Looks like google predicts the end of model trains

[Tyson Rayles]

Having worked at the Museum for 10 years I can tell you that the pre-teen kids love the trains. However there is a noticable drop off when they hit puberty but that's been true for as long as I can remember, I was the same way. When they get older and get married and have kids of their own then some of them will come back to the hobby. Having been stuck in hospitals and rehab centers for the past three months one of the things I get asked a lot is what kind of work do I do. When I tell them I'm retired but work part time playing with toy trains (remember it's a Lionel museum so scale is a moving target down there ) the questions and comments start coming. They tell me of (keep in mind these people are in their 20's thru 40's for the most part) how they always had a train set up at Christmas or how their Dad and them had a layout and how much they enjoyed it. Then they usually say something like "I sure would like to see some trains again!". I of course tell them "Give me a second to fire up the laptop and I can show show you where the hobby is at today". After showing them pics of us regular people (so to speak) and hearing all the ooh's and aah's, I then show them pics of the F&SM, G&D, V&O and watch their lower jaws bounce off the floor! :mrgreen: . Even more amazing is 75% of them are women (one of which drug her husband down here so I could try to help them get back into the hobby) and run the gamut from CNA's and RN's to doctors. Some have predicted the demise of the hobby before ( remember when slot cars were going to take over, then video games ) and yet the hobby keeps coming back. I predict these same conversations will be taking place 100 years from now.