Model Railroad Economy

[Justinmiller171]

I agree we advanced as modelers and the hobby grew up over the years-even the 4x8' has fallen from grace as a practical layout and ISLs has gain more acceptance over the past few years.

One thing that has bothered me is that people have lost interest in "Having fun" and are now more concerned with making everything as realistic as possible.

It seems now days if you build an "old-school" layout you are considered to not be a "Real" model railroader. I happen to like building ISls, but there are lots of people who like to build model railroads just to see trains run, and there is nothing wrong with that, I wouldn't say that the hobby has "Grown up", I just think that people such as Lance Mindheim have made building ISLs more acceptable.

There were switching layouts in hobby mags going back to the 70's, but these were for people who had small spaces, and they were treated the same way we treat 4x8 layouts now, back then if you had a switching layout you weren't a "Real" model railroader, Since back then model railroading was all about making trains go in circles, and if you couldn't do that it wasn't a "Real" layout. I am sure in another 10 years there will be another new trend in model railroading, and ISLs will not longer be "Real" layouts.