Encouraging my grandson into the hobby - a dead end?

[BoD]

Obviously the sad news from Hattons today has affected many in different ways.

 

Personally it has got me thinking about encouraging my grandson into the hobby.  He is very enthusiastic about trains (I wonder where he got that from) and he loved his Brio trains.  He has some Hornby Playtrains and enjoys helping  put layouts together and ‘playing trains’. At the moment it will probably be a year or two before we make the move, probably to settrack and more complex things.  

There are lots of other factors involved but today’s events have brought into focus something that has been in the back of my mind for a while.  Am I doing the right thing or am I likely to be leading him down a dead end, encouraging him into a hobby where there isn’t much of a future? Should we cut our losses now or carry on hoping that there will be a model railway hobby in the years to come?  
 

We could argue that the future of the hobby depends on us encouraging youngsters into it but is it likely to be a futile exercise?  Perhaps I am being over pessimistic about the future.

 

[Graham_Muz]

Yes you are being very pessimistic... and a bit of a knee jerk reaction. 
Other retailers are doing just fine, no need to set the hares running... 

[2750Papyrus]

So many youngsters nowadays - both my grandsons included - seem to spend all their time glues to a computer screen, being fixated with Minecraft and Harry Potter.  On the other hand, Mrs 2750 has a great-nephew who is heavily into trains, both real and model.  I'm sure this encourages broader interests and skills such as handicrafts and history and would urge you to continue to encourage your grandson accordingly.

[phil-b259]

3 minutes ago, BoD said:

Obviously the sad news from Hattons today has affected many in different ways.

 

Personally it has got me thinking about encouraging my grandson into the hobby.  He is very enthusiastic about trains (I wonder where he got that from) and he loved his Brio trains.  He has some Hornby Playtrains and enjoys helping  put layouts together and ‘playing trains’. At the moment it will probably be a year or two before we make the move, probably to settrack and more complex things.  

There are lots of other factors involved but today’s events have brought into focus something that has been in the back of my mind for a while.  Am I doing the right thing or am I likely to be leading him down a dead end, encouraging him into a hobby where there isn’t much of a future? Should we cut our losses now or carry on hoping that there will be a model railway hobby in the years to come?  
 

We could argue that the future of the hobby depends on us encouraging youngsters into it but is it likely to be a futile exercise?  Perhaps I am being over pessimistic about the future.

 

 

If anything model railways these days are what might be termed a slow burn.

 

Very few folk start getting into model railways in childhood and continue to keep that interest unbroken right through their teens and into adulthood - the fascination with this method that many older moddlers seem to have for recruitment into the hobby hasn't been relevant for over 50 years!

 

Instead, what many (including myself) find is that because you are introduced to trains and models as a child - you return to them once 'life' has sorted itself out!

 

That is precisely why most recent entrants as well as established manufacturers are targeting what I might call the 30+ adult market, there is good money to be made from that point on as people will usually have dealt with all the other factors* which get in the way sufficiently to permit them to partake of the hobby.

 

*peer pressure, having a good time with your mates, college / university, going traveling, getting your career going, getting on the property ladder, meeting a significant other, starting a family, etc

 

So in terms of your grandson I would say press on, but be aware that at some point he is likely to lose interest. That should not be seen as a negative or as a failure - there is every chance you have planted the seed that will, two decades later, suddenly spout and generate another railway modeller.

[woodenhead]

And whatever happens with regards new retail,  there will remain a big secondhand market for a long time to come.

[john new]

1 hour ago, BoD said:

Obviously the sad news from Hattons today has affected many in different ways.

 

Personally it has got me thinking about encouraging my grandson into the hobby.  He is very enthusiastic about trains (I wonder where he got that from) and he loved his Brio trains.  He has some Hornby Playtrains and enjoys helping  put layouts together and ‘playing trains’. At the moment it will probably be a year or two before we make the move, probably to settrack and more complex things.  

There are lots of other factors involved but today’s events have brought into focus something that has been in the back of my mind for a while.  Am I doing the right thing or am I likely to be leading him down a dead end, encouraging him into a hobby where there isn’t much of a future? Should we cut our losses now or carry on hoping that there will be a model railway hobby in the years to come?  
 

We could argue that the future of the hobby depends on us encouraging youngsters into it but is it likely to be a futile exercise?  Perhaps I am being over pessimistic about the future.

 

With my own daughters (2) interest in trains is a 50% success rate and for the grand-children (four) it is 25%+; one is train mad with mild interest from his brother. If I step that back to my generation and look at what success my own grand parent's level has of their equivalent four (Self plus sister and two cousins) the success rate for active railway modelling is also 25% (me).

 

I think what needs to be recognised is that going forward it will be in a different format, exactly what Peter Waterman is trying to capture with the modern interactive Making Tracks project. 

 

There was a boom period through the 1960s (as there was with several other leisure interests) but the social scene has changed with a decline from that peak era as other things have become the ""new norm". 

 

 

Edited January 8 by john new
Typos corrected

[Deano]

Unfortunately it’s one of those hobbies that is viewed as odd by the general population. Best to just sow the seed and let them find their own way.

[SD85]

1 hour ago, BoD said:

Obviously the sad news from Hattons today has affected many in different ways.

 

Personally it has got me thinking about encouraging my grandson into the hobby.  He is very enthusiastic about trains (I wonder where he got that from) and he loved his Brio trains.  He has some Hornby Playtrains and enjoys helping  put layouts together and ‘playing trains’. At the moment it will probably be a year or two before we make the move, probably to settrack and more complex things.  

There are lots of other factors involved but today’s events have brought into focus something that has been in the back of my mind for a while.  Am I doing the right thing or am I likely to be leading him down a dead end, encouraging him into a hobby where there isn’t much of a future? Should we cut our losses now or carry on hoping that there will be a model railway hobby in the years to come?  
 

We could argue that the future of the hobby depends on us encouraging youngsters into it but is it likely to be a futile exercise?  Perhaps I am being over pessimistic about the future.

 

 

Personally I would say that not encouraging your grandson into the hobby would make your closing thoughts a self fulfilling prophecy.

[andyman7]

The hobby may change in size but it's not going to die. Encouraging any child in a range of pursuits is a wonderful thing, some will stick and others won't. 

 

It can be quite sobering to read vintage modelling magazines from the immediate post-war period. Nothing was available at all RTR, all modelling was based on making it yourself, adapting other items or making use of second-hand (pre-war) items yet there was a thriving enthusiasm, so trust me, there will always be a way to pursue the hobby if the passion is there. 

[Steamport Southport]

Any "child friendly" local exhibitions you can take him?

 

I often go to the Rainhill Exhibition and it's very child friendly and full of small kids. If a few take it up as a hobby then it's worth it.

 

 

 

Jason

 

[The Johnster]

The hobby has weathered economic problems before, and will again.  I have been listening/reading for over 60 years now about how kids aren't interested in these days, along with dire predictions about enthusiasm for railways in general dying away after the end of steam or the end of loco-hauled passenger trains, but it is stronger than ever.  Modellng is better catered for than ever and seems in general to be a fairly profitable activity to be involved with commercially.  It will be here in some form longer than real railways probably.

 

Your grandson will make his own way into it, and it is probably not the best idea to worry too much about encouraging him in.  You are a modeller, and also his gramps so he likes your company, so if he wants to be interested he will come of his own accord to watch you, help you, and eventually join you in modelling.  You can't do much to encourage him to take an interest if his interest isn't there, but make sure you don't discourage him.  Let him ask for a train set of his own rather than buying one on spec, which might feel like pressure, and join with him in setting it up, operating it, and showing him how it all works.   Don't ask if he wants a train set directly, he'll say yes but small children are not good at conveying their feelings. better to 'lead' him gently in the right direction.

[Wheatley]

Other big retailers have failed before (Beatties, several others). The sky didn't fall in. 

 

Besides, there's always making stuff. 

[Mikkel]

Regardless of what happens to the hobby and whether he stays in it, he will be able to take away two important things from your sessions together: (i) The joy of creating something; and (ii) spending time with you.

[Simond]

I encouraged my offspring in the hobby, built them 0 gauge Mavis & Toby locos when they were very little, which they were allowed/encouraged to play with on my, and my pals’ railways (Vmax on DCC is very helpful for young kids), and let them get on with it.

 

Now, neither is even slightly interested, though one has a MSc in Mech Eng, and the other is a few months from her MEng finals.  Young sir has developed into a cautious consumer, and is disinclined to make anything, MsD, on the other hand, is quite capable of getting one of my lathes out and making precisely what she needs.  
 

Show them the path, if they choose to follow, encourage them.  If they choose a different path, get involved, see what they’re doing, it might be fun, and you might learn something.  I have.
 

 

[spamcan61]

The imminent doom of the model railway hobby has been confidently forecast since I started reading Railway Modeller in 1974. It isn't going to happen. There are more manufacturers and a vastly bigger range of RtR products available than ever before.

 

For sure the industry has changed radically; the hobby much less so IMHO.

 

I can think of at least half a dozen factors behind Hattons' demise but a doomed hobby isn't one of them.

Edited January 9 by spamcan61

[Neil]

My take is that there are two separate questions.

 

Should I encourage my grandson/granddaughter into the hobby? 

Depends; if he's shown some interest then yes but if his interests lie elsewhere then help and encourage those instead.

 

Is the hobby a dead end?

Maybe, but does that really matter? I've reached the age where I'm a grandad and I've got enough stuff stashed to last the rest of my life and a bit more, even if the global model railway trade threw in the towel tomorrow. I've no idea what the far future holds for my grandchildren, I can only hope that the world is a kinder, safer, healthier, fairer place than it is now.

[BoD]

Interesting thoughts, thank you. I appreciate the notion of gently leading and encouraging rather than ‘driving’ and then letting nature run its course.  As soon as he has developed more manual dexterity we will try making things together.  We do many other things too so I am not forcing it upon him.  I just hope that if, after all the other distractions on the way, he does wish to pursue railway modelling, there is still a hobby there for him.  As some have said, yes, I am probably being pessimistic but it’s not solely the Hattons situation that has prompted these thoughts.

[JeremyC]

I tried to encourage my two sons into railway modelling with partial success. I failed with the railway , but succeeded on the modelling. Both of them (now adults) are heavily into building Games Workshop / Warhammer models.

So I would encourage your grandson into the hobby, but be prepared, if he does take up modelling, for him to follow a different modelling path.

 

Edited January 9 by JeremyC

[Metr0Land]

As I entered my teens it was being postulated that model railways were being killed off by Scalextric and Wrenn 152 but here we are......  a couple of decades later along came computers but here we are.....

[fezza]

Personally I think the problem is manufacturers have realised the money is to be made in selling expensive premium products to a late middle aged market with high disposable income. That's fair enough but it does make it tricky for youngsters to collect.

 

Of course everyone has a different approach and views on this but...

 

In another thread I advocated a retro approach - buying cheap second hand 1980s products and gradually learning to detail and improve them. Buy a good feedback controller and you will have excellent running at a fraction of the cost of that latest DCC toy. With this method  youngsters will learn real modelling skills and also learn how to fix things. That for me is one of the most interesting aspects of the hobby.

[Simond]

There’s a lot of low cost opportunity, by searching the cheap bins at shows, and being careful on eBay.  00 is relatively easy, 0 is certainly possible.

 

I would not discount DC in any way, but given the prevalence of digital items in our lives, I suspect any technically minded kid would probably grab DCC with both hands, I certainly would have done, indeed, some 25 years ago, I did!  Marry that with laptops, Decoder Pro, Java and Arduinos, and it’s cool geek rather than dad-hobby-geek….

 

(and directly transferable into academic/work-related skills)

[Southernman46]

In answer to your Q - it never, never , never, never, never, never, never, never, never will be that - doesn't need any explanation or qualification.

[john new]

On 09/01/2024 at 09:52, JeremyC said:

I tried to encourage my two sons into railway modelling with partial success. I failed with the railway , but succeeded on the modelling. Both of them (now adults) are heavily into building Games Workshop / Warhammer models.

So I would encourage your grandson into the hobby, but be prepared, if he does take up modelling, for him to follow a different modelling path.

 

Very valid point. With my earlier post of one of the four grandchildren being into model trains, all four members of his family (my eldest daughter, SIL & the 2 boys) all do various crafting and modelling in other fields when time permits. I would say encourage but don’t force feed.

[AY Mod]

On 09/01/2024 at 08:54, BoD said:

As some have said, yes, I am probably being pessimistic but it’s not solely the Hattons situation that has prompted these thoughts.

 

It's understandable to think that way but recent barometer readings may show stormy weather but my take (because of things unknown in the public arena) is that we are in an evolutionary change because of social, political and economic influences along with innovation and entrepreneurial elements unbalancing previously held norms. A bit like big steps in evolution driven by genetic abnormalities exploiting their environment, successfully, at certain points in time. At the moment we're not sure what the issues are, when they really started and what the outcome will be.

 

Some people will still want to model no matter what happens with price, products available or how they engage with the wider hobby.

[friscopete]

Years ago trains were part of the fabric with model trains being fascinating and only jets and a rockets to  tempt us kids further . Now the fantasy is computer and science related and trains are just there to carry around poor sods who cant afford cars .Why should kids like model trains when the universe is before them and fantasy wars  and goodness knows what else is on offer .Model Trains are a  lost cause for largescale continuity as there is little to fire a kids imagination .just leave it and let the coming generation make their own ways of spending a fortune on toys.Bot my grandkids played on the floor with toy trains .thomas was popular but its lost now in a sea of VR ,Taikwondo ,basket ball,gameboy etc .