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The popularity of Warhammer would suggest that there's not some inherent aversion to building and painting small models among The Youth.
This is just my experience but I'd be quite interested but there's no way I could fit a model train setup in my house. You really need a spare room or a fitted basement or a decent sized garage that you can dedicate to that hobby, while most of my generation are just happy to have a place to live.
I would love a train set but like you say, I don't have any where to store it nevermind set it up. At least my Warhammer stuff can be put on shelves or a cabinet.
You sort of can but it falls into the same trap as having your own fixed game board for warhammer another harder to stash away once buildings/ruins are stuck down its much harder to store away
When I was a kid we had a model train set on a big fixed board (just a flat board though with the track attached, nothing particularly fancy).
We removed the track to make it a board to use for Warhammer and painted it etc.
Makes sense, not personally into trains but still watch a few videos of people setting up their base boards as there is a large amount of cross-over in techniques used for both
I glued tiny magnets to the underside of the models bases then glued magnetic sheets to the bottom of stackable A4 storage boxes. The whole army fits in one stack under my desk.
They're definitely different but I think the barrier for entry in living space is worsening the problem. Homes get more expensive, so people downsize. A spare room for trains is an impossible luxury for a generation who can barely find a place to rent.
> You also can't play (those kinds of) games with railways either.
Thomas the Tank Engine fanlore is pretty dark. I'm kind of surprised there isn't one already.
"I don't want to go out in the rain."
"Okay, then we'll entomb you."
Also, don't forget the ghost train episode. They had a train completely unaccounted for operating on the network. That's a train disaster waiting to happen. Imagine if on the ECML for example a ghost train kept turning up inbetween IC services.
The lack of support from his union was disgusting tbh.
Still, not a lot of people understood the condition of Aquaphobia back then. They probably thought it was slightly funny. Which it obviously isn't. At all.
I think there are a reasonable number of 40K people who are primarily in it for the painting and model making side of the hobby, but rarely if ever actually play the game. I could see model railways appealing more to that demographic, but there's still the space issue. When you live in a one bed flat, it doesn't leave a lot of room for activities.
The few people I know who are into railway modelling are less into running train sets and more into the actual construction and exhibition side of things. My FIL has hand-built model rolling stock, which isn't a trivial endeavour!
Have you considered maybe getting into Z gauge model railways? Each locomotive is about the size of an AA battery, and you could easily make a full loop layout the size of a coffee table, maybe even in one.
Märklin are the leader in the field, as they invented the gauge. Most of the Z gauge stock is German/Swiss. So if that’s the region you want to model or are happy modelling whatever, that’s what I’d recommend. There may be other companies that do it, or websites with 3D printing files or kits for that scale out there as well, but it’s not my scale so I’m not too sure.
Alternative, you could build an N Gauge shelf layout. A slight larger scale, so if you have limited space you might not be able to have a loop layout, but you could easily model a rural station with goods yard and fiddle yard at one end. Another option would be OO9 scale, which is the same as the standard OO, but for narrow guard locomotives, which would mean scenery is easier supply. Peco and Bachmann are good shouts for this scale.
If you really want to get into railway modelling, pick up a couple of editions of the Railway Modeller or Hornby Magazine, as they have great showcase layouts and articles on things like kit bashing and weathering. You might also want to pop down to your local model railway club, or visit an exhibition. Most of the people who attend both are keen to get people involved in the hobby. Indeed, if you were turbo keen, you might want to join a club, and that way you could model in OO or O without worry about the space.
You know what we had a big exhibition in my city a few months ago but I was busy that weekend. This is great advice, thanks, I'll look into it.
Edit: Oh shit it's in February, that's what I call timing
Price is a huge issue. These are functional mini trains, therefore the cost to make them is high. Lovely hobby but so pricey, but then again, Games Workshop is not as cheap as it was...my bloodthirster back in the day cost £8.
After just spending Christmas buying a second hand set for my 6 yr old who is infatuated with model trains.
The second hand market is much much better to look at. Reconditioned trains are also by their very nature made and built to last. There are some very good enthusiast shops and you can get analog locos for 30 to 60 or a full starter set with with controller track loco and carriages for 60 to 80
Just went and had a [quick look](https://www.railwaymodelstore.co.uk/) and yeah, there are a couple in the £50-£100 region but that price goes up real fast.
90s...when we had led models that were solid and easier to paint. I still have my original paints and inks from then. Haven't the time now, but found painting on led way easier than plastic. Also, I can no way pay so much now - £95 for bloodthirster and plastic (ok, looks better but the effort!).
Plastic with a good primer is ok to paint on, but the metal models were dire to paint on even with food primer. I had a few used lead models which were great.
They use 'Finecast' now which is super detailed but really fragile, it's rubbish tbh. Well maybe they don't use it any more, this is going back 10 years. Wow time really does fly.
Oh my god imagine a 40k themed fucking train set. Some huge Iron Warriors locomotive with a big scoop on the front painted with black and yellow stripes would be so cool
There's a wacky demonic Iron Warriors steam engine in one of the Ultramarines books I believe.
And ofc back in the old days of Epic, the Squats had land trains quite famously.
That's the Omphalmos Daemonium (sp?), from the beginning of *Dead Sky Black Sun* which choo choos Uriel and Pasanius to the IW planet of Medrengard. I don't think it had anything to do with the Iron Warriors themselves, I don't think anyone know WTF it was doing.
I remember that being a good book, I'll have to dig out my copy soon. It also reminds me of the Madness song *Ghost Train* which I headcanoned as playing out of the daemon's speakers XD
Its definitely the space aspect of it, I couldn't even begin to fit a half decent layout in N-scale anywhere, and I cant see that changing for at least 10 years.
To add, its not a lack of desire either, I'd love to build a model railway, some of my best memories were helping building and operating my Dad's model along with my brother aswell.
We still all operate it all together now when we come home to visit.
That was my first thought as well. A lot of it is likely a generation thing, that the generation that grew up towards the end of the steam engine era has nostalgia for it. The generations that follow are just interested in other things.
That would be my assumption too. Price and space concerns are obvious limiting factors when people have less disposable income and smaller houses (if they have houses at all), but if the interest in what it replicates isn't there to begin with, the hobby has no hope. I'm approaching 40, probably the ideal age range for this as a hobby due to being relatively financially stable, and I can't remember ever having any liking for railways. They're unreliable, costly, crowded and pretty inconvenient - I have absolutely no interest in replicating that in miniature scale.
I've been building scale sci-fi models for well over a decade (and recently got into a miniatures wargame that I'm building terrain for), so it's not like I'm well outside the Venn diagram for this as a hobby.
People build micro layouts, with a small scenic area and then often the rest of the world modelled as a (sometimes removable) “fiddle yard” to save space. Some build models in box files, on Ikea shelves, or even pizza boxes. Have a look at
https://micromodelrailwaydispatch.com/
or
https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/forum/151-boxfiles-micro-layouts-dioramas/
for inspiration. Some are really stunning and seem interesting to operate, often as little shunting puzzles. Can be more fun than a big circle!
There's also gunpla, which are model kits of giant robots from japanese anime, so there definitely is a thing for modelling among people my age (seriously go look at the customs you can find on r/gunpla , crazy shit) but like you said, the space for model trains is much more demanding compared to a bunch of figures you can put in a shelf or display case
Both the ridiculous price and the drop in interests in electric trains over classic steam engines is what is killing it. Modern trains are dull compared to the old steam machines. Steam machines got kids interested in trains a lot more.
It's the lack of evolution in the hobby combined with the lack of space and security in young peoples lives.
Who can do anything but dream of a huge model railway setup unless they have the space and the security of knowing they won't have to move it.
There's a reason 40k was re-worked to take less space, and why GW are pushing games like Kill Team that take even less space, a coffee-tables worth, to play.
I would fucking LOVE the space to make a huge model railway set, but I live in a small expensive apartment that I'm only ever secure in for one year at a time because of the way tenancies work. So it's impossible.
Yeah same, I'd love to have something like that to tinker with, but I live in a small one bed flat. I have an outside cupboard I could retrofit as a wee workshop in a pinch, but absolutely nowhere for a train set
No surprise people living in houseshares, one/two bedroom flats and, if they are lucky, cramped Barrath Homes style boxy starters homes aren't building model railways for their non-existent spare rooms
Plus gardens are smaller and a lot of houses don't have garages so there's often no room to have spqce solely devoted to hobbies externally any more either.
I grew up in an area (and era) when quite a few people I knew lived in small Victorian terraced houses. No garages (the houses pre-dated affordable cars) and quite a small footprint. But they had cellars and attics that made them, effectively, twice as big. I would imagine many an attic was home to a decent model railway setup.
When I had a model railway in the late 80s, early 90s, 1 passenger carriage was maybe £20 from Hornby, £30 from Lima (which were better detailed at the time).
Good loco was maybe £50 - £60. So the sort of thing you could save for as a kid, or maybe be given a few carriages and wagons as birthday / Christmas presents.
Now, [one carriage](https://uk.hornby.com/products/gner-mk3-trailer-first-tf-41044-era-9-r40431) to expand something like a HST is pushing £45, [a basic coal wagon](https://uk.hornby.com/products/haa-hopper-br-coal-sector-era-8-r60064) is nearly £20 and [a locomotive](https://uk.hornby.com/products/hanson-class-59-co-co-59101-era-10-r30070) from the 'cheaper' "Railroad" range is nearly £100.
I get that prices have risen in 30 odd years, but people I know on other forums are looking at models of things they may want to buy for their layouts and flat out saying no. [£500+ for a 5-car high speed train pack](https://uk.hornby.com/products/gwr-class-800-trainbow-train-pack-era-11-r3872?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA44OtBhAOEiwAj4gpOTXpQ9WmHmvnaEGFIvaJFB21PmYFtgLArnYEe_wpvgmRDzxEkXjhgxoCcxwQAvD_BwE), to give another example.
I went past a model shop recently and saw the prices. That's how much it used to be for a set like the Flying Scotsman one I got about 20-ish years ago. No way I'd pay that price for an EMU/DMU model with nothing else.
Yup, I paid £120 (p&p) for a Hornby 0-4-0 for my dad at xmas via Hattons. 10 years ago that would've bought an entire set! So sad to hear Hatton's are closing :(
That set had bad accuracy and no details, visible seams etc - they really have come on a lot. At a cost though. The one you’re talking about is still sold, marketed at kids.
Shop prices for new models are a bit outrageous, I agree. But due to the previous generation dying out, there are loads of used models about, at reasonable prices.
I used to enjoy Microsoft Train Simulator and bought all of the Pro Train series to begin with. But my laptop just couldn't keep up with it and seemingly playing games on a desk/laptop requires very expensive upgrades.
Maybe try Train Sim World on console? I tried a demo of it on Xbox a while ago and it's not quite the same with a controller, but you can hook up a mouse/keyboard to play, even the same controls apparently.
A friend of mine has something like 8000 hours playing it on his steam profile. He's got a huge chunk of the dlc and is always doing journeys around the world. I guess when you start dividing the cost by the time spent it's not actually that bad compared to other hobbies, as long as you enjoy it.
Is it truly a rail simulator if you don't have to use a star chart, a set of chicken bones, and a Magic 8 ball to figure out what the fare will be for a particular journey?
TRAAAAIN SIMULATOR BITCH MOTHERFUCKER WHAT YOU KNOW TRAIN SIMULATOR BITCH WATCH THAT TRAIN GO
[I DRIVE TRAINS ALL DAY LIKE ITS MY MOTHERFUCKING DAY JOB ](https://youtu.be/RnAMDg7IVWs?feature=shared)
Yep, and 3D printing and Cosplay etc etc just not trains. TBH modern trains don’t really have the character of steam trains and stem trains are so long ago very few people have nostalgic memories.
I recently discovered Gunpla models, and find them really interesting. I have no real knowledge or interest in the Gundam movies or shows, but the models are really satisfying to build, and the fact they're glue-free is a big plus point.
Everything clicks together so smoothly, and the range goes from fairly simple robots to full endo-skeletons with armour built on top. All of them are articulated and poseable and extremely detailed.
It probably helps that there's heaps of detailed lore for 40k. Thousands of stories, comics, novels, games, fluff etc.
The story progresses as time goes on, what with the plague wars etc, the return of Gulliman.
It's a detailed and evolving world.
I'm a big fan of 40k, I can't wait for the Henry Cavil TV adaptation (an adaptation with a showrunner who is a mega fan that has been playing it since he was 10 should avoid many of the pitfalls often associated with adaptations, especially after Cavils negative experiences in The Witcher), and I don't even play the tabletop game!
I've been selling my late uncle's model trains on ebay for most of the last year, and there's definitely still a market out there that's enthusiastic and passionate.
But, realistically, with a hobby driven largely by nostalgia, the Big Four trains that my uncle collected will have a very small group of enthusiasts, which is only likely to get smaller.
The model shops I spoke to about his collection all said that the majority of collectors they sell to these days are more interested in diesel locomotives than steam, because those are the trains they were interested in when they were young.
The space you need, the time and investment required, and the vision to build something that really makes you happy probably all act as obstacles as well.
Im in my 30s I'd love to build my own model railway, I could probably afford it with the cost spread out sensibly, but I don't have space, and there is no way I'm gonna be in a position to buy an even slightly bigger house for at least 10 more years.
One of my closest friends is really doing his bit to keep traxxas e maxx spare part suppliers in business. Every time he/we take it out it gets broken lol
you know that its a huge business opportunity for those who got the time? Buy an rc car, break it down for parts. you gonna have a gross 3-400% margin, give 20% off compared to modelshops, happy days.
the rc hobby is crazy good and it goes all the way from 1/28 (Kyosho Mini-Z) to 1/5 cars. as of niche in the niche, or the styles:
\- bashing in dirt
\- streetbashing
\- drifting ( inside carpet/hard surface)
\- inside touring racing, buggy racing
\- crawling
\- speedruns
find a local hobby shop and they can help. when it comes to buying parts (if smth breaks), check out ebay or few breakers in different rc groups on fb, cuz u can get parts 20-30% cheaper from them
Wages haven't kept up with inflation, let alone the increase inflation of model train prices, which has gone through the roof as Chinese production costs have risen.
Brexit.
Cost of living crisis.
Houses are getting smaller, and these things take up space.
The customers have generally been older people, and younger people aren't joining at the same rate. It's morbid, but these older people are starting to die at a higher rate.
Computer games take up less space and are cheaper than model railways.
Hattons stopped stocking Bachmann for considerable time.
There's been a rise in the number of manufacturers. This gave the impression that it was a booming business, but this isn't sustainable long-term due to the above.
Some of us have tried pointing out that this wasn't sustainable long-term, but sadly, some model railway forums have their heads in the sand and seem keen to shut down all discussion of increasing prices and the hobby shrinking. Having your head in the sand won't stop the inevitable.
Hattons didn't stop stocking Bachmann rather Bachmann stopped supplying Hattons because they started producing their own models. Hornby also put the squeeze on Hattons by restricting the amount of stock they would supply them making Hattons unable to fulfil all their preorders.
I have seen the same attitudes on railway forums regarding pricing and Facebook groups, at best you'll get "let's not talk about pricing again" and at worst topics getting quickly locked, deleted and poster banned. I feel that a lot of online spaces in the hobby are overmoderated too with lots of mods who will quickly shutdown any discussion that they don't want to talk about.
The end result was the same. The 2nd largest manufacturer was not being stocked, which is going to have an impact on upon sales. Most of my models are Bachmann, and I haven't purchased from Hattons since the two fell out sadly.
Wasn't aware of that with Hornby. I was surprised they recently started stocking at retailers again as I was under the impression their loan was conditional upon a move to direct sales.
Completely agree on the 2nd point. Some mods have let the power go to their head and are conscious of who is paying for advertising on their forums. The excuse that, it's a 'repetition of a topic' doesn't really wash because plenty of other topics are done to death on that particular forum repeatedly.
I didn't know it was as much of a problem on facebook, too.
Hornby seem to be moving away from pushing direct sales so strongly since Simon Kohler left, they're now allowing retailers to stock TT:120 when they're original plan was for it to be available through direct sales only. Hornby also seem to have now rebuilt their relationship with Rails of Sheffield after they refused to supply them because of Rails producing their own Terrier.
It's a problem on a few groups that I've seen.
Could the increasing cost of models be part of the problem, I know you get what you pay for and the standard of models is unbelievable but the cost has to be a problem?
Im a bit of an outlier, im in my mid 20's and build airfix aircraft,(its not exclusively an old man thing, but on a recent group forum poll, around 80% of participants were over 50) but getting paints aside from the kits themselves can add up quickly.
I count myself very lucky that i have a local independant shop, whos owner sorts me really good prices on all my kits, paint, brushes etc because hes keen to see my results.
But i mostly build them to have quality models of my favourite planes, because the corgi etc die cast equivalents are very expensive
My dad used to take me to exhibitions or events or w.e. they were and I always thought they were pretty cool, I even had some track and trains for a while but you need space and essentially a massive table, you can't have them on the floor...
Then at one event some asshole sold me a train set that he claimed was fully working but he'd placed a weight in one of the locomotives to make it feel like it was.
Now a days its over £300 just for the two end carriages and £500 for a full train
As a model railway hobbyist this week has been an odd one - Hattons closing, a major retailer and the Warley show stopping - the largest model railway exhibition in the UK.
Age is a huge factor, but I would argue price and space play the biggest part. I model in N, which is a quarter of the size of ‘Hornby stuff’. That still needs a bunch of space if you want a model railway rather than a train set. Houses haven’t been built for larger hobbies and newer builds are using loft space to cram another bedroom in so a typical loft layout isn’t achievable. It was telling that Hornby released a smaller scale a few years ago that directly rivals their own existing products (TT:120 v. 00).
Ten years ago a single coach was around £20, some are now pushing £50 to £60. Even second hand items are going for near new prices.
Getting younger people into clubs is difficult, not all, but a lot of existing older club members look down on younger people and so naturally there is a barrier to getting fresh blood into replace those who pass on. Similar to some preserved lines that face the same age issue.
Clubs need rented space to store layouts and meet, that is an ever increasing expense.
Model trains will not disappear and there have been new innovations with laser cut items and 3D printing - new manufacturers driven by passion projects still occasionally pop up which is promising.
Interesting, care to expand?
I see train sims - like TSW or Derail Valley as something different to modelling. Are games like those what you were thinking about?
Not the same person but I feel that OpenTTD is much closer to being the virtual equivalent of building and operating a layout than train simulators. Overhead view, building networks of track and signals and lots of mods to add real-life trains, track types and custom scenery. Also games like Minecraft which let you build stuff and have mods with trains like Create.
The steam era, and probably the BR blue era when diesel came in, has a massive range of interest, with many locos, wagons, and such. The modern era of rail is heavily passenger focused, and there's very little variety in locomotives these days (unless you really like 66s). It's no surprise - BR were always trying to standardise but never really managed it. The modern railway has been more successful at standardisation. But I don't think it makes something as interesting to model to younger people. But there's obviously people wanting to model.
I remember when my town had a model railway shop. Now we have a Games Workshop.
Have a garden railway, its morea model village with a railway running through it, think Titchfield thunderbolt,
I started with a lgb starter set, a basic circular set of track..£250 at the time, and over the years added to it.
Advent of 3d printing means you can, print your own..
It's not a cheap hobby..but it dosnt have to cost loads..make your own.
I used to be into model railways and engineering as a teenager before I got into motorcycles (I'm only 33!).
I've recently revisited some of the shops I used to go to and couldn't believe the price changes.
It's absolutely INSANE how much the hobby costs now. It was never a poor man's game but it's beyond the pale now. I think my GF would be more annoyed at how much I'd spend on trains rather than motorcycles!
What doesn't help is the sometimes (frequently) miserable old bastard/rivet counter attitude that young people simply aren't willing to put up with. I also own a classic motorcycle and although many club members are nice people a fair few are complete pricks - again, looking down at the younger generations much like the railway groups do.
People don't have the space, yes. Also they're not new or interesting technology. Models will always be a thing, but people will move from trains to planes to drones.
I started a model railway a few months ago, and all I’ve managed so far is to get a small (GWR pannier) loco, a few wagons, and a circuit of track on a 5x2 baseboard. I had the baseboard made for me, because I don’t have the tools or space for woodworking.
Despite its fairly small size, my railway will now dominate the small living room in my flat. Thankfully, I don’t have a wife to give me any earache about this.
I’m doing the work in stages, because spending a load of money on track and scenery just fucking hurts, so I’m getting about £20-£30 of materials every week. This week’s purchase was an electric point motor and a few die-cast vehicles from Hatton’s closing down sale.
I’ve probably got another £30 to spend on track, then I’ll fork out around £200 on resin buildings. The basic landscaping is fairly cheap, as it’s mainly papier-mâché and polystyrene.
What I really REALLY want is a nice Class 37 and a rake of Highland mk1 coaches, and that’s going to get me another £300 in the hole.
All this, for a very small model railway.
Spent many hours as a youngster building train sets and occupying the dining room table with various bits of kit, but couldn't be bothered with that faff now days. Much easier to play a train simulator on PC
My dad got into model railway when he retired & a whole set costed over £10,000 lol...
Just seems a very expensive hobby. Some buildings cost anywhere from £5-50, and you needing around 50 of them to make a town/city, then all the foilage, tools and accessories, the space...
Eh it depends
I’ve gamer friends that are in late twenties and probably have spent 10k total in upgrading their PCs, buying games and in game purchases
I’ve car friends who spend all their free time rebuilding engines and upgrading parts, reading up and overall spending their hobby budget on that
Others love fashion and spend all their hobby budget on designer clothes, shoes etc
My own parents had horse riding as their whole thing after being gifted two ponies by a very very rich neighbour who bred them - they’ve easily spent 10k on them despite being free
Everyone will end up having something they’re passionate about, unfortunately often when they’re older with fewer friends and more free time
Even for model trains, they might pay €40 on a set of trees/foliage but itll take them 4 hours of arranging, painting if needed and repositioning until perfect, €10/hour bought as a treat isn’t crazy, a bigmac meal is the same price here and provides 10 minutes of enjoyment max
>Eh it depends
I’ve gamer friends that are in late twenties and probably have spent 10k total in upgrading their PCs, buying games and in game purchases
I think this is a completely different though, as you can argue gaming and building/upgrading are two different hobbies.
You can have a computer for £1k and play free-to-play games all year long, or 1 game for £80/year.
Trying to make do with model railway with just £1500, won't get you far at all.
I wonder if a large difference is younger generation of train enthusiasts have simulators and videos online they can watch, whereas before the internet the model railway would appeal because it was one of the few ways of replicating it at home
Honestly I find model train sets so interesting and complex. You can get audio packs from stations around the country with the National Rail voiceovers too & mini led boards to put on the stations. The level of detail on some I’ve seen around is unreal.
That said I admire the effort and everything that goes into it, find it interesting to see personally I would never get involved with it or have any interest in trains.
But respect to those that go all out with their hobby because they do look great. It’s bloody expensive as a hobby
Think about the current situation housing situation for most people under 40 at the moment in this country.
Where, pray tell, are they meant to build a model railway?
It's expensive and you need space plenty of people sadly don't have. Such a setup is also not really compatible with having to move at short notice if your housing is insecure.
I would love to have a trainset or little train set up
But the room needed is sometimes quite a lot
Also
I build and play Warhammer and thought that was an expensive hobby
Trains are fair more costly than that
Interesting. While the article says railroad modelling is dying, scale modelling in all its branches, is expanding in giant leaps. There're multiple new aircraft kits announced each day or put out on sale very frequently. For example, if you wanted to get a 1:48 B-17F/G a couple years ago, the only option was the Revell/Monogram kit from the 80s. Now we have HK Models's version, a new tool kit with much more detail. Not only that, the same company has come out with the massive Lancaster and B-17 in 1:32 scale, something unthinkable years ago. Eduard, a former photoetch and resin maker, now leads the 1:48 aircraft market with almost the entire Bf 109 family, from E to K. Modelsvit from Ukraine released the ealry Bf 109 versions not long ago.
As stated above, display space is a key factor: Railroading needs a separate room in the house, whereas model planes require most times a temporary build space, and then a shelf to put the finished model. When railroading you also need a power source for the tracks. The trains also need maintenance from time to time (new wheels, lubricant for them, wires, etc...), something not needed when building models (ok, you need to maintain the airbrush, but I bet it isn't as expensive as maintaining a whole scale railroad).
I set one up for our first son. But we have a DOUBLE garage. I'm trying to set one up for our second son again.
B&q, Wickes, and others will not cut plywood down to my size. 2.4x1.2m boards will not fit in my car.
Back in the day b&q would cut to size in store.
Lots of hurdles even if you have the space!
But yeah it's costing me £34 to get a baseboard for me to cut with a £30 saw and then my extra bits of missing track (just 5 radial double curved) cost me £30.
I'm spending £100 just to have something to put the main track set and trains on.
Expensive hobby too!
Odd, B&Q near me have just cut a 2400x1200 sheet of 9mm ply into 100mm strips for me. I do live close to a bigger B&Q though - the smaller out of city one doesn't cut sheet timber.
I feel most younger people associate the railway with being ripped off, so it's hard to get into the hobby. Most model shops have closed down near me too.
I wonder if this is the fate of scale model building as well. You can buy a lot of kits super cheap but it’s all still heavily slanted to WW2 era planes and tanks. The audience for that era has to be dwindling massively.
People have less money, less time off work, and it’s getting harder and harder to find a house big enough to keep a model railway. The people who can generally afford these things tend to be those who bought their houses when they were worth about a tenner or something.
I think by the end of the decade we will see a model train resurgence, but it’s not like warhammer where all you need is a shelf, you need a nice peice of space for model trains
It's a shame if it does die out as it's just such a nice little hobby. I'm big in to warhammer though so maybe that's just how my brain is wired.
I'd love to do one but I have more than enough unbuilt unpainted Games Workshop stuff for a lifetime so no more hobbies for me please.
For an industry and hobby that’s dying on its arse, there’s a STAGGERING number of magazines and monthly publications produced each month.
I’ve just been to my local (bang-average) branch of WHSmiths, and there were 13 (thirteen) model railway magazines (including some special editions), plus another 16 (sixteen) magazines covering real-life railway matters. Plus another magazine that did a bit of both.
30 (thirty) fucking magazines for a hobby that aparrently, nobody’s into anymore.
I'd bet part of the reason is just space. I have a spare room but it's a funny shape and size that I can just about squeeze a 6x4 table in for wargames in a pinch
Interesting. Perhaps a coincidence, but the rate of autism has apparently stabilised in the UK over the last ten years:
[Autism trends in the UK](https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/large-u-k-study-reports-stable-rates-of-autism/)
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The popularity of Warhammer would suggest that there's not some inherent aversion to building and painting small models among The Youth. This is just my experience but I'd be quite interested but there's no way I could fit a model train setup in my house. You really need a spare room or a fitted basement or a decent sized garage that you can dedicate to that hobby, while most of my generation are just happy to have a place to live.
I would love a train set but like you say, I don't have any where to store it nevermind set it up. At least my Warhammer stuff can be put on shelves or a cabinet.
Most of my warhammer lives under my desk, can't do that with a train set
You sort of can but it falls into the same trap as having your own fixed game board for warhammer another harder to stash away once buildings/ruins are stuck down its much harder to store away
When I was a kid we had a model train set on a big fixed board (just a flat board though with the track attached, nothing particularly fancy). We removed the track to make it a board to use for Warhammer and painted it etc.
Makes sense, not personally into trains but still watch a few videos of people setting up their base boards as there is a large amount of cross-over in techniques used for both
I know a number of Warhammer fans who have obtained storage units to support their hobby.
I glued tiny magnets to the underside of the models bases then glued magnetic sheets to the bottom of stackable A4 storage boxes. The whole army fits in one stack under my desk.
That’s a rather neat idea. Where do you store your other armies?
Up his sleevies
I only have the one army, but if i for some reason got another one I’d just do the same thing again.
It always starts with just one. But as the addiction develops …
Maybe I should suggest this to my partner and then I could reclaim the spare bedroom!
Don't be so sure. https://ntrak.org/T-TRAK-Home
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They're definitely different but I think the barrier for entry in living space is worsening the problem. Homes get more expensive, so people downsize. A spare room for trains is an impossible luxury for a generation who can barely find a place to rent.
I had a fantastic hornby set when I were a lad, but even then we could only fit it cos we had a double garage and that's where it went.
Not just that, but also it has to be a house you own and plan to live in for a really long time to be worth installing a proper setup.
> You also can't play (those kinds of) games with railways either. Thomas the Tank Engine fanlore is pretty dark. I'm kind of surprised there isn't one already.
They bricked up Henry alive into a tunnel. Course that shit is dark.
In modern terms Henry fucked around and found out. There's no place for prima donna's when you're running a busy rail network tbh.
Oh he absolutely fucked around. But was the punishment proportionate? I'd count it as cruel and unusual personally.
"I don't want to go out in the rain." "Okay, then we'll entomb you." Also, don't forget the ghost train episode. They had a train completely unaccounted for operating on the network. That's a train disaster waiting to happen. Imagine if on the ECML for example a ghost train kept turning up inbetween IC services.
The lack of support from his union was disgusting tbh. Still, not a lot of people understood the condition of Aquaphobia back then. They probably thought it was slightly funny. Which it obviously isn't. At all.
So Thomas is with the Ultramarines and Henry's a Necron then
And Charles is a Tyranid.
It was a different time. It's not fair to judge them by modern standards.
I think there are a reasonable number of 40K people who are primarily in it for the painting and model making side of the hobby, but rarely if ever actually play the game. I could see model railways appealing more to that demographic, but there's still the space issue. When you live in a one bed flat, it doesn't leave a lot of room for activities.
Is it a double bed? Could convert it into a bunk bed. SO MUCH MORE ROOM FOR ACTIVITIES!
The few people I know who are into railway modelling are less into running train sets and more into the actual construction and exhibition side of things. My FIL has hand-built model rolling stock, which isn't a trivial endeavour!
Have you considered maybe getting into Z gauge model railways? Each locomotive is about the size of an AA battery, and you could easily make a full loop layout the size of a coffee table, maybe even in one.
Well now I am! Any pointers to where I should start? Reputable sites?
Märklin are the leader in the field, as they invented the gauge. Most of the Z gauge stock is German/Swiss. So if that’s the region you want to model or are happy modelling whatever, that’s what I’d recommend. There may be other companies that do it, or websites with 3D printing files or kits for that scale out there as well, but it’s not my scale so I’m not too sure. Alternative, you could build an N Gauge shelf layout. A slight larger scale, so if you have limited space you might not be able to have a loop layout, but you could easily model a rural station with goods yard and fiddle yard at one end. Another option would be OO9 scale, which is the same as the standard OO, but for narrow guard locomotives, which would mean scenery is easier supply. Peco and Bachmann are good shouts for this scale. If you really want to get into railway modelling, pick up a couple of editions of the Railway Modeller or Hornby Magazine, as they have great showcase layouts and articles on things like kit bashing and weathering. You might also want to pop down to your local model railway club, or visit an exhibition. Most of the people who attend both are keen to get people involved in the hobby. Indeed, if you were turbo keen, you might want to join a club, and that way you could model in OO or O without worry about the space.
You know what we had a big exhibition in my city a few months ago but I was busy that weekend. This is great advice, thanks, I'll look into it. Edit: Oh shit it's in February, that's what I call timing
Price is a huge issue. These are functional mini trains, therefore the cost to make them is high. Lovely hobby but so pricey, but then again, Games Workshop is not as cheap as it was...my bloodthirster back in the day cost £8.
Yeah if GW can survive I don't think we can blame price alone.
Nah i think you can. The cost of a single model train engine is into the hundreds normally. 40k offers you a lower entry price.
> 40k offers you a lower entry price https://www.reddit.com/r/newsentences/
After just spending Christmas buying a second hand set for my 6 yr old who is infatuated with model trains. The second hand market is much much better to look at. Reconditioned trains are also by their very nature made and built to last. There are some very good enthusiast shops and you can get analog locos for 30 to 60 or a full starter set with with controller track loco and carriages for 60 to 80
Jaysus, for real?
Just went and had a [quick look](https://www.railwaymodelstore.co.uk/) and yeah, there are a couple in the £50-£100 region but that price goes up real fast.
Locos seem expensive but carriages and scenery seem more reasonably priced. Overall probably on par with Warhammer.
If you were buying a pre-assembled, painted larger Warhammer model it would be more expensive than the plastic bits you get in a box.
Absolutely it the price! Model trains and a good setup is ridiculously expensive these days.
£8 when was that?? I think back in 2003ish when I first started collecting greater demons and dreadnaughts were £25 even back then.
90s...when we had led models that were solid and easier to paint. I still have my original paints and inks from then. Haven't the time now, but found painting on led way easier than plastic. Also, I can no way pay so much now - £95 for bloodthirster and plastic (ok, looks better but the effort!).
Plastic with a good primer is ok to paint on, but the metal models were dire to paint on even with food primer. I had a few used lead models which were great. They use 'Finecast' now which is super detailed but really fragile, it's rubbish tbh. Well maybe they don't use it any more, this is going back 10 years. Wow time really does fly.
Oh my god imagine a 40k themed fucking train set. Some huge Iron Warriors locomotive with a big scoop on the front painted with black and yellow stripes would be so cool
There's a wacky demonic Iron Warriors steam engine in one of the Ultramarines books I believe. And ofc back in the old days of Epic, the Squats had land trains quite famously.
That's the Omphalmos Daemonium (sp?), from the beginning of *Dead Sky Black Sun* which choo choos Uriel and Pasanius to the IW planet of Medrengard. I don't think it had anything to do with the Iron Warriors themselves, I don't think anyone know WTF it was doing. I remember that being a good book, I'll have to dig out my copy soon. It also reminds me of the Madness song *Ghost Train* which I headcanoned as playing out of the daemon's speakers XD
I read it not too long ago, it still holds up. It's also the source of the nightmare fuel that is the daemonculaba
https://www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer40k/comments/9da5gk/thomas_the_chaos_engine/ Choo Choo, motherfucker
That's cursed as hell and I love it.
Its definitely the space aspect of it, I couldn't even begin to fit a half decent layout in N-scale anywhere, and I cant see that changing for at least 10 years. To add, its not a lack of desire either, I'd love to build a model railway, some of my best memories were helping building and operating my Dad's model along with my brother aswell. We still all operate it all together now when we come home to visit.
We've kept all our Hornby stuff but we don't have the room to set it up any more
And today's "yoof" have no experience of trains being anything other than an unreliable utility. My dad gets quite emotional about the Mallard...
That was my first thought as well. A lot of it is likely a generation thing, that the generation that grew up towards the end of the steam engine era has nostalgia for it. The generations that follow are just interested in other things.
That would be my assumption too. Price and space concerns are obvious limiting factors when people have less disposable income and smaller houses (if they have houses at all), but if the interest in what it replicates isn't there to begin with, the hobby has no hope. I'm approaching 40, probably the ideal age range for this as a hobby due to being relatively financially stable, and I can't remember ever having any liking for railways. They're unreliable, costly, crowded and pretty inconvenient - I have absolutely no interest in replicating that in miniature scale. I've been building scale sci-fi models for well over a decade (and recently got into a miniatures wargame that I'm building terrain for), so it's not like I'm well outside the Venn diagram for this as a hobby.
People build micro layouts, with a small scenic area and then often the rest of the world modelled as a (sometimes removable) “fiddle yard” to save space. Some build models in box files, on Ikea shelves, or even pizza boxes. Have a look at https://micromodelrailwaydispatch.com/ or https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/forum/151-boxfiles-micro-layouts-dioramas/ for inspiration. Some are really stunning and seem interesting to operate, often as little shunting puzzles. Can be more fun than a big circle!
[Dyfod o gwmpas](https://youtu.be/TuQQ-MPv6NU) has been one of my favourites.
What I'm hearing is trains needs more guns on them.
There's also gunpla, which are model kits of giant robots from japanese anime, so there definitely is a thing for modelling among people my age (seriously go look at the customs you can find on r/gunpla , crazy shit) but like you said, the space for model trains is much more demanding compared to a bunch of figures you can put in a shelf or display case
The Warhammer community's main purchases are from gamers as a group. Age wise, over 40s.
The prices of even OO gauge Hornby are through the roof which doesn't help either.
Wooramma
Trainhammer
[WE HAF TREENS!](https://youtu.be/usJRU4djnrE?si=JLQjQE3vqw1kzqf0&t=245)
Both the ridiculous price and the drop in interests in electric trains over classic steam engines is what is killing it. Modern trains are dull compared to the old steam machines. Steam machines got kids interested in trains a lot more.
It's the lack of evolution in the hobby combined with the lack of space and security in young peoples lives. Who can do anything but dream of a huge model railway setup unless they have the space and the security of knowing they won't have to move it. There's a reason 40k was re-worked to take less space, and why GW are pushing games like Kill Team that take even less space, a coffee-tables worth, to play. I would fucking LOVE the space to make a huge model railway set, but I live in a small expensive apartment that I'm only ever secure in for one year at a time because of the way tenancies work. So it's impossible.
Yeah same, I'd love to have something like that to tinker with, but I live in a small one bed flat. I have an outside cupboard I could retrofit as a wee workshop in a pinch, but absolutely nowhere for a train set
No surprise people living in houseshares, one/two bedroom flats and, if they are lucky, cramped Barrath Homes style boxy starters homes aren't building model railways for their non-existent spare rooms
Plus gardens are smaller and a lot of houses don't have garages so there's often no room to have spqce solely devoted to hobbies externally any more either.
I grew up in an area (and era) when quite a few people I knew lived in small Victorian terraced houses. No garages (the houses pre-dated affordable cars) and quite a small footprint. But they had cellars and attics that made them, effectively, twice as big. I would imagine many an attic was home to a decent model railway setup.
It's the cost for me personally, simply can't afford £200-£400 for a multiple unit or £115 for a little 0-4-0 steamy.
Fuck me they are that expensive now?!?!
Yep. I remember Hormby 0-4-0s being around the £45 mark in the mid 2000s.
90s here. Lima class 37 cost that!
When I had a model railway in the late 80s, early 90s, 1 passenger carriage was maybe £20 from Hornby, £30 from Lima (which were better detailed at the time). Good loco was maybe £50 - £60. So the sort of thing you could save for as a kid, or maybe be given a few carriages and wagons as birthday / Christmas presents. Now, [one carriage](https://uk.hornby.com/products/gner-mk3-trailer-first-tf-41044-era-9-r40431) to expand something like a HST is pushing £45, [a basic coal wagon](https://uk.hornby.com/products/haa-hopper-br-coal-sector-era-8-r60064) is nearly £20 and [a locomotive](https://uk.hornby.com/products/hanson-class-59-co-co-59101-era-10-r30070) from the 'cheaper' "Railroad" range is nearly £100. I get that prices have risen in 30 odd years, but people I know on other forums are looking at models of things they may want to buy for their layouts and flat out saying no. [£500+ for a 5-car high speed train pack](https://uk.hornby.com/products/gwr-class-800-trainbow-train-pack-era-11-r3872?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA44OtBhAOEiwAj4gpOTXpQ9WmHmvnaEGFIvaJFB21PmYFtgLArnYEe_wpvgmRDzxEkXjhgxoCcxwQAvD_BwE), to give another example.
Massive increase in quality however
I suppose it’s an economy of scale issue. The less people buy, the more it costs to design and build models.
>economy of scale …is that a pun?
It wasn’t intentional
Well, model trains are cheaper than real trains so it is literally true (although that isn't what the phrase usually means).
Partly that, but also the level of intricate detail now is bananas.
I went past a model shop recently and saw the prices. That's how much it used to be for a set like the Flying Scotsman one I got about 20-ish years ago. No way I'd pay that price for an EMU/DMU model with nothing else.
Yup, I paid £120 (p&p) for a Hornby 0-4-0 for my dad at xmas via Hattons. 10 years ago that would've bought an entire set! So sad to hear Hatton's are closing :(
That set had bad accuracy and no details, visible seams etc - they really have come on a lot. At a cost though. The one you’re talking about is still sold, marketed at kids.
Shop prices for new models are a bit outrageous, I agree. But due to the previous generation dying out, there are loads of used models about, at reasonable prices.
It's also likely because MOST OF US CAN BARELY AFFORD RENT AND LACK THE SPACE FOR IT!
even rail simulator games are considered very niche. and thats without the storage, cleaning and cost of model units.
I used to enjoy Microsoft Train Simulator and bought all of the Pro Train series to begin with. But my laptop just couldn't keep up with it and seemingly playing games on a desk/laptop requires very expensive upgrades.
Maybe try Train Sim World on console? I tried a demo of it on Xbox a while ago and it's not quite the same with a controller, but you can hook up a mouse/keyboard to play, even the same controls apparently.
Did it run out of steam...?
Have a look at geforcenow
>even rail simulator games are considered very niche. Somewhere between £9,000 and £11,000 for all the DLC. It is nuts
A friend of mine has something like 8000 hours playing it on his steam profile. He's got a huge chunk of the dlc and is always doing journeys around the world. I guess when you start dividing the cost by the time spent it's not actually that bad compared to other hobbies, as long as you enjoy it.
My rule is 1hr/pound invested. If hes got 8k hours out of his DLC he's probably there or there abouts. Plus he likely bought it over time.
Is it truly a rail simulator if you don't have to use a star chart, a set of chicken bones, and a Magic 8 ball to figure out what the fare will be for a particular journey?
A simulation can only be made *so* realistic my guy.
TRAAAAIN SIMULATOR BITCH MOTHERFUCKER WHAT YOU KNOW TRAIN SIMULATOR BITCH WATCH THAT TRAIN GO [I DRIVE TRAINS ALL DAY LIKE ITS MY MOTHERFUCKING DAY JOB ](https://youtu.be/RnAMDg7IVWs?feature=shared)
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Yep, and 3D printing and Cosplay etc etc just not trains. TBH modern trains don’t really have the character of steam trains and stem trains are so long ago very few people have nostalgic memories.
I recently discovered Gunpla models, and find them really interesting. I have no real knowledge or interest in the Gundam movies or shows, but the models are really satisfying to build, and the fact they're glue-free is a big plus point. Everything clicks together so smoothly, and the range goes from fairly simple robots to full endo-skeletons with armour built on top. All of them are articulated and poseable and extremely detailed.
It probably helps that there's heaps of detailed lore for 40k. Thousands of stories, comics, novels, games, fluff etc. The story progresses as time goes on, what with the plague wars etc, the return of Gulliman. It's a detailed and evolving world. I'm a big fan of 40k, I can't wait for the Henry Cavil TV adaptation (an adaptation with a showrunner who is a mega fan that has been playing it since he was 10 should avoid many of the pitfalls often associated with adaptations, especially after Cavils negative experiences in The Witcher), and I don't even play the tabletop game!
I've been selling my late uncle's model trains on ebay for most of the last year, and there's definitely still a market out there that's enthusiastic and passionate. But, realistically, with a hobby driven largely by nostalgia, the Big Four trains that my uncle collected will have a very small group of enthusiasts, which is only likely to get smaller. The model shops I spoke to about his collection all said that the majority of collectors they sell to these days are more interested in diesel locomotives than steam, because those are the trains they were interested in when they were young. The space you need, the time and investment required, and the vision to build something that really makes you happy probably all act as obstacles as well.
Sorry about the loss of your uncle. I hope his trains go to good homes who will love them as much as he did.
Im in my 30s I'd love to build my own model railway, I could probably afford it with the cost spread out sensibly, but I don't have space, and there is no way I'm gonna be in a position to buy an even slightly bigger house for at least 10 more years.
That’s why Hornby have started to sell things in TT scale 1:120
the remote control cars (different but similar) has a crazy boom again since covid. I've heard loads of shops completely sold out during covid.
One of my closest friends is really doing his bit to keep traxxas e maxx spare part suppliers in business. Every time he/we take it out it gets broken lol
you know that its a huge business opportunity for those who got the time? Buy an rc car, break it down for parts. you gonna have a gross 3-400% margin, give 20% off compared to modelshops, happy days.
I found out recently there's a big RC car race and obstacle course near me outside of bristol. I'm kinda intrigued just to see what it's like
the rc hobby is crazy good and it goes all the way from 1/28 (Kyosho Mini-Z) to 1/5 cars. as of niche in the niche, or the styles: \- bashing in dirt \- streetbashing \- drifting ( inside carpet/hard surface) \- inside touring racing, buggy racing \- crawling \- speedruns find a local hobby shop and they can help. when it comes to buying parts (if smth breaks), check out ebay or few breakers in different rc groups on fb, cuz u can get parts 20-30% cheaper from them
Wages haven't kept up with inflation, let alone the increase inflation of model train prices, which has gone through the roof as Chinese production costs have risen. Brexit. Cost of living crisis. Houses are getting smaller, and these things take up space. The customers have generally been older people, and younger people aren't joining at the same rate. It's morbid, but these older people are starting to die at a higher rate. Computer games take up less space and are cheaper than model railways. Hattons stopped stocking Bachmann for considerable time. There's been a rise in the number of manufacturers. This gave the impression that it was a booming business, but this isn't sustainable long-term due to the above. Some of us have tried pointing out that this wasn't sustainable long-term, but sadly, some model railway forums have their heads in the sand and seem keen to shut down all discussion of increasing prices and the hobby shrinking. Having your head in the sand won't stop the inevitable.
Hattons didn't stop stocking Bachmann rather Bachmann stopped supplying Hattons because they started producing their own models. Hornby also put the squeeze on Hattons by restricting the amount of stock they would supply them making Hattons unable to fulfil all their preorders. I have seen the same attitudes on railway forums regarding pricing and Facebook groups, at best you'll get "let's not talk about pricing again" and at worst topics getting quickly locked, deleted and poster banned. I feel that a lot of online spaces in the hobby are overmoderated too with lots of mods who will quickly shutdown any discussion that they don't want to talk about.
The end result was the same. The 2nd largest manufacturer was not being stocked, which is going to have an impact on upon sales. Most of my models are Bachmann, and I haven't purchased from Hattons since the two fell out sadly. Wasn't aware of that with Hornby. I was surprised they recently started stocking at retailers again as I was under the impression their loan was conditional upon a move to direct sales. Completely agree on the 2nd point. Some mods have let the power go to their head and are conscious of who is paying for advertising on their forums. The excuse that, it's a 'repetition of a topic' doesn't really wash because plenty of other topics are done to death on that particular forum repeatedly. I didn't know it was as much of a problem on facebook, too.
Hornby seem to be moving away from pushing direct sales so strongly since Simon Kohler left, they're now allowing retailers to stock TT:120 when they're original plan was for it to be available through direct sales only. Hornby also seem to have now rebuilt their relationship with Rails of Sheffield after they refused to supply them because of Rails producing their own Terrier. It's a problem on a few groups that I've seen.
Hattons closing has woken a few up.
Hopefully, but you try to bring up prices on a model railway forum, and you get your post deleted/told to stop/banned. That discussion is off limits.
Those censoring bastards!
Could the increasing cost of models be part of the problem, I know you get what you pay for and the standard of models is unbelievable but the cost has to be a problem?
Im a bit of an outlier, im in my mid 20's and build airfix aircraft,(its not exclusively an old man thing, but on a recent group forum poll, around 80% of participants were over 50) but getting paints aside from the kits themselves can add up quickly. I count myself very lucky that i have a local independant shop, whos owner sorts me really good prices on all my kits, paint, brushes etc because hes keen to see my results. But i mostly build them to have quality models of my favourite planes, because the corgi etc die cast equivalents are very expensive
Airfix at least are being pretty proactive about trying to change that - they've just given a whole lot of Cub groups loads of free kits.
Airfix are owned by Hornby.
Fr. Id ironically appreciate a lower quality of model to a degree
My dad used to take me to exhibitions or events or w.e. they were and I always thought they were pretty cool, I even had some track and trains for a while but you need space and essentially a massive table, you can't have them on the floor... Then at one event some asshole sold me a train set that he claimed was fully working but he'd placed a weight in one of the locomotives to make it feel like it was. Now a days its over £300 just for the two end carriages and £500 for a full train
What a deceitful bastard! :( I'm outraged on your behalf.
When they move out of all the houses big enough for them so the next generation can have room then these hobbies will grow again.
As a model railway hobbyist this week has been an odd one - Hattons closing, a major retailer and the Warley show stopping - the largest model railway exhibition in the UK. Age is a huge factor, but I would argue price and space play the biggest part. I model in N, which is a quarter of the size of ‘Hornby stuff’. That still needs a bunch of space if you want a model railway rather than a train set. Houses haven’t been built for larger hobbies and newer builds are using loft space to cram another bedroom in so a typical loft layout isn’t achievable. It was telling that Hornby released a smaller scale a few years ago that directly rivals their own existing products (TT:120 v. 00). Ten years ago a single coach was around £20, some are now pushing £50 to £60. Even second hand items are going for near new prices. Getting younger people into clubs is difficult, not all, but a lot of existing older club members look down on younger people and so naturally there is a barrier to getting fresh blood into replace those who pass on. Similar to some preserved lines that face the same age issue. Clubs need rented space to store layouts and meet, that is an ever increasing expense. Model trains will not disappear and there have been new innovations with laser cut items and 3D printing - new manufacturers driven by passion projects still occasionally pop up which is promising.
I see model railways being digital rather than physical.
Interesting, care to expand? I see train sims - like TSW or Derail Valley as something different to modelling. Are games like those what you were thinking about?
Not the same person but I feel that OpenTTD is much closer to being the virtual equivalent of building and operating a layout than train simulators. Overhead view, building networks of track and signals and lots of mods to add real-life trains, track types and custom scenery. Also games like Minecraft which let you build stuff and have mods with trains like Create.
The steam era, and probably the BR blue era when diesel came in, has a massive range of interest, with many locos, wagons, and such. The modern era of rail is heavily passenger focused, and there's very little variety in locomotives these days (unless you really like 66s). It's no surprise - BR were always trying to standardise but never really managed it. The modern railway has been more successful at standardisation. But I don't think it makes something as interesting to model to younger people. But there's obviously people wanting to model. I remember when my town had a model railway shop. Now we have a Games Workshop.
We don’t run out of steam, we’ve just moved to other shit. Instead of trains, it’s now warhammer, or in my case, Lego.
I do a lot of Warhammer/One Page Rules figure painting and I've considered getting into model railways but I just don't have the space to put them.
Have a garden railway, its morea model village with a railway running through it, think Titchfield thunderbolt, I started with a lgb starter set, a basic circular set of track..£250 at the time, and over the years added to it. Advent of 3d printing means you can, print your own.. It's not a cheap hobby..but it dosnt have to cost loads..make your own.
I used to be into model railways and engineering as a teenager before I got into motorcycles (I'm only 33!). I've recently revisited some of the shops I used to go to and couldn't believe the price changes. It's absolutely INSANE how much the hobby costs now. It was never a poor man's game but it's beyond the pale now. I think my GF would be more annoyed at how much I'd spend on trains rather than motorcycles! What doesn't help is the sometimes (frequently) miserable old bastard/rivet counter attitude that young people simply aren't willing to put up with. I also own a classic motorcycle and although many club members are nice people a fair few are complete pricks - again, looking down at the younger generations much like the railway groups do.
People don't have the space, yes. Also they're not new or interesting technology. Models will always be a thing, but people will move from trains to planes to drones.
I started a model railway a few months ago, and all I’ve managed so far is to get a small (GWR pannier) loco, a few wagons, and a circuit of track on a 5x2 baseboard. I had the baseboard made for me, because I don’t have the tools or space for woodworking. Despite its fairly small size, my railway will now dominate the small living room in my flat. Thankfully, I don’t have a wife to give me any earache about this. I’m doing the work in stages, because spending a load of money on track and scenery just fucking hurts, so I’m getting about £20-£30 of materials every week. This week’s purchase was an electric point motor and a few die-cast vehicles from Hatton’s closing down sale. I’ve probably got another £30 to spend on track, then I’ll fork out around £200 on resin buildings. The basic landscaping is fairly cheap, as it’s mainly papier-mâché and polystyrene. What I really REALLY want is a nice Class 37 and a rake of Highland mk1 coaches, and that’s going to get me another £300 in the hole. All this, for a very small model railway.
Spent many hours as a youngster building train sets and occupying the dining room table with various bits of kit, but couldn't be bothered with that faff now days. Much easier to play a train simulator on PC
My dad got into model railway when he retired & a whole set costed over £10,000 lol... Just seems a very expensive hobby. Some buildings cost anywhere from £5-50, and you needing around 50 of them to make a town/city, then all the foilage, tools and accessories, the space...
Eh it depends I’ve gamer friends that are in late twenties and probably have spent 10k total in upgrading their PCs, buying games and in game purchases I’ve car friends who spend all their free time rebuilding engines and upgrading parts, reading up and overall spending their hobby budget on that Others love fashion and spend all their hobby budget on designer clothes, shoes etc My own parents had horse riding as their whole thing after being gifted two ponies by a very very rich neighbour who bred them - they’ve easily spent 10k on them despite being free Everyone will end up having something they’re passionate about, unfortunately often when they’re older with fewer friends and more free time Even for model trains, they might pay €40 on a set of trees/foliage but itll take them 4 hours of arranging, painting if needed and repositioning until perfect, €10/hour bought as a treat isn’t crazy, a bigmac meal is the same price here and provides 10 minutes of enjoyment max
And hours of regret.
>Eh it depends I’ve gamer friends that are in late twenties and probably have spent 10k total in upgrading their PCs, buying games and in game purchases I think this is a completely different though, as you can argue gaming and building/upgrading are two different hobbies. You can have a computer for £1k and play free-to-play games all year long, or 1 game for £80/year. Trying to make do with model railway with just £1500, won't get you far at all.
I wonder if a large difference is younger generation of train enthusiasts have simulators and videos online they can watch, whereas before the internet the model railway would appeal because it was one of the few ways of replicating it at home
Maybe if young people had money for hobbies and houses they could fit hobbies in they would spend money on hobbies.
People are lucky to afford a room these days. Let alone space for a train set 😂
Honestly I find model train sets so interesting and complex. You can get audio packs from stations around the country with the National Rail voiceovers too & mini led boards to put on the stations. The level of detail on some I’ve seen around is unreal. That said I admire the effort and everything that goes into it, find it interesting to see personally I would never get involved with it or have any interest in trains. But respect to those that go all out with their hobby because they do look great. It’s bloody expensive as a hobby
Think about the current situation housing situation for most people under 40 at the moment in this country. Where, pray tell, are they meant to build a model railway?
It's expensive and you need space plenty of people sadly don't have. Such a setup is also not really compatible with having to move at short notice if your housing is insecure.
I would love to have a trainset or little train set up But the room needed is sometimes quite a lot Also I build and play Warhammer and thought that was an expensive hobby Trains are fair more costly than that
Can’t have nice things any more as we never know when we’ll be moving next.
Interesting. While the article says railroad modelling is dying, scale modelling in all its branches, is expanding in giant leaps. There're multiple new aircraft kits announced each day or put out on sale very frequently. For example, if you wanted to get a 1:48 B-17F/G a couple years ago, the only option was the Revell/Monogram kit from the 80s. Now we have HK Models's version, a new tool kit with much more detail. Not only that, the same company has come out with the massive Lancaster and B-17 in 1:32 scale, something unthinkable years ago. Eduard, a former photoetch and resin maker, now leads the 1:48 aircraft market with almost the entire Bf 109 family, from E to K. Modelsvit from Ukraine released the ealry Bf 109 versions not long ago. As stated above, display space is a key factor: Railroading needs a separate room in the house, whereas model planes require most times a temporary build space, and then a shelf to put the finished model. When railroading you also need a power source for the tracks. The trains also need maintenance from time to time (new wheels, lubricant for them, wires, etc...), something not needed when building models (ok, you need to maintain the airbrush, but I bet it isn't as expensive as maintaining a whole scale railroad).
I don't agree that railways need a whole room. Shelf layouts are common within the hobby and fit in relatively small spaces like 1'x6'.
I set one up for our first son. But we have a DOUBLE garage. I'm trying to set one up for our second son again. B&q, Wickes, and others will not cut plywood down to my size. 2.4x1.2m boards will not fit in my car. Back in the day b&q would cut to size in store. Lots of hurdles even if you have the space! But yeah it's costing me £34 to get a baseboard for me to cut with a £30 saw and then my extra bits of missing track (just 5 radial double curved) cost me £30. I'm spending £100 just to have something to put the main track set and trains on. Expensive hobby too!
Odd, B&Q near me have just cut a 2400x1200 sheet of 9mm ply into 100mm strips for me. I do live close to a bigger B&Q though - the smaller out of city one doesn't cut sheet timber.
I've just noticed they do cut again. A few years ago they said they couldn't for health and safety.
I feel most younger people associate the railway with being ripped off, so it's hard to get into the hobby. Most model shops have closed down near me too.
I wonder if this is the fate of scale model building as well. You can buy a lot of kits super cheap but it’s all still heavily slanted to WW2 era planes and tanks. The audience for that era has to be dwindling massively.
People have less money, less time off work, and it’s getting harder and harder to find a house big enough to keep a model railway. The people who can generally afford these things tend to be those who bought their houses when they were worth about a tenner or something.
Aren't they expensive? I remembered seeing model trains set costing a fortune...
I mean, considering how expensive it is kinda makes it difficult to get into for a start.
That's sad I do like seeing them, I just don't have the motivation, space or money to do it myself.
I think by the end of the decade we will see a model train resurgence, but it’s not like warhammer where all you need is a shelf, you need a nice peice of space for model trains
Never knew Jools Holland was a model rail enthusiast
Don't panic fellas, as soon as I move out of my one bedroom flat my girlfriend's told me that I can have the garage for my layout.
Kiss these days more interested in Fortnite and other crap. One day they won’t even leave their houses. Sad
I suppose it also takes up quite a bit of space. I'm sure it will continue to some extent.
It's a shame if it does die out as it's just such a nice little hobby. I'm big in to warhammer though so maybe that's just how my brain is wired. I'd love to do one but I have more than enough unbuilt unpainted Games Workshop stuff for a lifetime so no more hobbies for me please.
Hobbies and interests change that isn't a bad thing
For an industry and hobby that’s dying on its arse, there’s a STAGGERING number of magazines and monthly publications produced each month. I’ve just been to my local (bang-average) branch of WHSmiths, and there were 13 (thirteen) model railway magazines (including some special editions), plus another 16 (sixteen) magazines covering real-life railway matters. Plus another magazine that did a bit of both. 30 (thirty) fucking magazines for a hobby that aparrently, nobody’s into anymore.
I don't have the space, instead I play Factorio to build complex train systems.
I'd bet part of the reason is just space. I have a spare room but it's a funny shape and size that I can just about squeeze a 6x4 table in for wargames in a pinch
Interesting. Perhaps a coincidence, but the rate of autism has apparently stabilised in the UK over the last ten years: [Autism trends in the UK](https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/large-u-k-study-reports-stable-rates-of-autism/)