Diesel layouts and collectors compared to steam ones

[TEAMYAKIMA]

I have been stuck indoors for a few days and spent my time looking on various forums and TBH I have been surprised at how many featured payouts are post 1968. Just looking at 4mm modelling, what is the current balance between 'diesel era' and 'steam era' interest and for definition let's call that pre and post 1968. 

 

This is not a question of which is better. This is simply asking in 2021 what is the percentage of enthusiasts who are firmly in the diesel camp as opposed to being resolutely in the steam one. 

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by TEAMYAKIMA

[PMP]

I very much doubt you’ll get a definitive answer. A poll here would tell you what percentage of those that answered the poll model. There’s three questions really

1/ do you model steam exclusively 

2/ do you model d/e exclusively 

3/ do you model both steam and D&E 

 

That covers things like 1930’s southern electrics, and preservation era steam only modellers. And to get a real feel of the interest spread don’t restrict it to any particular scale.
 

 

 

 

 

[The Johnster]

As a very general impression, I would say that the more recent exhibitions I have attended, since my return to the hobby in 2016, have featured a divide of about 40/60% in favour of diesel.  My prior period of active attendance at show ended in about 1990, and the situation was probably reversed then, but if you go back a further decade matters were very much pro-steam or steam/green diesel mix.

 

This is a very personalised, impressionist, and subjective overview, however, and show layouts may not tally with the overall picture including home layouts.  Also, there are many 'trainset' (I do not intend the term to be taken as being derogatory) layouts on which any and everything runs together, with no location or period specified, and once you include or exclude those matters will rapidly degenerate into what individuals consider to be 'proper' railway modelling and what they don't.

 

I model steam exclusively.

[MarkSG]

This isn't really an answer to the question as such (sorry!), but the question does illustrate one of the ways in which the hobby has changed.

 

When I was a teenager, railway modellers, broadly speaking, divided into two camps: "steam" and "modern image". The latter meant diesel, and the former was effectively a synomym for "historical". I started out as a modern image modeller, but switched timescale to steam when I realised that the pre-Beeching era offered more opportunity to create a reasonably authentic, mixed-traffic branch line that would fit in the space I had available in my dad's shed!

 

However, time travels on, and it's no longer true that "historical" and "steam" mean essentially the same thing. Somewhat scarily, the "blue diesel" era (ie, modern image, to me as a teenager) is now longer ago than post-war steam was when I was a teenager. So there's an entirely new segment of the hobby, which didn't really exist to any great degree when I was a teenager, of modelling "historical diesel", with the blue era being probably the most popular.

 

One obvious consequence of that is that there are more diesel layouts than there were back in the day, because, while the steam era remains essentially fixed, the diesel era continues to grow (and morph into the electric era, but that's a different story). In particular, people who like both railway history AND diesels now have a wide range of options open to them from a modelling perspective, whereas in the past that was a much smaller overlap.

 

And, of course, as time moves on, so does the timespan covered by the era that can best be described as "when I was growing up".  When i was a teenager, older modellers (including famous names who wrote articles in the magazines) were modelling from their own personal experience of steam in their own younger years. These days, I am an older modeller, and many of my contemporaries, famous or otherwise, are also modelling from their personal experience of diesel in their younger years, even if I'm sticking with what was history when I was a teenager and is even more historical now.

[298]

Four out of my five projects are centered on electric traction built in the 1920's (the fifth is diesel only but uses ancillaries from another project).

 

[Zomboid]

Not directly relevant since the dates aren't the same (make many fewer will remember that proper stream era now), but American modeling seems to be very biased towards the diesel era.

[F-UnitMad]

11 hours ago, Zomboid said:

Not directly relevant since the dates aren't the same (make many fewer will remember that proper stream era now), but American modeling seems to be very biased towards the diesel era.

In the UK, definitely. I'd say that we have also embraced the Short Line and 'modern industrial park' scenes more, too, but from what I see and read of, the Transition Era (1950s in USA) is still the dominant modelled Era across The Puddle.

[TravisM]

I think this has been discussed before and I think the opinion was that most people model what they remember in the past, or like me, model the present day or the last 10-15 years.

[Kris]

I don't have any many of those filthy dirty polluting things for my layout.

 

Talking about diesels here. 

 

Steam is only clean white fluffy clouds coming out isn't it... 

Edited October 26, 2021 by Kris

[Nearholmer]

I suspect things divide into three camps:

 

- now or very recent past;

 

- nostalgic memories of childhood and teenage-hood;

 

- consciously historical, beyond, often far beyond, personal memory, but perhaps fed to some extent by preservation.

 

The date-horizon for the second of these, which always seems to be the most popular, marches forward. As a person in early-60s, I’m probably towards the younger end of the group that includes “real BR steam” in those memories.

 

But, don’t dismiss “consciously historical” as a force. It’s interesting to observe how the r-t-r suppliers see it as a market worth serving, and perhaps as one that is growing, and stretching backwards in time.

 

My entirely non-scientific view is that we are probably at a roughly 50:50 pre/post-1968 balance of interests among layout builders, which isn’t quite the same as 50:50 steam/diesel or electric), because all three forms of motive power span both sides of that date.

[Kris]

2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

I suspect things divide into three camps:

 

- now or very recent past;

 

- nostalgic memories of childhood and teenage-hood;

 

- consciously historical, beyond, often far beyond, personal memory, but perhaps fed to some extent by preservation.

 

The date-horizon for the second of these, which always seems to be the most popular, marches forward. As a person in early-60s, I’m probably towards the younger end of the group that includes “real BR steam” in those memories.

 

But, don’t dismiss “consciously historical” as a force. It’s interesting to observe how the r-t-r suppliers see it as a market worth serving, and perhaps as one that is growing, and stretching backwards in time.

 

My entirely non-scientific view is that we are probably at a roughly 50:50 pre/post-1968 balance of interests among layout builders, which isn’t quite the same as 50:50 steam/diesel or electric), because all three forms of motive power span both sides of that date.

I have no memory of steam, indeed only a limited memory of BR blue so I would very much fit into the "consciously historical" category. 

Edited October 26, 2021 by Kris

[Zomboid]

My only experience of the Southern Pacific is catching a few glimpses of the former SP (now Caltrain) route into San Francisco from the BART.

 

If I did the UK my main interest would be the LSWR/ Southern from about 1910 to 1940

 

Which I guess makes me consciously historical.

[Nearholmer]

8 minutes ago, Zomboid said:

If I did the UK my main interest would be the LSWR/ Southern from about 1910 to 1940

Unless you are considerably older than most RMWebbers.

[F-UnitMad]

3 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

I suspect things divide into three camps:

Camp 4 (my camp - there's always an awkward one!!)

 

Those of us who model railways/railroads of another Country, that we have no personal experience or memory of, but just like very much.

[Nearholmer]

OK.

 

Perhaps Camp 4 should also cover fantasy modelling, and making models of places that you have been to, but have absolutely no direct recollection of.

 

Another country is the past.

[sncf231e]

14 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

Camp 4 (my camp - there's always an awkward one!!)

 

Those of us who model railways/railroads of another Country, that we have no personal experience or memory of, but just like very much.

Camp 5 (my camp, another awkward one)

Like yours but besides model trains also toy trains; That is why the title of my website (http://sncf231e.nl/) is 

Many different model trains in all scales & gauges

But only the trains I like

Regards

Fred

[Nearholmer]

Ah, that comes as a codicil to Camp 2: nostalgia for other people’s childhoods.

[Reorte]

21 hours ago, jools1959 said:

I think this has been discussed before and I think the opinion was that most people model what they remember in the past, or like me, model the present day or the last 10-15 years.

 

I "model" (I put that in quotes because I've not got very far and haven't done anything for ages) steam, despite being born getting on for a decade after 1968. What I remember would therefore be BR Blue (and I've a little bit of interest there from the nostalgia perspective). I've no interest at all in the current or recent scene. That said though a good layout at an exhibition is a good layout whatever the period or place and I'm quite capable of appreciating and enjoying a well-made layout of something I actively dislike in reality.

 

But of course one person's preferences isn't something you can generalise from, there are always exceptions.

[HonestTom]

I'd call myself a steam (era) modeller. I grew up in the 80s/90s, but firmly within commuter train territory - it was all a little bit samey. While I do own some models out of nostalgia, it's for visits to heritage railways and museums. The only exceptions are a MLV, which I remember being stabled at Strawberry Hill Depot, and a 2-EPB. However, both of these are liveried for the BR steam era, which is my primary modelling interest.

[97406]

I have a small collection of ‘preserved’ steam locos for my 80’s layout (I probably shouldn’t call it “modern image” any more). I quite fancy a standard class 4 tank and a black 5 at some point. It all goes back to the nostalgia of visiting Dinting and Steamtown with my Dad. I also have a small heritage diesel and electric fleet to go with the steam when I‘m feeling all retro.

[DaveF]

 

Having been born in 1949 it is obvious that I would model the Midland Railway pre 1914 in 0 gauge  -at least I think it is.  I do have a few locos that are non Midland, some of which are out of that time period but they spend most of their time on a shelf at the side of the layout.

 

I also model Swiss Railways in n gauge, mainly 1988 to 1997 - memories of long holidays spent there.

 

When I had an 00 gauge layout it was mainly pre1914 Midland but as the Settle and Carlisle didn't change too much for many years I also had some BR steam and diesel stock and a small amount of post privatisation stock.  It was all sold some years ago.

 

David

 

 

[woodenhead]

Hmmm:

1. OO 1930s GW/SR - this is because I like the liveries.
2. N gauge BR steam early transition period GW/SR/LM - My dad had a lot of steam on his layout and I've grown up liking steam
3. BR blue in the Northwest (though I have some 26/27s in a box too). - Modelling how I remember it.