A little more perspective is (and I'm living on a fixed income) is that model railroad supplies are just about on par with the general level of monetary inflation. In the 60's I could buy an Athearn Blue Box for about $2.19. Today I can buy a car that is almost 100%accurate, has wire grab irons, separate ladders and in many cases, uncoupling levers. This for $19 - $23 dollars. If you do a little research you'll find that the general price level in the USA has increased 10 times and more since the mid-60's. Locomotives, even mo' better. Not only has the selection more than quintupled or better (once upon a time it was almost always the "Big Four" - PRR/ATSF/UP/B&O) but they get a lot of prototype detail that you used to have to buy and apply yourself. And in quite a lot of the locos, they haven't even increased 10 times since the 60's. In my opinion you've entered model railroading at the best of times.
I was just thinking about how the quality of even the entry level locomotives has improved. 2 powered trucks, all-wheel electrical pickup and flywheels are pretty much minimum standard now. When I think back to those single powered truck, pancake motors....it's a cure for nostalgia.
Yup. Pretty much the same amount of time involved, over 55 years. Lionel O, O-27, American Flyer S, Marx "O-27" (TCA, TTOS). HO, HOn30, On30, N. From strict proto to completely freelance, steam, electric, diesel. The point of it all is to have fun, which I have done and continue to do so.
Well I've had my share of sticker shock looking at things, and while you can't deny inflation, some things have inflated much faster than others. I think $1 in 2000 is about $1.30 today. So the Atlas locomotive that was $100 in 2000 being $130 or $140 now, I totally get it. It's the RTR freight car that was $20 in 2000 that is now $40, that annoys me a little. Thank goodness for train shows and ebay for items like that. Structures have caught me by surprise, too. I can't believe that some of the Cornerstone kits that first hit the market at $25 have now morphed into $250+ models. All I can say is that I'm glad that I will be mostly scratch building the few buildings I plan on modelling. As far as the best of times, I don't know. I have to admit, I do have an affection for the 90's. Before, 1995-ish you still had BN, Santa Fe, Conrail, SP, SOO, CNW, IC even Wisconsin Central and at any given time you could see a dash-2 EMD, dash-7 GE or a new EMD or GE widecab on the point of a train. You could even see an operating interlocking or, if you visited Canada, see Alcos in mainline service. Not that some things are now better. I know that you would have to pry my Nkon D90 from my cold, dead hands before making me shoot slide film again. As far as model railroading goes, the 90's may not be better, but I think they were a little more balanced. It seemed that in almost every month Model Railroader's Paint Shop column (do they still even have it?) was detailing and painting the still new and much improved Athearn BB dash 2 locomotives. And for $40 and a hand full of detail parts why not tackle a nice, fulfilling project. Today, I would have a hard time justifying that, especially when there are so many good RTR models out there. Heck, for years I've been thinking about building a GP10, because no one will ever make a RTR GP10, right? But along comes Intermountain and me parting with $160 sometime in the future. But by the time I build 2 (cause I know I wouldn't get it right the first time) I would be out that much anyway. Structures are the same way. There's just that much less incentive to do it yourself when you can go to walthers.com (it's 2013, who needs a catalog?) and find something close to what you want to do. Today's offering are great in that I can spend more time doing things I like more, like scenery, but I think having a little less at hand and forcing us to do a little extra legwork probably made us all a little bit better at modeling. What I do see that I like about this era are some of the newer faces out there. I think Lance Mindheim does an excellent job promoting the construction of small to mid size switching layouts and reminding us all that we do not have to fill a basement to have fun. Also, Pelle Soeborg has, in my opinion, taken scenery to the next level. Both have shown us that less is more and both, in their own way, have bucked the trend of railroad empires that revolved around scrounging enough people to run an operating session. So best of times, I don't know. What I do know is that I need to get a room painted and hang some lights this summer before I put up that benchwork.
I agree that the 90s feels like the best times in railroading and model railroading. Balanced. Really ever since athearn introduced the SD40-2 narrow hood. But then that was high school when I had my parents basement and Dad's workshop and support.
Same here, I was in high school in the 90's and I do agree that railroading was pretty good back then. Funny thing is I railfan way more now than I did then and I can say that I don't really feel any real nostalgia for that time, either. Maybe history will be very kind for that era. Railroads were doing pretty well financially back then and there were more class 1's, Staggers created a bunch of neat shortlines by then, and the 2nd to 3rd generation transition in locomotives provided interesting variety. The 90's may never have the following that the 50's did but I could see it as a "golden age" of sorts.
Having watched the changes from my youth in the 1950s, to date, what I see now is not much better than bland. If you did not experience it, it is not possible to make an accurate comparison. Once the mega-mergers were under way, those following changes made it all down hill. Today's operations are miles and miles, of miles and miles. No human interaction. Little connection, if any, to communities through which the tracks pass. The colorful and individual passenger trains all gone. The once many and varied engine car body styles are now little boxes all the same. As far as railroading goes, for me, the 1990s were just ten dull years.
You can still find those "blue-box" kits, both locomotive and rolling stock- just look at eBay, some of the hobby shops, and train shows. I still have a bunch of blue-box and MDC kits, and have no desire to scrap them. I just add metal wheelsets, Kadee number 58s, weather 'em up, and hey presto- another car still in service. Even though I do own a couple of RTR cars, I tend to stay away from them due to the cost. I guess I'm an "old fart" who still likes to actually do a little work and put together a car. DCC? It has taken over like crazy, and has gotten more affordable as time goes by- you can get DCC-equipped or DCC-capable (just plug a decoder in) locomotives for reasonable prices. But if you're still into DC, well, that's OK, too- it's whatever you're comfortable with.
At least the shortlines and regionals still have some variety, if only in the motive power department.
Agreed, Bob. If I were to visit the USA now I would try to seek out short lines Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
I like to keep watch for old RR buildings- Depots, section housing, etc. Plus older town structures nearby. Such as anything which might have been a rail served industry.
Can only add a fervent amen to Boxcab's sentiment. Perhaps it was only due to having experienced, say the mid 50s to 70s, but for me there's another consideration - space. Let's face it your control of even a miniature replica of a locomotive, airplane or ship has a certain fascination. But we model railroaders deal with space constraints that other modeling does not (at least to the same degree) face. After the demise of my prototype favorites I kinda dribbled into the 70s. But on my next model I had to face the fact that one 80 plus foot car took up twice the space of two 40 footers. Plus in the room I had, well it would have to be basically just a switching layout. While part of my layout was/will be a switching layout, I also craved some mainline action that would involve an industry theoretically located miles (smiles?) from the nearest urban center. Modelling a flat land railroad - that ain't easy but can be done. Beside as an admirer of 20th century industrial art some of the finest examples were found on the (mostly house) cars of the era. My advice (hey, it's free) if you're undecided take models of both the 40 ft. and 60 plus ft. cars into your modeling space and compare.
I am afraid your search would be long and fruitless. The only "shortlines" I know of these days are scenic excursion lines. The days when a shortline railroad was useful and could turn a profit are long gone. Pretty much the only profitable lines these days run double decker container cars from coast to coast without stopping or coal from open pit mines to power plants.
Short lines may be a dying breed, but there are still a few in WV. I don't know their bottom line but they are operating.
I will take wild guess here and say that the short lines still operating in WV haul coal from strip mines to power plants.....
Not much in the way of short lines in my area. A couple of Watco companies, Central Montana Rail, POVA and a small hand full of switching operations. A lot of looooong miles in between seeing them. Otherwise it's BNSF, MRL, UP.
Thats the truth. I see TON's of kits from Athearn bb, Accurail, Walthers, MDC and so on at the Timonium show in Baltimore. Does I qualify as an old fart at 54? I've purchased enough kits over the years that I never really had the desire to put them all together so I very much welcome the HQ RTR models which have hit the market during the past 10 years. Especially those lovely PC&F box cars which were major out west where I grew up. What's to like about higher prices? Not much, but what you get is some nice fairly accurate models with some nice details. It isn't as if there isn't a shortage of work in building a layout. People make it sound like modelers are lazy if they like RTR stuff but frankly there can be a lot of time consumed in designing and building benchwork, laying track, wiring, scenry, buildings, backdrops and other stuff. I'm frankly pleased that I can shorten that huge "to do" list and help making modeling a railroad more managable along with spending time with my wife and a full time job.
Yes, there is that - as well as a short line that services the poultry industry in the eastern panhandle.
So lots of things to comment on. On the variety seen in "the good ole days" I of course wasn't alive for the good ole days, so I don't know what I missed. Can't be upset about it. If you don't appreciate modern railroading, I understand, but as with everything else, life moves on and there's limited value in lamenting the past. Enjoy the history that's been maintained and find pleasure in what exists. Having said that, My personal lamentation to the past revolved around the years 1995/1996. The UP/CNW/SP and the BN/ATSF mergers were the big ones that altered my railfanning. The Conrail split as well, but that happened after the hammer fell. And it isn't just the actual railfanning I did back then, but also, I've found that Pentrex and other Railfan videos seem to have produced their most product from 1980s and 1990s footage, so for example, strings of SP 6 axle EMD engines hauling up Donner in 1991 is something I have multiple videos of. Similar, in the 90s, shortlines and regionals were more varied. More Paint Schemes, Wisconsin central etc. Lots to see. Now adays, there is no lack of shortlines, but the paint schemes have been reduced. Of course, that doesn't have to be a big deal. I've often found that my primary interest in railfanning is the Railroad in it's setting. So, again as an example, Donner, much as I'd like to see gray and scarlet EMDs, GEVOs and ACes blasting through Soda Springs still is an incredible experience and should not be missed. As for the availability of shortlines. Again, paint schemes have been reduced, but there are a fairly large number of shortlines within a 50 mile radius of Sacramento for me to see. Unique lines worth fanning. I have not found a lack of railroads to fan. On the model side, I agree that there is plenty of MDC and BB kits available in swap meets and shows at reasonable prices along with old Walthers kits, McKean/Front Range and even current Accurail. All at reasonable prices....assuming you aren't looking for something modern or a specific car...say 73' centerbeam flats or modern TOFC spines or 53' well cars or modern refrigeration cars OR really any modern tank car. In some cases, the RTR prices of these cars aren't too bad, but that doesn't change the point. Now, if I wanted to do transition to late 70s early 80s, I could do it all with old kits.
