Where are the Great Young Model Railroaders?

roch

Member
Originally Posted by stormfather
I'm 22. Between work, work, work, graduate school, work, and work, I don't have much free time. The free time I do have is split between my girlfriend, videogames, and my model railroad. I think young people just don't have as much free time and money as older folks.

Get a rich girlfriend. :thumb:sign1

You would have more $ lol.

Sorry I just could not resist. :mrgreen:
 

jetrock

Member
A lot of model railroaders picked up the hobby as a kid, then drop it when they reach girl-chasing age. As age catches up and spouses actively deter girl-chasing, hobbies like model railroading reappear. This was my pattern: active model railroader as a youth, still interested as a teen but it took a backseat to other pursuits and was nearly forgotten in college and my twenties. In my early thirties I was married and bought my first house, and suddenly realized I had enough time, space and disposable income to get back into model railroading.

I'm 39, definitely in the "Generation X" age demographic, and retirement definitely does mean something different to people my age: it's something we plan on doing, but don't necessarily want to wait until we're old and gray before we start enjoying our free time. Which is why I figured it was time to start my layout now, instead of waiting until retirement.

Yes, people are more into instant rewards--but there is a lot more RTR stuff on the shelf, including structures, and while the Internet has made life a bit harder for bricks & mortar hobby shops, it also allows suppliers to reach a worldwide market and allows those with shared interests to meet people they would otherwise never contact. On this forum we can encourage people half a world away to learn more about model railroading and teach them about the hobby.

There will always be a few people in their twenties in the hobby--but they're the exception. This hobby is for kids, I just happen to know a lot of balding and gray-haired kids. People in their twenties want to act grown up, but some of them will rediscover trains when they're old enough to start playing again.
 

viperman

Active Member
I'm only 25 and love the hobby. The biggest problem for people my age is money. I'm married, I have a 3yr old son, not making a whole lot of money (neither is the wife), and we're only renting at the moment.
 

nkp174

Active Member
I'm 25. Married. Soon to be a father. Busy grad student.

Do I have the potential to be a great modeler? I don't know...but everyone has that possibility. Look at my threads...scratch built cars with scratch built trucks and hardware.

Money for me is fairly tight...$40 per month for hobbies...so I focus on building my roster for the future MR style layout.

Our generation is typically starting life around 10 years later than previous generations...in my opinion...I think I've seen more young modelers involved...especially thanks to the web...than in my old 60s-70-s80s MRs.
 

roch

Member
I'm 25. Married. Soon to be a father. Busy grad student.

Do I have the potential to be a great modeler? I don't know...but everyone has that possibility. Look at my threads...scratch built cars with scratch built trucks and hardware.

Money for me is fairly tight...$40 per month for hobbies...so I focus on building my roster for the future MR style layout.

Our generation is typically starting life around 10 years later than previous generations...in my opinion...I think I've seen more young modelers involved...especially thanks to the web...than in my old 60s-70-s80s MRs.

I would bet everything I own that you have the potential. :thumb:
 

viperman

Active Member
has anyone seen any of my work on my layout? I plan to update my thread soon with some recent progress

EDIT: just updated my progress page with new pics! Take a look
 

tetters

Rail Spiking Fool!
Quote by mileswestern

"It was Riven (Sequel to Myst), which for a kid, was fascinating, but difficult."

I miss those games. I have them somewhere.
I can't remember the name of my first computer, but it was like a big calculator with a keyboard. It used a tape deck as a hard drive and a black and white TV for a monitor. It came with a basic programing book and I taught myself basic even though I was only 7 years old.

Ahh...The Myst Series. I have all of them ( there are seven titles in the series ) and still re-play them every once in awhile. I subscribed and played URU online for awhile too, which was actually quite boring gameplay wise which probably explains why it only lasted a year.

I must say that I like working on my layout. I feel like I'm actually accomplishing something, not just trying to beat some nobs highscore.
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
I have kind of ignored this thread since I thought it had pretty much run it's course, then I received the latest issue of "Scale Rails" the magazine of the NMRA. As I was browsing the issue, I came across an article by Stephen Priest profiling Craig P Martyn the founder and owner of BLMA Models. He started the company when he was 15 years old. He is currently 22 and a business administration major at Cal State Fullerton. Interestingly he started out like Miles here on the Gauge as a custom painter.
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
I have kind of ignored this thread since I thought it had pretty much run it's course, then I received the latest issue of "Scale Rails" the magazine of the NMRA. As I was browsing the issue, I came across an article by Stephen Priest profiling Craig P Martyn the founder and owner of BLMA Models. He started the company when he was 15 years old. He is currently 22 and a business administration major at Cal State Fullerton. Interestingly he started out like Miles here on the Gauge as a custom painter.

That's impressive, but there are always exceptions to the norm. Somehow, I doubt that completing my layout plan is going to catapult me into the Fortune 500. :rolleyes:
 
Top