friends that I would have never come to know were it not for O-Gauge model trains.

My trains and layout are my way of relaxing and leaving behind daily concerns to escape to a miniature world that I completely control (at least until the next derailment...).

I can run prototypical or non-prototypical trains, Lionel or MTH or Williams, have a toy train area and detailed areas. In short, it's my train room and my little world.

I was fortunate to be a member of the Central Operating Lines club while I lived on Long Island, and yes, we had many personalities, but all of us enjoyed our trains in one way or another.

I believe the key is the realization that a hobby is....a hobby, not the prime focus of our lives, but as Allan pointed out a very enjoyable diversion from work, health, family, political and other concerns. When the hobby becomes the prime focus, to the point that train brand or degree of realism cause tremendous personal anxiety, something is getting out of balance. It's all a matter of perspective!

A hobby is there for you when you want it.  You do not have to pay it more attention than you want to.  It will not feel neglected & leave you.  What happens to the hobby after I am gone I can't control.  I try to bring new people in it. 

I frankly do not care what self proclaimed experts have to say.  I will enjoy the hobby as long as I am able. The state of the economy, world or train shows (whether or not I can take a cell phone someplace) does not bother me or influence in any way the enjoyment my family gets from the hobby.

If I never buy another thing I have plenty to run.  Like most things in life, trends come & go.  It is obvious that the O scale enthusiasts are older and without the pressure of having to raise a family we can afford the prices if we so choose.

We do not need to analyze everything we do, some things we do for the sheer joy of just doing it.  If you sit around and worry about trends and what will happen with this hobby when you are gone YOU WILL MISS THE TRAIN.  Just sayin'. 

We do not need to analyze everything we do, some things we do for the sheer joy of just doing it. 

YES!

It is just a really very strange and often non-sensicle rant. I don't even get the pages and pages of writing. I think honestly someone took a little too much or not enough medication before its writing I am left totally unimpressed and unencumbered by it.

I try not to think too much....and I've gotten really good at it lately.   

I just have fun with my trains.

Jim

It was bad until he got to the rant about Pastors in the Hobby.  Then it just got weird and nonsensical.  Maybe he was talking about the TOOGs?

Jon

Enjoy the trains.   This generation is lost.  They can't have fun with their clothes on.

Interesting thread.

Martin,  I'm wrong?   Facts are on my side not yours.   BTW,  I'm not old.

Martin, no offense was taken.  Made me laugh too.   My wife calls me that all the time.

As my Grandmother used to say " if you do not have anything nice to say about someone or thing, Do not say it"...  And I was about to break Grandma's rule After reading this thesis.