This is a silly question in some ways but I'm trying to figure out why I like to model the 1950s (for my Canadian trains) and the 1950s and 1960s for my British model trains.
I think I know the answer to this but find my reasons interesting. To me (a guy who is almost 50), the 1950s and '60s still seem kind of familiar. Sure, this was a long time ago but I can still relate to and understand that time. It's obviously different from today but still similar enough to relate to and feel comfortable with.
Occasionally, I will run my layout in a 1930s mode -- as I have some steam model trains that reflect that period. But the '30s seem really old and distant, a little off-putting! I realize that some folks will model the 1920s and earlier, even going back to the "teens" and the 19th century. But these time periods feel really ancient and foreign to me. To me, it would feel a little foreign and strange to model (say) the 1920s.
I hope I'm making sense. I guess I have nostalgic feelings for the time around when I was a kid. If I'm correct, someone who is now in their 30s should have a fondness for the 1970s ... and someone who is in their 20s should like for the 1980s, etc.
I just thought I'd ask others what they think of this. For example, are there any 20-something model railroaders who think that the 1960s is incredibly ancient history and (because of that) would be put off from modeling that era?
Thanks!
Rob
I think you are right, except your math is a little off. I think most modelers like to model the trains they were interested when they were first old enough to recognize a train. That would probably be somewhere between 5 & 10 years old. Since it is now 2009, a 20 something would probably be more interested in the 1990's than the 1980's. In my case, I was born in 1946. I like steam because I like seeing all of the mechanical parts moving out in the open. I don't like the modern era much, not because I don't like modern trains, etc. It is just that modern railroading has gotten so efficient that they just don't do what I enjoy about railroading. I find unit trains of any type totally boring, but that may just be my opinion. I understand why the railroads do what they do. The bottom line is to make a profit, and unit trains are highly efficient profit makers.
I am nostalgic about the mid 50's, early 60's. Everything that I remember was streamlined and space age, and great rock and roll. It really has nothing to do with the trains back then, that's just where my fondest memories are.
Loren
I'm going to throw your calculations way off - I am most interested in the 20s and 30s... the teenage/young adult years for my grandparents. I am not entirely sure why, but I definitely have an affinity for the mechanical aspect as Russ notes.
I also think that it was the height of design - the "mechanical age", "machine age", art deco/craftsman style. The most beautiful "all mechanical" machines are from this time, including the best looking engine - on NYC's 20th Century Limited. The cars, airplanes, appliances, architecture, even lettering is all just incredible.
I have to admit though that this might have all started by seeing steam excursions in Orangeville (ex-CPR engines) in the early 1970s...
Andrew
Russ Bellinis Wrote:I think you are right, except your math is a little off. I think most modelers like to model the trains they were interested when they were first old enough to recognize a train. That would probably be somewhere between 5 & 10 years old.
Some, maybe even many, may model the railroads they saw during their childhood years. And I am aware that you wrote "most", not "everybody" or "almost everybody".
But I am still not sure if I would go as far as to say "most", though. The 1950s is popular among many, also people who were born after the 1950s. I suspect that quite a bit of the popularity of the 1950s (also among people who were born later than the 1950s) was that the 1950s was pretty varied (railroad wise) - steam and diesel, lots of what is now fallen flags, still lots of short cars, short trains and small customers - which are easier to model on a home layout than 105-car unit trains and enormous double stack container trains.
Grin
Stein, born 1965 in Norway, but models 1957 in Minneapolis, not the 1970s in Norway :-)
Thanks for these responses -- interesting! I'm going to reread them again later ...
Basically, for me, anything before the 1950s/60s is too different or foreign, and anything more recent is too familiar. The fact that the 1950s had the coolest steam engines as well as diesels (IMHO) is besides the point.
:mrgreen:
Rob
Interesting replies. But i'm about to blow your theory out of the water.
I grew up in the '60's, standing trackkisde watching New Haven RS-3's, U25B's and GP9's.
So why do I like big modern horsepower, long high rolling stock, and sleek modern commuter trains?
Granted, I do have some firstgen and secondgen diesels, but if it came between buying a scale GP9 and an SD80MAC, the SD80 would win. And I've never even seen one in real life. But I have rode on Housatonic train led by an Rs3, climbed into the cab of a GP35(ok...My favorite secondgen), I don't own one RS3. And Since I've seen plenty of live steam, Garnd Canyon RR, and even rode in an open car tacked to the front of Essex,s China built Consolodation, rode behind Conway Sceneics steam, stood up against a driver of a Big Boy(when Steamtown was in Vermont......Boy that was a few years ago!) I only have three steam locos on my roster(of course...The Big Boy is one of them).
So what is my fasination with modern locos and rolling stock?
I have no idea.........
I think I am one of the exceptions to your thinking. I was born in the early 70's but model the 1940's. The larger variety of railroads (pre mergers), tremendous boom in traffic from the war, and the coming of diesels is in stark contrast to to the Conrail like mergers and declining ton miles of the late 70's and early 80's that I knew as a kid. There was a hustle and bustle of that time that was unique in history. There was so much more that was different about railroading then to what I have seen in my time that I find interesting and irresistible to model.
Wow, it seems my theory is being blown out of the water from both directions! It's actually encouraging to see that some younger people are fascinated with the 1920s to the '40s while others like the current railway scene.
I think that we could be living in a "golden age" of railways but it's hard to see or appreciate this when you're in the midst of it. What I mean is that we're in a "big diesel" age, often seeing 3 to 4 large diesels hauling freight trains that are a mile or more long. (When family from the UK visits us here in Canada, they sure notice this. Our diesels are MUCH larger than theirs and their freight trains are only a fraction of the length of ours. :mrgreen: )
The '50s transition era is popular for a number of reasons but I was noting a personal fondness of it apart from the steam-to-diesel aspect. I have also noticed that, at most of the model railway shows I went to during the winter, most of the layouts depict either the transition era or the modern scene (and sometimes a combination of the two!).
Thanks -- hoping to hear more exceptions to my theory!
Rob
I was born in 1965 and never had the chance to see a real steam locomotive running ( well at least not yet ) but I am modeling the mid to late 1950's and CNR steam. I used to model the modern day Ontario Northland Railway but never could get comfortable doing so even though I live within walking distance of one of their branchlines and the mainline going north and south is about an 45 minute walk from my home ( 20 minutes by bicycle ).
Everytime I saw a picture of a CNR steam locomotive I would think about how it would be nice to model that time period. Not just CNR steam but Canadian Pacific and Ontario Northland steam locomotives as well.The 1950's have always interested me. I like the buildings, cars and the way railroading was done then compared to today and most of all the steam locomotives. A little over a year ago I sold off all my modern HO scale trains and made the switch to modeling the 1950's and CNR steam. Since doing so I find I enjoy my model railroading hobby a lot more.
The funny thing is from about the time I was 7 years old I spent a lot of time down at the train station by the ONR yard in the town I lived in at the time watching the ONR diesels do their thing in the yard and the trains coming and going each day. As a kid I probably spent 75% of my outdoor time in the summer watching the trains. Even today I have a scanner on all the time and make it a point to try and see the the local freight when it goes through town. :mrgreen:
Wayne Reid
Well, since I don't have a layout, yet, maybe I shouldn't even comment, but....I grew up in the 50's and 60's. In the late forties, and early fifties, I watched the huge steam locos thunder past my house everyday. I lived near the Milwaukee, Rock Island, and DRI railraod tracks. I don't know what type of locos they used. I don't even remember how many drivers they had. Then..we moved to Arizona. The nearest railroad was fifty miles away. By that time, late 1958, Santa Fe had gone to almost all diesel. But I remember that era well, and am most fond of it. So, since I can't afford the expense of steam locos, I am going to be using a fair assortment of diesels. My father would not be happy,
as he was a "steam man."
Oddly the only thing I like from the 50/60s is the music,'57 Chevy and 65 Mustang.
I recall the railroads was dirty,grimy and in some ways ran down..The 60s the railroads didn't fair that much better being grimy,more run down looking and the era of short passengers trains.
I suppose that's why I have lost my interest in the 50/60 era railroads.
sgtcarl1 Wrote:Well, since I don't have a layout, yet, maybe I shouldn't even comment, but....I grew up in the 50's and 60's. In the late forties, and early fifties, I watched the huge steam locos thunder past my house everyday. I lived near the Milwaukee, Rock Island, and DRI railraod tracks. I don't know what type of locos they used. I don't even remember how many drivers they had. Then..we moved to Arizona. The nearest railroad was fifty miles away. By that time, late 1958, Santa Fe had gone to almost all diesel. But I remember that era well, and am most fond of it. So, since I can't afford the expense of steam locos, I am going to be using a fair assortment of diesels. My father would not be happy, as he was a "steam man."
Thanks ... this actually reminds me of a different topic (maybe I should start a new thread on this?).
I've mentioned that (depending on my mood) I run both British and North American trains on my layout. However, I find the price difference for British and N. American steam locos to be strange. You can buy a finely detailed Hornby or Bachmann British steam model (i.e. a Pacific or similar-sized loco) anywhere from $140 to around $240 CAD while models of N. American steam engines are generally several hundreds of dollars higher. This is for HO or the British 00 -- a similar scale.
I think this is partly because some of the N. American steam locos are brass but even the plastic models -- generally speaking -- are around $300 to $700 or higher. I have about 15 British steam locos and 4 North American steamers. I've kept costs down for the N. American ones by buying IHC locos -- although they're not as detailed as other models, they're still accurate enough for me and are good budget choices. Buying used is also another option.
Rob
RobertInOntario Wrote:sgtcarl1 Wrote:Well, since I don't have a layout, yet, maybe I shouldn't even comment, but....I grew up in the 50's and 60's. In the late forties, and early fifties, I watched the huge steam locos thunder past my house everyday. I lived near the Milwaukee, Rock Island, and DRI railraod tracks. I don't know what type of locos they used. I don't even remember how many drivers they had. Then..we moved to Arizona. The nearest railroad was fifty miles away. By that time, late 1958, Santa Fe had gone to almost all diesel. But I remember that era well, and am most fond of it. So, since I can't afford the expense of steam locos, I am going to be using a fair assortment of diesels. My father would not be happy, as he was a "steam man."
Thanks ... this actually reminds me of a different topic (maybe I should start a new thread on this?).
I've mentioned that (depending on my mood) I run both British and North American trains on my layout. However, I find the price difference for British and N. American steam locos to be strange. You can buy a finely detailed Hornby or Bachmann British steam model (i.e. a Pacific or similar-sized loco) anywhere from $140 to around $240 CAD while models of N. American steam engines are generally several hundreds of dollars higher. This is for HO or the British 00 -- a similar scale.
I think this is partly because some of the N. American steam locos are brass but even the plastic models -- generally speaking -- are around $300 to $700 or higher. I have about 15 British steam locos and 4 North American steamers. I've kept costs down for the N. American ones by buying IHC locos -- although they're not as detailed as other models, they're still accurate enough for me and are good budget choices. Buying used is also another option.
Rob
Brakie Wrote:Oddly the only thing I like from the 50/60s is the music,'57 Chevy and 65 Mustang.
I recall the railroads was dirty,grimy and in some ways ran down..The 60s the railroads didn't fair that much better being grimy,more run down looking and the era of short passengers trains.
I suppose that's why I have lost my interest in the 50/60 era railroads.
Interesting! Good point. I know that British steam engines in the 1960s became VERY run down -- I have several books showing colour railway pics taken in the 1960s. Steam locos ran in Britain until 1968 and British Railways allowed many of them to become very run-down and rusty. Instead of being black or green, many were a rusty brown or grey -- very undignified. Some were even shorn of their numbers or name plates and appeared to have chalk numbers scribed on their sides!
I do a fair bit of current rail-fanning with my kids and -- while the diesel engines appear to be in good condition -- most of the freight cars are very rusty and many are covered in graffiti! So the same is partly true of the modern era but maybe not as severe as the '50s/60s?
Rob