All the Youth talk is it true?

RobertInOntario

Active Member
Renovo PPR said:
I have seen more articles in the past few weeks than I care to think of about trains and youth. They say the old timers are about to kick the bucket and then there will be no more train market. The big question is where is the youth?
I don’t consider myself in either the old or youth bracket. I’m brave enough to say I will be 48 in a few days on March 9. I have two daughters one a 14 with no interest in anything that is fun like trains. My other daughter at age 10 is the number one reason I got back into the hobby she is 100% trains. I have no clue why she likes trains but she does.
Well since I’m in the middle bracket the train guys should get at least another 20 years of my dollars to fund this hobby. That is a large market in terms of years for any product. Chances are my daughter will remain a prospective train buyer for the next 50 years.
So now I will ask everyone to step up so we can get an average age here on the gauge. I really don’t know what the average age will be but for some reason I’m betting it will be under 30. In any event I doubt it will be over the age of 50.
[FONT=&quot]So stand up and lets us know your age so we can do an unscientific study of the member’s ages. I just want to see if this is MFG HYPE to try and build a future market way into the future and not around the corner like they want us to believe.[/FONT]


Why not set this question up as a poll? It would be interesting to see the results in graph form!

BTW, there are a fair number of teens and 20-somethings on this site, so that's very encouraging.

Cheers, Rob
 

CNWman

CNW Fan
RobertInOntario said:
Why not set this question up as a poll? It would be interesting to see the results in graph form!

BTW, there are a fair number of teens and 20-somethings on this site, so that's very encouraging.

Cheers, Rob

One of those teens would be me:D
 

hooknlad

Member
Soon to be 40 in April. I agree with most. I'm pretty much established with life, career, married, residence, education, savings, vehicle etc... So I have a few bucks here and there for miscellaneous items, such as trains, current technology etc...
Being older does have its disadvantages though, Aches, pains, loss of eyesight and hearing lol... And also now that I have a nice big layout to many, 12 by 12, its not big enough for me.. So, it's time for me to pick up and move to Iowa, to be with my wife, who is currently taking care of her Dad..
I paid about $100K for my house in NJ, 10 years ago, and i can currently get about $400k for it now...now that is equity !!! I will be able to purchase a decent sized home on 8 acres for $150k with $1200 in taxes... I am currently paying $6k in taxes for a 50 by 100 lot - thats ludicrous!!!!
Soon to have Huge layout in a 40 by 40 heated, insulated, partially finished barn with zero mortgage and negligible taxes. My wife will be happy my hobby will be out of the house and I will have a barn for all my toys - lol..
So for everyone just starting out, don't be discouraged... Time will heal most wounds..
Sorry for the rant, just had an epidural today, so I'm zoned.. lol
 

Renovo PPR

Just a Farmer
That was an interesting poll. If your interested 57% of the members that voted were under the age of 50. The largest group is between 51 and 60 while the next three groups are those between ages 31 and 50. The age groups of 21 to 30 and 61 to 70 are 1 member short of even.

The average age would be closer to 50 than 30 but not near the 60 that most reports state. However the information is really to dated to get a clear picture since most reports state that the train market really grown over the period of 2005 and 2007. In addition there might of been a larger increase in numbers in the key age bracket of 51 to 60.

So in part I really can't use the older poll and for what I want it is too old.
 

Cannonball

More Trains Than Brains
hooknlad said:
Soon to be 40 in April. I agree with most. I'm pretty much established with life, career, married, residence, education, savings, vehicle etc... So I have a few bucks here and there for miscellaneous items, such as trains, current technology etc...
Being older does have its disadvantages though, Aches, pains, loss of eyesight and hearing lol... And also now that I have a nice big layout to many, 12 by 12, its not big enough for me.. So, it's time for me to pick up and move to Iowa, to be with my wife, who is currently taking care of her Dad..
I paid about $100K for my house in NJ, 10 years ago, and i can currently get about $400k for it now...now that is equity !!! I will be able to purchase a decent sized home on 8 acres for $150k with $1200 in taxes... I am currently paying $6k in taxes for a 50 by 100 lot - thats ludicrous!!!!
Soon to have Huge layout in a 40 by 40 heated, insulated, partially finished barn with zero mortgage and negligible taxes. My wife will be happy my hobby will be out of the house and I will have a barn for all my toys - lol..
So for everyone just starting out, don't be discouraged... Time will heal most wounds..
Sorry for the rant, just had an epidural today, so I'm zoned.. lol

What part of Iowa will you be moving to?
Moving from NJ is probably going to be a bit of culture shock for you.
I can say that since I'm from Iowa. Nothing but cows and cornfields.
Iowa City is a pretty cool place. DesMoines is OK but you have to deal with the State Fair every year. Council Bluffs is next to Omaha, NB and the Omaha Zoo. At least it has that going for it.

As you've already mentioned, housing will be MUCH more affordable than what it was out in NJ.
 

Renovo PPR

Just a Farmer
I think if I can get 10% of the active members this would give us a fair number to work with, 20% would be better.

I will try to do something on the lines of a chart if I get enough updated numbers.
 

Fluesheet

Member
Renovo PPR said:
That was an interesting poll. If your interested 57% of the members that voted were under the age of 50. The largest group is between 51 and 60 while the next three groups are those between ages 31 and 50. The age groups of 21 to 30 and 61 to 70 are 1 member short of even.

The last sentence is encouraging, but has to be taken with a grain of salt, I think. I'd wager that the older group is under-represented on the-gauge compared to their overall presence the modeling world and, conversely, the younger group SHOULD be a much larger sub-section given their overall presence in the cyber world.

Meanwhile, I'm approaching the mid-forties...
 

zedob

Member
I had an eye opener awhile back when I was tallking to my sister about the old Silk City MRR Club I used to belong to in the 70's and she asked me if I had rejoined and I said, "No". She replied, "Why?" and I told her that I've become pretty much of a modeling loner and that most of the "old guys" were probably not alive anymore.

That's when she hit me with "You know Russ, YOU are one of the "old guys" now!

Uhhgg!:cry: That hit the wrong spot. At 45, I don't feel like one of the old guys, but I guess I am. However, I am beginning to FEEL like and old guy, even more.

I squeek in the morning when getting out of bed. I never used to do that. :D
 

bigsteel

Call me Mr.Tinkertrain
I squeek in the morning when getting out of bed. I never used to do that.
biggrin.gif

whenever i get outta bed it sounds like im stepping on bubble wrap!! LOL :D not to mention i have the same **ugh** my dad made when he used to neal...it sucks getting old! :D --josh
 

bigsteel

Call me Mr.Tinkertrain
Do you remember:
Sears train set for Christmas.
AMT, Revell, and Monogram cars trucks ships and airplane kits.
Cox .049 tethered aircraft.
Wood Burning kits.
Chemistry Set.
Go carts from baby buggy wheels and a plank,
Bicycle races on Schwinns, CCMs and Humbers.
Dirt lump battles and hide and seek in the woods,
Sling shots, pea shooters, and jar ring clothes pin guns.
Baseball games till way after the street light came on.

that was fun for us,but todays kids are to hooked on electronics.MRRing is to much actuall "work" for them.and the closest i get to electronics know-how is a DCC system or this computer!--josh
 

hilldrum

New Member
Well then I'm turning 18 on the 11th and I have a very high interest in trains. Especially the old steamers. ;) I like the older stuff better.
 

CCT70

Member
Ugh...31 going on 61.

Several years of working as a switchman and trying to be a hotshot one at that, has made my knees and ankles creak like bubble wrap. I even found myself yelling at some moron teenager this afternoon while out to lunch with my Dad and he laughed his butt off when I said "Damned kids.....".

He said "Congratulations, you're now officially an old fart".

Great.
 

Torpedo

Member
Chaparral said:
Do you remember:
Sears train set for Christmas.
No, but I got a Twin Trix.

AMT, Revell, and Monogram cars trucks ships and airplane kits.
Built scads of them.

Cox .049 tethered aircraft.
Do you mean control line? I flew them .020 to .46

Wood Burning kits.
Saw them, never had one, never wanted one.

Chemistry Set.
Oh, yeah. Bet they don't allow kids to blow stuff up these days. Too bad. Makes a better person out of you if you survive childhood despite yourself. :D:D:D:D

Go carts from baby buggy wheels and a plank.
And no brakes, of course

Bicycle races on Schwinns, CCMs and Humbers.
Mine was a CCM. Had it stolen when we moved to the US.

Dirt lump battles and hide and seek in the woods.
We threw rocks........

Sling shots, pea shooters, and jar ring clothes pin guns.
Sling shots, yes. Didn't do pea shooters. Whatsa jar ring clothes pin gun?

Baseball games till way after the street light came on
Oh, yeah. Hated to have to come in.
 

joesho

Member
Money

CNWman said:
Then why do you have more money than me to get stuff?:cry: AT least I'm not the only teenager here:D
lol i get five dollars a week, and a seperate 3 dollars from my grandma every week too, that means 20 dollars a month,not to mention i have, (drum roll please) 22 DOLLARS in my wallet.:D :eek:ops: :eek: i also can make more money doing extra jobs around the house,but i never have time,im always,....errr...too busy :D :rolleyes: sign1
 

slekjr

Member
I'm one of the old guys at 63. Ive been building and tearing up layouts for 50 years.
Started with a Lionel in '49 but that doesn't really count because it only ran at Christmas around the tree. Begged for and got an AF passenger set for
christmas in 1956 and got my first ho set in 59. Gave it up for a while because of the frustration trying to keep them on the track. I have 4 children 3 of them are into trains, one big time.
I see a lot of kids, both boys and girls with a fasination for trains here at the scenic railroad but the majority of them seem to loose interest when they hit the teens.
I do have 1 volunteer here that is 18 and first rode the train here when he was in third grade. All the other volunteers range from 51 to 76 years old.
The high tech dcc and sound units will bring a lot of them into the fold.
Charlie
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
41 here, been model RRing off and on since i was 8:thumb:. younger, other things was "more important":rolleyes:, been soild into it for the last 6 years though:thumb:, and i gotta admit, its nice having the money to do more now:D, just wish i had more room:(.
:D -Deano
 
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