开云体育

And some more encouraging news\Bob Chaparro

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As a cockeyed optimist, I subscribe to the view that the hobby isn’t dying, it’s changing. Anyone who witnessed the progress of UP 4014 through the western US over the past several weeks knows that the public’s love of trains has not diminished.

Clearly, there are many more avenues for entertainment today besides model railroading as others have pointed out, but that’s no reason to give up on “the world’s greatest hobby”. I’m a tinplater and have been a TTOS member since 1978. Our niche of the hobby has certainly changed over 40 years. Members have aged. The once huge Cal-Stewart meet is no more. The collectables boom of the 1980s-90s is over and the values of “collectable” toy trains have stagnated if not crashed with the exception of the truly rare pieces.

On the other hand, the current Lionel catalogs are the largest ever published. Lionel and the other toy train manufacturers are churning out products targeted at collectors, operators, and youngsters and families new to the hobby. It’s this latter group that is the key to our future as I am convinced that toy trains are still the gateway to scale model railroading for young hobbyists.

To this end, TTOS SP Division aggressively markets our club meets with the goal of attracting families and young people. It’s been a tough slog to convince some older members that the club is not just about selling trains to one another but also needs to have the mission of growing the hobby.

The effort has been paying off as we routinely attract 80-100 visitors to our monthly meets. Our membership is growing, albeit slowly, and our newer members tend to be younger. The key is to get people to our meets, show them a fun time, learn their interests, and help them get started in the hobby.

I’ll be happy to share offline the tools we use to sell our club. It’s not rocket science, it just takes effort.

Glenn Olsen

gi@... [gi AT sprintmail DOT com]

(951) 538-2705