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Why is their no budget range for the younger modeller to get into this hobby?


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Going back a few pages one thing that could help get newcomers interested is by making sets that contain what people actually see. Catering to far younger audiences isn't strickly neccesary as I didn't start with an electric train set.... It was things like Brio and ERTL which started the interest, which when combined with airfix kits (courtesy of my dad) eventually evolved into a 00 train set.

Looking at what Hornby are selling in sets there are a few alterations that might make them appeal more. For instance you have the Flying Scotsman train set, which has the loco in apple green with a few teaks. Scotsman isn't currently in apple green and certainly isn't hauling teaks on charters... Maybe if the loco was in BR Green with deflectors (Slightly thicker and more robust mind) and came with MK1's it'd appeal more? I dunno.

I imagine that a set containing a DMU or a 66 with some wagons might do well as you can actually go out and see them. Hornby certainly have the right idea with the GWR HST.

 

Just a thought...

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3 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

 

It might not be hard for you to set up a web shop with photos - but can you make transfers? No?

16 years ago I did a web design course that lasted a day.  At the end of it, I knew how to build a website that featured separate pages, images and looked passable (I’ve done naff all web design since then, but I suspect if my arse was in the fire and I needed a website to make money, I’d relearn how to quickly).  I’ve made a few homebrew transfers, they worked, sort of, if you didn’t look too closely.  But again, if I wanted to make money out of it, I’d learn how to do it properly.  Currently teaching myself CAD, not due to any wonderful plans, more something I want to be able to use.

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Once you get into the realm of cottage industry suppliers, you are talking to one-man-bands. So, your company owner might be good at making transfers, but has no IT skills. That's the reality of life, very few people are good at everything.

Agreed.  I’m certainly not.  Diplomacy’s not one of my strong points,, for a start.

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In an ideal world, he'd team up with someone who can do the IT side, but that's going to cost money and there's no guarantee that the extra sales will cover this. It's frustrating, but I'm not sure what the alternative is. We are not talking about mass-market products for the specialist items we require.

Now that’s where I’m not convinced, because I’d have spent my money with one of the sellers if he’d take PayPal without a levy.  His loss.  Personally, I think it sort itself over time.  I would say eBay as an alternative, but I won’t use that due to a spat selling second hand engineering tools and an idiot buyer who couldn’t understand the concept of ‘collection only’.

 

Then again, it would be a very dull and boring world if we all felt and believed them same.

 

Owain

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47 minutes ago, Rockalaucher101 said:

Going back a few pages one thing that could help get newcomers interested is by making sets that contain what people actually see. Catering to far younger audiences isn't strickly neccesary as I didn't start with an electric train set.... It was things like Brio and ERTL which started the interest, which when combined with airfix kits (courtesy of my dad) eventually evolved into a 00 train set.

Looking at what Hornby are selling in sets there are a few alterations that might make them appeal more. For instance you have the Flying Scotsman train set, which has the loco in apple green with a few teaks. Scotsman isn't currently in apple green and certainly isn't hauling teaks on charters... Maybe if the loco was in BR Green with deflectors (Slightly thicker and more robust mind) and came with MK1's it'd appeal more? I dunno.

I imagine that a set containing a DMU or a 66 with some wagons might do well as you can actually go out and see them. Hornby certainly have the right idea with the GWR HST.

 

Just a thought...

Agreed!  This is something I get onboard in a big way!  Sets that people can see.  Flying Scotsman, Tornado, Black fives as 45407, 44871, 45212 with a few WCRC mark 1’s or Pullman’s for a bit of variety?  Also other preserved locos?  45428, Repton, 825, 80135 (now that has been done) 80136, 63395 (and that’s just the moors current fleet).  Any one got any idea on sales of the version of 80135 Bachman have done?  I accept there will be licensing issues with the latest paint schemes, but it’s something to consider.

 

Owain

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2 hours ago, Rockalaucher101 said:

We've all dealt with one of those before.

It's the one's that complain about an item being used despite being described as such...

Going off topic, but the full sequence went thus, bid on collection of stuff that’s collection only due to weight.  When this is pointed out, demand a postage cost.  Agree happily to postage cost, then leave foul feedback about excessive postage charges and the time it took.  

 

Having told ebay precisely where to stuff it following their attitude towards said feedback, took up selling the rest of the stuff on a small ads site.  Lead to a far more pleasurable and profitable (no fees!) experience.

 

What this has to do with getting people started in the hobby, I’m not quite sure, but here we are...

 

Owain

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16 hours ago, Firecracker said:

Any one got any idea on sales of the version of 80135 Bachman have done?  I accept there will be licensing issues with the latest paint schemes, but it’s something to consider.

Bachmann did the same with the local freight set. It has Pannier 5764 which is preserved at the Severn Valley and up until recently was in GWR Green. Not sure how well it did/is doing but I know I bought one, specifically for that loco.

I definitely think this is something that manufacturers can benefit from.

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6 minutes ago, Rockalaucher101 said:

Bachmann did the same with the local freight set. It has Pannier 5764 which is preserved at the Severn Valley and up until recently was in GWR Green. Not sure how well it did/is doing but I know I bought one, specifically for that loco.

I definitely think this is something that manufacturers can benefit from.

You learn something new every day, didn’t know they’d done the pannier with that number!  It’s something I think there’s mileage in.

 

Owain

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The OP is why is there no budget range for the Younger Modeller , but actially I'd just ask why is there no budget range for a newcomer . You can imagine a guy at an exhibtion thoroughly enthused by the brilliant layouts there and then visits a trade stand to find Locos cost £150, Coaches £30-£70, Wagons £15-£65 track......power etc etc . Huge barrier to entry .

 

So I think there needs to be a budget range for everyone , not just youngsters , and maybe some targetted trainsets for older or returning enthusiasts (maybe like the Rich Uncle sets of old ) because they will have more disposable income, probably and need something a bit more involved  to keep that enthusiasm going . Smokey Joe with two wagons just wont do it.

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Again though it depend on what we consider youngsters. As I mentioned previously the really young tend to start with Brio or Tomy, plus it's all about safety which is, in my opinion, why Hornby decided that the thomas license was not worth renewing. Ages 3 n up? I doubt that'd fly these days, especially as mains power is involved and the track can be tough to put together for little hands.

Hornby Railroad does cater to the new comers quite well but I feel the price pushes them away, at least where single items are concerned. Train sets are as usual the best entry point. The new Scotsman set is £160 (159.99) direct from Hornby which includes the loco, three coaches, basic oval with siding and controller + other misc stuff... My Scotsman set when I started out was basically the same just tender drive and with one extra coach and that was £110 so the price isn't that different when you consider the improvements to the loco chassis and inflation.

 

I do like the idea of the returning enthusiast set though. 4th radius set-track with straights or maybe some flexi track, high detail loco and coaches (Hornby Rare Bird pack springs to mind) either a high quality DC controller or entry DCC controller. Would have to work out to slightly less than the if it was all bought seperately otherwise why bother.

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2 minutes ago, Rockalaucher101 said:

As I mentioned previously the really young tend to start with Brio or Tomy, plus it's all about safety which is, in my opinion, why Hornby decided that the thomas license was not worth renewing.

 

Possibly this also links back to a comment that was made earlier about Thomas appealing to a younger and younger age range, in which case it will have got to the point where the Tomy/Brio/Ertl market is stronger, but there’s less demand for ‘proper’ model railway Thomas items. I get the impression that lots of people who like this stuff prefer the Bachmann Thomas range anyway, although again some of it is very expensive.

 

Going slightly off-topic, prior to the changes were Hornby only allowed to sell in the UK with Bachmann covering everywhere else? Or was Bachmann only America? I can’t remember the exact details.

 

And going back on topic, does the Bachmann G gauge Thomas range sell well and is it effective at encouraging children into railway modelling?

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4 hours ago, Legend said:

So I think there needs to be a budget range for everyone , not just youngsters , and maybe some targetted trainsets for older or returning enthusiasts (maybe like the Rich Uncle sets of old ) because they will have more disposable income, probably and need something a bit more involved  to keep that enthusiasm going . Smokey Joe with two wagons just wont do it.

 

Perhaps a "starter set" which contains enough track and various diagrams of options to build a small shelf layout (station, shunting puzzle etc) would encourage newcomers to get started. Maybe include low relief card buildings in the kit too so that everything is there to allow someone to build a good looking starter layout.

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A a 'younger modeller' myself I thought I would add a few observations on this thread.

 

I don't believe the idea that model railways are dying as a hobby. 'Steam trains' and 'Train sets' have always been engaging and fascinating for young children - on that count, nothing has changed for the last 60 years! In my experience, with the people that I know who get into the hobby, nobody starts being interested in trains as a teenager. There's always a childhood interest that lies behind it, and since trains do have such a wide appeal to young children, 'Days out with Thomas' events and similar are vital, not just as cash flows for heritage railways, but as ways for children to create memories, and interests, they will revisit.

 

There is this perception that the hobby is only for the older generation because there are often perhaps less young people at exhibitions, less young people on RMWeb than the established generation. Naturally, it is easier for young people to relate to those of our own age than others. I'm lucky that I have friends who are as interested in trains as I am, and we have a hobby that we share. I know others, with whom I meet at exhibitions sometimes, a friend who volunteers at a heritage railway has his friends there; we are our own community.

 

Sam's Trains is popular because he provides this for those who can't find a community. While I like to believe that every generation grows more accepting than the last, thus enabling the social progress we have hopefully made, on the issue of the hobby of railways and model railways, we seem to have regressed a bit. For many people, there is a stigma, an embarrassment at liking trains, so they choose to ignore it, and don't pursue the hobby further.

 

Sam has created an online community of predominately young railway enthusiasts, he responds to comments, he has inside jokes in his videos, he provides that community of railway enthusiasm for young people, a substitute for that community that the trainspotters of the 50s and 60s doubtless also had. As a matter of interest, I wonder how many members of this forum 'got into trains' because of friends. I believe young people need this friendship, this community, far more than we need lower prices, or a range of products dedicated just to us.

 

It's also a more general point of how those in the hobby treat young people. Don't assume we all want models of Electrostars and Azumas just because that's 'all we know'. In fact, in my experience, more young people prefer steam; I'm the only one I know with an interest in the modern scene, out of my enthusiast friends. With the internet, it's probably easier for a 12 year old today to research and learn about the Bulleid Pacifics than for a 12 year year old in the 50s and 60s to do the same! In fact, while operating a layout at my local exhibition last year, I had someone half my size and age correct me on the exact number, class, and running numbers of unrebuilt Bulleid pacifics that are currently at the Mid-Hants Railway!

 

The final point I'd like to make is that young modellers are as diverse as older modellers; the hobby is a broad church at both ends. I'm researching whitemetal kits to build, my friend is completing his Hornby Trackmat layout. No interest is better, or superior, and I don't think we should criticise, patronise, or assume things about others in this hobby just because of how they enjoy it.

 

This is my first post here; apologies if I've overstepped!

 

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7 hours ago, CanSpam said:

My first round of applause recipient.

I was at a meeting yesterday discussing the effects of lockdown on young people's mental health and it struck me that what you have said about the value of friendship is very similar in tone to what I was saying there.

 

Your point about the importance of treating members of a minority group (in this case young rail modellers) as individuals reminds me of my frustrations with portrayals of gay people as one homogeneous group. Of course young modellers have a huge range of interests. I have an interest in 1980s/90s diesels and electrics but I still think a steam loco running on the mainline is one of the most awe-inspiring things you can see in Britain and I love the sight of the IETs. If one person can have such a diverse range of interests, how much diversity would you get from a group of five?

 

I think I may be guilty here of jumping onto the price bandwagon which has some valid points but barely scratches the surface of the full spectrum of reasons that young people do not get involved in modelling. I would still support a range of beginner kits designed to work on an RTR chassis supplied by the same manufacturer as I feel that this is something that we are missing anyway, and I believe that this would make it easier for young people to find their preferred activity within the hobby.

 

By the way, the last time I heard an argument with that much flow and energy I was sat in the House of Commons listening to other Members of Youth Parliament (and particularly one member from Kent). They had the advantage of body language and intonation, which shows just how good at writing you are.

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15 hours ago, Rockalaucher101 said:

I do like the idea of the returning enthusiast set though. 4th radius set-track with straights or maybe some flexi track, high detail loco and coaches (Hornby Rare Bird pack springs to mind) either a high quality DC controller or entry DCC controller. Would have to work out to slightly less than the if it was all bought seperately otherwise why bother.

 

You've basically just described the Bachmann (and Farish) train sets! This is surely the market that they find.

 

7 hours ago, CanSpam said:

Sam's Trains is popular because he provides this for those who can't find a community.

 

7 hours ago, CanSpam said:

The final point I'd like to make is that young modellers are as diverse as older modellers; the hobby is a broad church at both ends. 

 

Thank you - this really hits the nail on the head!

 

Just because younger modellers are connecting in different ways that many here don't see or recognise, it doesn't mean they're not there, or they're a different species. Or even that at the end of the day they're interested in different things!

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14 hours ago, Binky said:

 

Perhaps a "starter set" which contains enough track and various diagrams of options to build a small shelf layout (station, shunting puzzle etc) would encourage newcomers to get started. Maybe include low relief card buildings in the kit too so that everything is there to allow someone to build a good looking starter layout.

I just thought of something.

There is a service where you can design your own lego sets. What if, Hornby, made a rendition of this service where you can use a browser based track builder, using Hornby set-track, where once you have designed it you can hit order and it will put it into a set. 

You could have options at different price ranges like a typical train set (oval, couple straights, a point, loco and coaches) at around the £160 range depending on the loco and rolling stock quality, a shunters puzzle (enough track to fill a 4x1 or something, 08 shunter, some wagons), box file diorama (a point and a few straights, peckett maybe, a few wagons), each of which have a piece of plywood in the box to build it on along with track pins although maybe not for the 4x6 table.

Could be like the Hornby family started pack but with a bit more variety.

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1 hour ago, justin1985 said:

You've basically just described the Bachmann (and Farish) train sets! This is surely the market that they find.

I suppose that's true. I just wish that Hornby would do something similar as they have some very nice models like their A4 and their Coronation.

There are a couple of sellers on eBay that I think visualise exactly what I'm on about, if maybe leaning a bit towards the extreme.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-Digital-Train-Set-HL5-Huge-Jadlam-Layout-with-2-Trains/391047310847?hash=item5b0c3c6dff:g:2SMAAOSwDspe~KBn

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8 hours ago, CanSpam said:

nobody starts being interested in trains as a teenager.

A very insightful statement. It also acknowledges something I don't think has been recognised before in this thread - 99% of the time an interest in real trains comes first. Interest in model trains is just a follow-up to that. 

9 hours ago, CanSpam said:

As a matter of interest, I wonder how many members of this forum 'got into trains' because of friends.

Again a very true statement, and it was only after reading it I realised that was exactly what happened in my case - a friend of mine took me trainspotting when I was 11, and I was hooked. Model railways followed on, although I had been making Airfix kits before then.

 

My own lad's experience is probably typical; as a toddler his main contact with trains was visits to heritage railways. Later it was rides on Pendlinos to visit relatives. He was interested in trains in his own right.

As for models, he started out with the Lego Duplo Thomas sets. This progressed to the battery powered Hornby Junior set (a picture of it was posted earlier) which didn't go so well when he was unsupervised with it once. But nevertheless he enjoyed operating my layouts with me and the Hornby Thomas range beckoned at about age 5. By about 8 or 9 he wanted some O Scale & actually chose a Minerva steam loco as his first 'present', but soon found that O Scale is not pocket money prices (an affliction I suffer from too!!) so developed an interest in N Scale.

Now whether it was partly the fact I didn't have enough time to help him with building a layout or not, by age 12 his interest was waning, and soon the N scale was being sold and replaced by an iPad. Now at 17 he has no interest in trains whatsoever, real or model. He is learning to drive & a couple of his mates have already passed their tests & got cars. That & music are his interests, no doubt girls are in the mix too....

Anyone see a pattern? T'was ever thus, it seems. He actually apologised to me once for not being interested any more - I told him it wasn't a problem, I couldn't force him to be interested, and he has to have his own interests anyway. But who knows? Maybe 40 years from now he could return to the hobby, to rekindle his childhood memories, which would include steam and Pendolinos. 

 

One thing I have learned about buying stuff for a child's interests, railway or otherwise - it's often only of interest for 2 or 3 years maximum. That was the case with my lad's Thomas stuff, either Lego or Hornby. More important than cost to buy is, I think, a vibrant second-hand market to pass stuff on to afterwards. The Lego went easily enough on Ebay; the Hornby stuff I usually ended up trading in cheap at my local model shop. So returning to the OP's Utopia of a cheap range of RTR railway stuff, I can't see it happening partly because it wouldn't sustain interest very long anyway, and being cheap to begin with then would be virtually worthless afterwards.

It's never going to happen.

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On 27/08/2020 at 23:56, CanSpam said:

I don't believe the idea that model railways are dying as a hobby. 'Steam trains' and 'Train sets' have always been engaging and fascinating for young children - on that count, nothing has changed for the last 60 years! In my experience, with the people that I know who get into the hobby, nobody starts being interested in trains as a teenager. There's always a childhood interest that lies behind it, and since trains do have such a wide appeal to young children, 'Days out with Thomas' events and similar are vital, not just as cash flows for heritage railways, but as ways for children to create memories, and interests, they will revisit.

Agreed.  Very strongly agreed.  I had an interest in railways before I discovered the models, same for the offspring of a friend I’m quietly encouraging, same for my cousin.

On 27/08/2020 at 23:56, CanSpam said:

There is this perception that the hobby is only for the older generation because there are often perhaps less young people at exhibitions, less young people on RMWeb than the established generation. Naturally, it is easier for young people to relate to those of our own age than others. I'm lucky that I have friends who are as interested in trains as I am, and we have a hobby that we share. I know others, with whom I meet at exhibitions sometimes, a friend who volunteers at a heritage railway has his friends there; we are our own community.

Agreed strongly again.  That community is critical.  Might be through a friends, shop, a club, a point of contact or online.  Doesn’t matter how it exists, provided it’s there.

On 27/08/2020 at 23:56, CanSpam said:

Sam's Trains is popular because he provides this for those who can't find a community. While I like to believe that every generation grows more accepting than the last, thus enabling the social progress we have hopefully made, on the issue of the hobby of railways and model railways, we seem to have regressed a bit. For many people, there is a stigma, an embarrassment at liking trains, so they choose to ignore it, and don't pursue the hobby further.

Can’t say I watch him regularly, but I was aware of him and his channel.  It’s stuff like that that got me back into the hobby, in my case it was Kathy Millatt and Everard junction. 

On 27/08/2020 at 23:56, CanSpam said:

Sam has created an online community of predominately young railway enthusiasts, he responds to comments, he has inside jokes in his videos, he provides that community of railway enthusiasm for young people, a substitute for that community that the trainspotters of the 50s and 60s doubtless also had. As a matter of interest, I wonder how many members of this forum 'got into trains' because of friends. I believe young people need this friendship, this community, far more than we need lower prices, or a range of products dedicated just to us.

Oh yes.  The role of that community cannot be underestimated.  Good for him, long may he continue.  I certainly got into this through friends, it was the attic layout of a friends dad that got me hooked.

On 27/08/2020 at 23:56, CanSpam said:

It's also a more general point of how those in the hobby treat young people. Don't assume we all want models of Electrostars and Azumas just because that's 'all we know'. In fact, in my experience, more young people prefer steam; I'm the only one I know with an interest in the modern scene, out of my enthusiast friends. With the internet, it's probably easier for a 12 year old today to research and learn about the Bulleid Pacifics than for a 12 year year old in the 50s and 60s to do the same! In fact, while operating a layout at my local exhibition last year, I had someone half my size and age correct me on the exact number, class, and running numbers of unrebuilt Bulleid pacifics that are currently at the Mid-Hants Railway!

Agreed.  I had similar with someone realising the significance of 76080 running on a fictional preserved line in 3 seconds flat.  I’ve also been pulled up on operational details.  Ease of research is something we now take for granted.  Example - I was renumbering an 08 recently.  Wanted a vac only machine that had worked in the NW long enough to have survived into preservation.  Quick google later, threw up 08715, finishing at Carlisle Currock in 2004.  Mention that on Facebook and hit the jackpot - a friend on there’s an ex Stratford driver, it was based there previously and a bunch of photos of it in banger blue land in my messenger that day. How I’d have done that in 1996, aged 16 unless I’d managed to get a photo of it at Carlisle I really don’t know.

On 27/08/2020 at 23:56, CanSpam said:

The final point I'd like to make is that young modellers are as diverse as older modellers; the hobby is a broad church at both ends. I'm researching whitemetal kits to build, my friend is completing his Hornby Trackmat layout. No interest is better, or superior, and I don't think we should criticise, patronise, or assume things about others in this hobby just because of how they enjoy it.

Agreed.  Oh boy, agreed!  To me it doesn’t matter a toss what someone wants to model, it’s all equal.  Might be a Hornby trackmat, might be a P4 epic.  Doesn’t matter.  You enjoying it?  Good.  That’s all that matters.

On 27/08/2020 at 23:56, CanSpam said:

 

This is my first post here; apologies if I've overstepped!

 

If you’re guilty of that, I’m as well matey, I wouldn’t worry about it.  Thanks for posting.  More power to your elbow and show us what your up to somewhere please!

 

Owain

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On 27/08/2020 at 23:56, CanSpam said:

It's also a more general point of how those in the hobby treat young people. Don't assume we all want models of Electrostars and Azumas just because that's 'all we know'. In fact, in my experience, more young people prefer steam; I'm the only one I know with an interest in the modern scene, out of my enthusiast friends.

 

On 27/08/2020 at 23:56, CanSpam said:

The final point I'd like to make is that young modellers are as diverse as older modellers; the hobby is a broad church at both ends. I'm researching whitemetal kits to build, my friend is completing his Hornby Trackmat layout.

 

Agreed - I think some people are getting carried away with the idea that younger people only want to model modern prototypes. Mostly, I don’t - since I model industrial NG there wouldn’t be that much for me to model if I focused on the modern scene.

 

 I think the range of subjects for railway modelling has become more diverse anyway. I remember reading an article written by someone who started in the 1950s and was asked, on his first visit to a local model railway club, whether he was an LNER or LMS modeller (the BR successor regions of these companies made up the local railways in the area where he grew up). I seem to remember the writer of the article went on to be a narrow gauge modeller.

 

Now there are overseas prototypes, multiple scales and gauges and a wider range of eras modelled, so such a question would be even more out of place. However, such diversity does not easily lend itself to a widely available and cheap beginners’ range.

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On 28/08/2020 at 09:02, Rockalaucher101 said:

I just thought of something.

There is a service where you can design your own lego sets. What if, Hornby, made a rendition of this service where you can use a browser based track builder, using Hornby set-track, where once you have designed it you can hit order and it will put it into a set. 

You could have options at different price ranges like a typical train set (oval, couple straights, a point, loco and coaches) at around the £160 range depending on the loco and rolling stock quality, a shunters puzzle (enough track to fill a 4x1 or something, 08 shunter, some wagons), box file diorama (a point and a few straights, peckett maybe, a few wagons), each of which have a piece of plywood in the box to build it on along with track pins although maybe not for the 4x6 table.

Could be like the Hornby family started pack but with a bit more variety.

Great idea, allow people to choose the type of layout they want, the style of rolling stock that interests them, (different eras, passenger or freight etc) and some relevant flat packed scenery. Make a standard sized, fold in half baseboard that doubles as the box (a bit like some board games), include a paper template to lay on it and mark where track/electrics go. Give people the oppurtunity to get everything they need in one kit.

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45 minutes ago, 009 micro modeller said:

Agreed - I think some people are getting carried away with the idea that younger people only want to model modern prototypes. Mostly, I don’t - since I model industrial NG there wouldn’t be that much for me to model if I focused on the modern scene.

 

 I think the range of subjects for railway modelling has become more diverse anyway. I remember reading an article written by someone who started in the 1950s and was asked, on his first visit to a local model railway club, whether he was an LNER or LMS modeller (the BR successor regions of these companies made up the local railways in the area where he grew up). I seem to remember the writer of the article went on to be a narrow gauge modeller.

 

Now there are overseas prototypes, multiple scales and gauges and a wider range of eras modelled, so such a question would be even more out of place. However, such diversity does not easily lend itself to a widely available and cheap beginners’ range.

 

Yes. Thanks to the internet it's easier than ever to be inspired by much more than the current trains we see at our local station. Information and inspiration from all areas and eras is only a click away (personally I have various railway interests from US railroading to narrow gauge and industrial minimum gauge) so it would be hard for one manufacturer to cover all of these bases with a beginner's range. I wonder how many newcomers start off with an interest in overseas/narrow gauge etc though, or do people tend to discover some form of their country's standard gauge first (historical or present day) then develop an interest in other prototypes as they delve deeper into their hobby?

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26 minutes ago, Binky said:

Make a standard sized, fold in half baseboard that doubles as the box (a bit like some board games), include a paper template to lay on it and mark where track/electrics go. Give people the oppurtunity to get everything they need in one kit.

That is simply the best idea I’ve seen in this whole thread.  Because to me that’s a major step for someone to make in the transition from an oval of track to a fledgling model Railway, a board to mount it onto.  With the arrival of laser cutting, surely a flat pack ply kit should be straightforward.

 

Owain

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Graham Farish had something similar to this for N gauge 20 years ago - their Magnum Layouts.  The board could be ordered from Farish with the track laid, wired and ready to go.  They also had the relatively cheap Scenecraft building kits based on plastic blocks and sticky labels.  This meant it was possible to get a good looking layout up and running quite quickly.  This approach certainly worked in N gauge.

 

Kind regards 

 

Paddy

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1 hour ago, Binky said:

I wonder how many newcomers start off with an interest in overseas/narrow gauge etc though, or do people tend to discover some form of their country's standard gauge first (historical or present day) then develop an interest in other prototypes as they delve deeper into their hobby?

 

My earliest real railway memory is of a local main line railway, but apart from briefly messing about with some old track and Hornby 0-4-0s (easily available) I didn’t particularly have another modelling interest before getting into NG.

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Yes, it's much easier researching the past now than it was in the 1960s. Growing up then, I couldn't understand why I never saw any Brush type 2s (31s) in the north-east which I had the Triang model of. The only local diesel modelled was the class 37 and it looked wrong—not because it was a poor likeness, but because it had centre head codes and the local 37s all had split head codes.

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