What would our hobby be like were it not for the Internet?

Without the internet - more time actually devoted to the hobby itself.

Yes but the internet makes us more knowledgeable about the Hobby and introduces us to Hobbyists you might never know otherwise

You wouldn't be asking this question. 

Forums would primarily be in Rome.  Webs would be for spiders.  Threads would be in fabric.  Posts would support fencing.  And a former Vice President would have had nothing to invent. 

Without the internet, collecting trains and building layouts would be much as it was in the 60's through the 80's (for me): Reading printed magizines for tips, modifying track plans from track plan books to make them your own, asking local hobby shop owners for their advice, and learning from experience.

Bruce

What's the point of speculating? If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a bus.

If not for the internet, we wouldn't be able to see and hear new locomotives in operation. We would have absolutely nothing to go on new model trains other than the limitation of a printed catalog. We wouldn't know what fellow model railroaders thought of new models, or what they buy and have or what their layout looks like. We also wouldn't be able to talk with fellow model railroaders about trains. To me, if not for the internet, this great hobby would be nothing more than a secluded personal interest. So we ought to all be very thankful for the internet.

Without the internet, I think for most of us we would be saving a whole lot of money. Plus I believe our hobby would not be this advanced as it is today. Sure we would have a ton time on our hands, but what to do with all that time? The internet has provided us with a wealth information at our fingertips. There is no one who can say that they have learned everything from their selves. Somewhere along the way we have either seen or heard from others on how to do things.

I really like watching the on line videos and all of the photos that have been posted on line for all of us to see and hear. Not only from our neighbors but also from people living in the different parts of the world. And not of just model trains but also from the real ones too. We can also see trains from not only today but from years past.

One very important thing I learned along time ago, as I started out as career firefighter was that the day you stop learning is the time to get out. And that was over 40 years ago and even though I'm retired now as a career FF, I still am a volunteer FF and I'm still learning to this day. The learning is still a major part of this hobby of model trains that I had come to love. Yes we do have some fine magazines to look at and read, and they do help in us learn new ideas and how to add something new to our display and not to mention to see the future model trains that we can buy. But honestly where would our hobby be today? Do you really think we would see a lot of these new items that we today? I think not, I believe that we would have some nice trains but nowhere what we have today.

I would think we would be back to about 20 years ago with no internet. I believe the resurgent of model trains is due largely to the internet. Now at our fingertips we see that beautiful steam engine or a highly detailed piece of rolling stock and where we can buy it from and at what price. I'm glad we have the internet and where it is taking our hobby.

Paul

I got along just fine in the hobby prior to the Internet, and aside from meeting new people from distant places, making new friends, and making my job a whole lot easier, I haven't really been impacted all that much as far as the hobby itself is concerned.

I was in the hobby long before the internet. Like Allan, I got along fine.

I'm with C.W., Allan and Bruce.  Having returned to the hobby in the pre-internet year of 1989, I don't believe I was information handicapped in the least.  I subscribed to both OGR and CTT and read both cover to cover.  I hung out at train stores on weekends and visited with the owners and other customers, learning much about toy trains and collecting along the way.  We had several very large train shows each year and you could literally have spent two days wondering the aisles, visiting with the vendors and searching for pieces you wanted and still not see everything. In short, there was no lack of fellow hobbyists you could actually talk with and learn from. 

The internet did not create the toy train hobby.  While it has certainly enhanced my personal enjoyment of the hobby and provided the opportunity to interact (albeit electronically) with other hobbyists around the world, if it went away tomorrow; ce la vie.

Curt

Less distracting.

Also, no quick access to information "at your fingertips."  But, I'll tell ya, there's still these things called "books" that still have information you can't find on the internet.

Rusty

That's quite true!  And it's important to always keep in mind that anyone can post just about anything on the Internet, and it often involves considerable "work" for the engaged individual to separate fact from fiction.  That's generally not the case with printed materials which usually are subjected to a peer review process and editorial oversight--the "gatekeeper" process.  That doesn't mean that inaccuracies don't appear in print; just means that they are far less likely to show up.  On the Internet, anything goes.

Not so much for THIS hobby, but a real boon for other hobbies I have that do NOT have magazines, organizations, shows, and the huge number of like-minded people that the model/toy train hobby has.

Like Allan and C.W. I got along just fine.  My scratch building skills would be keener, would have bought less junk, would still be visiting my LHS and wouldn't be sitting here replying.

Good one.....I can't stop laughing

There would be lots more local hobby shops.

Pete

My impression would be along the lines of what Lee said. Back in the mid-90's when I first discovered somebody else still had trains (from the 40's) besides me (via a LHS window display,) my involvement was via the eagerly-awaited next issue of several magazines, shows (where very little socializing occurred while waiting in lines or shuffling along aisles,) and accomplishing a layout in the basement.

Without the Internet, I imagine we'd be a bunch of hobbyists still largely isolated in our basements doing our best. However, becoming as extensivley aware of the exceptional and beautiful layouts and craftwork out there in Miniatureland, shared on forums, for example, going well beyond what is available in the magazines, I gradually learned that what I thought was my one-and-only layout became only a memory. There was much to learn and try.

The society available through the Internet has broadened and enriched the experience and my understanding of this hobby. I learned a whole lot more. And met some real characters.

Frank

I know that, for me, if it were not for the internet, I would just be setting up 2-3 loops at Christmas and running my MPC era trains.

I wouldn't have learned about modern sound and command systems, the TCA, LCCA, LOTS, MTH, Atlas O, Weaver, Williams, SMR Trains, and York.  I might have picked up an odd issue or two of OGR and CTT, but I probably would not have become a subscriber.  I wouldn't have found the great videos produced by TM, OGR and others.  And above all, I wouldn't have been able to meet so many great guys from this forum (like Owen Sturm, just to name one), from the various manufacturers, clubs, dealers and publications.

In short, the internet has made this a social hobby that I can enjoy year-round and not just something to look forward to once a year.

Andy

Without the internet:

1) We'd have less of a sense of the value of items, on both a national and international basis, which the various online auctions now give us. (Twenty years ago, you'd go to a trainshow, see what items of various grades were being priced at, and if you questioned it, the vendor would show you "the book".)

2) We'd have a wider selection of LHSs and train shows to visit. (Twenty years ago, there were several more train shows a year in my area than we have now; not just DuPage, but Midlothian, Naperville, and even South Beloit...) The internet alone was not responsible for the reduction in venues, but combined with changing demographics and the down market, the result is obvious.

Count me as another one who was in the hobby (HO) way before the internet, and did just fine.

BUT – I hardly knew any other model railroaders

Now, thanks to the internet I have lots of cyber-friends, many whom I have met in person, and this is simply GREAT!

Alex

Yes, there's the key difference, and you said it better than I, Andy.

Frank

I agree with Alex. I was happy reading magazines and playing in the basement for years, but it is great to 'meet' other hobbyists both virtually and in 'real' life.

Come to think on it, I'm still reading magazines and playing in the basement...  

Without the web I would not have about 90% of what I have nor would I have found the help I needed. If the things I do have had to come from just shows and local shops I would never have been able to afford it either.

Rob

It wasn't here, I didn't miss it. We wanted info we went to the store and talked one on one. Yes I do enjoy it but could live without it.

Edit; An afterthought. My reply is about toy trains and the net. I DO understand business could never take that giant step back.

I agree, Rod. Every day is a "Bandit Meet" on eBay. If you want it, it's there. One of the biggest things I would miss if there was no internet would be this forum. Besides the camaraderie, there's a ton of information. This includes not only what to buy, but what not to buy.

Gilly

Yes,

We can all than Al Gore for what he has done to advance the 3 rail hobby.

"It wasn't here, I didn't miss it. We wanted info we went to the store and talked one on one"

Well you know what I found at the local hobby shops? All they wanted to do was tell me parts and things I needed for my post war trains were not available or could not be fixed, so they could sell me new trains if I gave up and bought their lies. 

Rob

I was into O gauge trains well before the internet and although I enjoyed the trains then, there is just so much more to see and learn today because of the internet. Magazines today are still important to me. Right now I am building an overpass from a article I saw about 3 years ago in CTT.  Nobody really needs the internet to enjoy their trains but it does open up a whole new world of friends, learning, and just plain fun.  BTW Al Gore did not invent the internet, the military did.

I have only been back in the hobby for about 4 years. I always had it in the back of my mind that I would get back into trains as a hobby, once I retired, to give me a year round interest, that I could work/play at, at whatever pace I wanted.

I live in Canada, and there are precious few hobby shops that sell or have a good knowledge of the "O" gauge train world. When I made my first purchase at the start of my venture back into the "O" Gauge hobby, (May 20, 2008 - it was an MTH Cylindrical Hopper)) I had absolutely no idea as to how far the hobby had progressed. I hadn't even heard of the Command Systems which were available, and in my mind, I thought I was going to be buying conventional stuff like I had when I was a kid. Without the internet, that's what would have happened I'm sure.

At the time, there were 2 hobby shops in my area (both about 35 miles away) that carried "O" gauge products, (one has since closed up) and neither of them in my opinion had anyone on staff that had a good working knowledge of any command system. They carried conventional "sets", and a few cars, but that's about it.  Additionally, the members of this forum have helped me out more times than I can count with what probably were novice questions. Someone always took the time to point a newbie in the right direction. A member of this forum even sponsered my wife and myself, as guests, so we could visit the York PA show, an experience I will never forget. A big thank you to everyone.

Through the internet, primarily this forum, I was able to learn about TMCC/Legacy/DCS, Track systems, Track Planning software, various accessories etc. and luckily make an informed decision before I started with any "major" purchases.

In my case, the Internet (as I said before.....primarily this site) has certainly made my experience in this hobby a pleasant one.

REV 

aside from meeting new people from distant places, making new friends, and making my job a whole lot easier, I haven't really been impacted all that much

WOW. That seems like a WHOLE LOT to me.

Gerry

I think the internet has been fantastic for the hobby.

ebay wouldn't be the new price guide.

Your trains would be worth more.  Every collectible took a hit when they became more readily available on the internet.  Looking to buy something in particular?  Wait for it.  It will show up for sale on the internet somewhere.

There are those who have nothing good to say about their LHS. To each their own. One thing for sure, the internet is what killed the LHS. Many had problems when their LHS had too compete with the web stores. My LHS came to be around 1925 and still made it through the Great Depression. In 1980 that owner read the writing on the wall and retired very comfortable. Since 1980 the current owner has struggled even with all the RC toys. Yes, I still buy there as often as I can. I've made a few internet related purchases.

I feel that the internet has done more harm to our hobby than good. Before the web we spent more time working on our trains. If we had a problem we dialed a friend and talked about it. Sometimes two or three of us would meet for breakfast monthly in addition to our local train club meetings.

biggest change the internet made ,at least with me and the northeast ohio area was loss of most of the trainshows.one by one they disappeared. no question about it, more were/are  buying and selling via the web than ever before.-jim

There is nothing to prevent you from these get togethers now, you just have to have the will to do it.

I know I have learned far more about model trains with the internet than I did without it. Sure I would see a few trains here and there before it, but the info was few and far between

My impression, Gerry, was he was being ironic and jocular, no?

Frank

I think the internet has made the hobby less expensive for collectors as well as operators. Buyers of old trains can find items they want any time of day or night, and no longer have to deal with inflated prices for "rare" trains. Buyers of newer products can price shop online instead of accepting the best local or mail order price. Item locators make finding the dream items easier than it's ever been. The internet has been a blessing to all in the train hobby, except perhaps to sellers.

Adios to paper ...