Railway Modelling...can it be sexy?

[RailNut101]

Can railway modelling be made sexy, desirable, appealing to the masses?

 

....and if so, how?

 

I mean this in all seriousness.

 

Take the world of DCC. Now we have locomotives with sound.....surely this widens the appeal of railway modelling and makes it more 'exciting'?

 

I, for one saw the catalogue produced this year by Roco, and I have to admit, I thought yes, this is how the hobby should be promoted, not the image of 'men in sheds'.

 

Why should we be portrayed as 'anoraks'. The world of model railways has gone digital. It's well and truly pulled up at 'Platform 21st Century'. 

 

How can it be made to appeal to the masses?

 

Should it be made to appeal to the masses?

 

How does the hobby apply the 'awesome' factor?

 

I think it needs to. I think it needs to take a good look at how it's seen by others. Railway modelling needs an image change.

 

Would you agree!?

[Andy Y]

Modelling railways will never be 'sexy' and why should it? It's an acceptable niche pasttime; sometimes some of the obsessive nature of some participants assists the cliches but that's the same for other hobbies too.

 

Don't try and sex it up (I have other hobbies/interests which suffer from that); leave us to enjoy what we do, it's our day off.

[298]

Are you suggesting some Girlies stand by an exhibition layout holding a display board with the layout's name on...? I like watching Motorsport, but have never quite understood why there needs to be Totty working as "Pit Girls" on the grid , the driver knows where his position is and everybody else can identify the car and team, so why have them...? They're soon forgotten about, and if anything are a menace (cue the video of one fainting onto the bonnet of a Race Car and the driver asking if his car was damaged...:

 )

 

I don't think the hobby would take too well to such a proposal, anybody who has dragged their Wife/Girlfriend/Random Female Friend along to operate or is even a Female themselves might agree that a certain element don't like talking to Fillies and will wait until a bloke returnsas they are obviously more knowledgable, or conversely are sometimes more likely to try to talk to a Lady, as they very rarely see them in their natural habitat.

[Poggy1165]

You do realise that if the hobby became 'sexy' everything would double or triple in price? That's what happened when football became 'sexy' - the game was ruined as a pastime for ordinary supporters, especially those who used to go home and away. Long may railway modelling remain 'unsexy' and the province of people who are actually interested in railways, as opposed to poseurs and pseuds.

[roundhouse]

Are you suggesting some Girlies stand by an exhibition layout holding a display board with the layout's name on.

 

 

That does have an appeal. 

 

However we have enough problems operating the layout without errors without adding further distractions

[great central]

Are you suggesting some Girlies stand by an exhibition layout holding a display board with the layout's name on...? I like watching Motorsport, but have never quite understood why there needs to be Totty working as "Pit Girls" on the grid , the driver knows where his position is and everybody else can identify the car and team, so why have them...? They're soon forgotten about, and if anything are a menace (cue the video of one fainting onto the bonnet of a Race Car and the driver asking if his car was damaged...: 

 

 

 

Don't get many grid girlies in this motorsport!. Used to go a lot myself years ago, but like many other sports it's become 'tame' in my opinion. The cars are pretty much the same now and as for those huge 'spoilers'   Time was when almost every car was unique built by it's driver and his team of mechanics.

 

 

Edit to include the video, I forgot!

[bagpipes331]

I'm trying to imagine just how sexy a filthy tank engine shunting the yard can be.........No it's not happening.

 

Still, getting a good looking model in to  showcase the hobby would be great........

 

[mezzoman253]

The major manufacturers could do more to promote DCC and sound. When's the last time you saw an advert for Hornby or Bachmann on TV? But as for sexing it up, I don't think so.

 

Rob

[trisonic]

Oh, dear.

I get my sex elsewhere thank you.  

 

Best, Pete.

[shortliner]

Oh, dear.

I get my sex elsewhere thank you.  

 

Best, Pete.

 

"We have no wish to know that" - kindly leave the stage! Departs, stage left! 

[roundhouse]

Just keep to the straight a narrow (OO gauge)!!

[37255]

Can't really see what could be gained from it. I don't want to go clothes shopping, she doesn't want to go to a model exhibition; why fight the status quo?

 

(Edited for grammar, content unchanged!)

[SM42]

It will never be sexy because the general population has ingrained in them  the following stereotypes :

 

If you are male it is sad and a borderline mental illness (strange how a similar passion for a sport isn't seen as the same)

 

If you are female it is much too wierd for words. After all it's what borderline mentally ill men like isn't it?

 

I don't think we should try and make it sexy cos that will blow the minds of non believers and then they will see us as even more sad for trying..

 

Short of a large number of "in" celebrities coming out, I can't see how  you could make it sexy.

 

Half dressed people (whilst attention grabbing) do not make anything  sexy in my book. Sexual yes, sexy no.

 

The above can be said for lots of other hobbies too (things that involve collecting anything seem to similarly afflicted)

 

Let's just show the world that we are ordinary people, with ordinary lives (in most cases) with a hobby, like lots of other ordinary  people.

 

Andy

[Classsix T]

No. Next!

 

C6T.

[Guest spet0114]

The major manufacturers could do more to promote DCC and sound. When's the last time you saw an advert for Hornby or Bachmann on TV? But as for sexing it up, I don't think so.

 

Rob

 

C'mon - Bernard Cribbins? Phwoar!

 

[TT3]

Does anyone else recall the attempt to sex up Lima 0 gauge in those ads from the 70s with the model draped with 0 coaches - cant find a picture online  of the ads so it better not be my imagination.

[Neil]

It's a shame that we seem to have latched onto the word 'sexy' in the original post because it does pose a few valid questions once one gets beyond the sensationalist language.

 

As with most things which hold my interest I'm pretty happy with model railways as they are. It wouldn't make my appreciation of the hobby any greater if it were more popular, more mass market, in fact it might have the opposite effect for some. I believe the minority scales attract their protagonists because they're different, because one has to rely on ones own resources.In 00 we see many of the niche/off beat prototypes being released in ready to run format. If railway modelling became as popular as footie,  tv or Harry Potter, I could see those who crave individuality becoming thoroughly cheesed off by an attendant high level of commercial support.

 

As a bloke comfortably into my middle ages I feel comfortable with my enthusiasms, happy to admit I spend a good part of my time playing with trains both large and small. However in my twenties it was a slightly different story; I preferred that people would get to know me first before they got to know my hobby. I think when one is younger that peer group pressure or pack mentality plays a much larger part in what is socially acceptable and what is judged to be a bit weird. I can see why the image of the hobby could or would be more important to those younger than I.

 

Can anything be done? I sense a bit of a change already if we look back over the last year or so to the documentaries featuring railways which have aired on TV, which while often focussing on the human interest have been positive towards railway enthusiasm. I have an idea that the more the public at large see the hobby the greater their understanding of it and ourselves will be. Conversely I suspect that overt attempts to engineer 'sexy-ness' into the hobby (like the Roco catalogue) can only backfire, and deepen any negative stereotypes held by the wider population.

[2mmMark]

I always thought that sex is what posh people keep their coal in...

 

 

Personally I'm not worried about the image of my hobby, or more precisely, my approach to it.  It's part of my mixed bag of interests and hopefully, I'm a reasonably well adjusted individual (quiet at the back!) and can present the rationale for what I do in a cogent fashion. Sometimes I put a status update on my Facebook page featuring some modelling and it collects quite a large number of "likes" and favourable comments, which seems to prove people appreciate a creative hobby.

 

Yes, there are some in our hobby who are, frankly, quite odd but who are we to deny them this?  They have made their choices and hopefully, they are happy with them.

 

Our major problem is that we are an aging population and fewer youngsters are taking up the hobby. That I believe is less of an image problem, more a combined factor of what they get taught at school and the more passive interests and experiences that technology now provides.

 

Mark.

[Xerces Fobe2]

Only if you are a US Modeller as you could you us could mention your Big Boy ( 4-8-8-4) !

 

XF

[roundhouse]

Only if you are a US Modeller as you could you us could mention your Big Boy ( 4-8-8-4) !

 

XF

I have a Big Boy and it makes a lot of noise aswell!!

 

if you want me to show you it then  come to Alton Limited in Four Marks Village hall this coming Saturday.

[SM42]

It's a shame that we seem to have latched onto the word 'sexy' in the original post because it does pose a few valid questions once one gets beyond the sensationalist language.

 

 

I think this is a good point.

 

I don't know what other word could have been used to pose the question by the OP, without alienating most of the audience in an instant, but the idea  of making this hobby more accepted as "normal" in  the wider public consciousness is, whilst not a bad idea, going always to be an uphull struggle.

 

The classic trainspotter sterotype, that is well and truly planted in the mids of many, will be the biggest hurdle.

 

Sexing it up with sex (a la Roco)  will not work. Well not in the UK at least.

 

Hence my comment that we need to show that we are not wierd, but normal (mostly)  everyday people.

 

I'm not saying take out adverts in the press or on TV or such like , as the stereotype is the preferred option of most  media outlets.

 

I'm sure we have all heard some insulting remarks or attempts to get us on the defensive over our hobby but we need to rise above these, I have often found that those that mock are usually quite fascinated  when it comes down to seeing what we actually do. The mental picture of a circle of track on the carpet and wearing a railway cap and blowing whistle are soon forgotten

 

We just need to show our everday contacts what sane and talented  people we really are and let the idea permeate.

 

Andy

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

....individuals having hobbies and pastimes makes them more interesting as a person/more likely to have something in common with other like minded people. As for trying to find a sexual angle on this...why not just accept our hobby for what it is? There are plenty of opportunities elsewhere to get ones more earthly 'jollies'.

 

Dave    

[SM42]

I think a better question would be.

 

Can it ever be cool?

 

 

 

Andy

[The Stationmaster]

I think a better question would be.

 

Can it ever be cool?

 

 

 

Andy

In this weather?   

[jon_1066]

The one advantage of wider participation would be lower prices.  The development cost of a loco that sells 30,000 instead of 3000 is the same so the cost per unit is lower.

 

I believe the main reasons that it is not more popular are not to do with it's image but with the physical limitations of the hobby.  Whichever way you look at it you need a reasonable amount of space to get into it.  You also need a reasonable amount of practical hands on have-a-go attitude.

 

Both of these are severely lacking in this day and age.  Everything is built to be thrown away so consumers don't expect to have to work at anything.  Combine that with eye watering housing costs and rooms the size of shoe boxes and there is not much chance of broadening it's appeal in the UK.