John,
I think the future of any hobby lies in the interest of attracting young
people. Yesterday, I was in the Milwaukee area for Train Fest which is also
going on today. They are projecting attendance for the two days at over twenty
thousand. What I find amazing are the huge numbers of young families with
little ones in strollers and backpacks up through adolescents. Train Fest has
about 60 operating layouts with every imaginable scale and level of detail
represented. The guys in S did a great job considering that they just hosted a
wonderful S Fest the previous weekend. The line for the children to ride the
circus train was always full. There were many activities and displays for all.
I made a point to talk to the kids to get their feedback, and it was all
positive. Many grandparents were spending quality "train" time with their
grand kids and encouraging the hobby.
Keith Erhart
----- Original Message -----
Based on my findings at a variety of retail stores over the last few weeks...
these (see attachments) being found yesterday at Target... trains, in some form
or another, appear to be making, or trying to make a comeback. I can remember,
as far back as the late '70s and very early '80s, seeing a variety of brands of
train sets from manufacturers such as AHM, LifeLike and Bachmann on the shelves
at nearly every store I ventured into... and even a fair assortment of
accessories for them (bridges, telephone poles, styrofoam tunnels, structures,
etc), but I haven't seen much of such for many years... haven't even seen many
of these no-particular-scale type trains on the shelves. But over the past year
I have started noticing more stuff like this AND even a resurgence in the HO
scale train stuff... am even seeing some Woodland Scenics stuff on the shelves
at some stores.
Could it be that our hobby is NOT as doomed as it may appear to some, including
me from time to time?
John Degnan
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