Toys or Us has no model train section anymore

In the 1970s-1980s they has a model train section with Tyco/Bachman and Lifelike..Now in 2011 all they have is some cheap New Bright Train Sets...are we on the way out?

While there was a brief resurgence in the public's interest in Lionel back in the 1990's, resulting largely from a real push by their advertising department, along with a similar rise in scale model trains as men who grew up in the 50's rediscovered an interest in toy trains recalled from their youth, the public's interest in the model railroading hobby has been rapidly declining ever since. In dramatic contrast to the generations prior to 1960, real trains are today a very obscure part of modern everyday life. On those rare occasions when a train is encountered at a grade crossing, rather than looked upon as a wondrous and exciting event offering the sight of endless cars from around the country passing by on their way to distant places, it is viewed by those in the waiting vehicle only as a marked inconvenience and delay in their hurried trip.

I grew up in an era where at Christmastime every large department store virtually turned over their toy department to Lionel and American Flyer trains. Large layouts graced both the toy department AND a major show window at street level. There crowds gathered 3 and 4 deep to watch the miniature trains wend their ways through a winter landscape. Today, short of perhaps a few pre-schooler Thomas sets, model trains of any sophistication are totally absent from the big box stores...or from the local hardware store that once was a key source of Lionel trains.

The fact of the matter is that in our rapidly evolving high tech society model trains, whether for juveniles, or adults, are looked upon as terribly old fashion...simply a nostalgia distraction mostly for senior citizens who might recall the long past glory days of toy trains. It is a sad outcome, but hardly unexpected. Traditional model railroading requires time, the slow development of many new skills, patience and increasingly a lot of disposable income, all commodities that are growing ever more scarce in our society today.

CNJ999

gearhead wrote:are we on the way out?

How do you make that conclusion? If anything, Toys R Us is on the way out... have been for years.

Cadet57 wrote:

gearhead wrote:are we on the way out?

How do you make that conclusion? If anything, Toys R Us is on the way out... have been for years.

It's a question, not a statement.

Honestly, my opinion would be that it's a dying hobby, based upon the typical age of the hobbyist seen at meets and shows. Having said that, my impression is somewhat diminished, I'm pleased to say, by the numbers of young people that I see on this site. I do think that the hobby will take a hit in this "virtual" age, how much of a hit is yet to be determined. Will it be terminal because the numbers aren't there to support businesses making up products ? I don't know. We might be going back to the time when modelers did everything from scratch if that is the case. I hope not. Although, it's still better than being extinct.

As a kid growing up in the 90s (and therefore, someone who frequented Toys 'R' Us), I never remember train sets of any kind being sold there, unless you count Thomas the Tank Engine.

As for the question of the hobby dying out- I would say that, while it is hard to tell, I don't think so, but, even if it is, it's not happening overnight. There are a relatively high number of us younger people on the forums, mostly because technology is our thing. I don't see that many people my age (17) on the forums (yes, there are some, but not tons); most of the younger people are in their 20's. However, I think that there are many more young model railroaders and railfans than the numbers would show. There are more than likely many who do not make it public. For me, personally, while I (obviously) use the internet to communicate about my hobby with others, very few of my friends know about it. I will probably decide to make it public at some point down the road, but I feel, and I think that many others feel the same way, that maybe high school isn't the time or place to share everything you do outside of school.
Also, the forums aren't even the best indicator of model railroaders and railfans that make their hobbies public. Youtube gives a way better idea of the sheer masses of young (and old) modelers and fans (especially railfans) out there. Because it is a more common form of social media in my generation, it is a much more widely used outlet for expressing hobbies and interests than forums.

So to sum it up in a few words... Is the hobby dying? Maybe. But it won't be gone today, and it won't be tomorrow either.

There was a time when railfans predicted the end of rail photography with the end of the steam era, stating that nobody would want to photograph diesels and that it would lead to the demise of railfan publications and magazines. So much for predictions.

I would say not so much that the hobby is dying, but that it is evolving. I'm in my 20s, and no, I don't see many other people my age at model railroad shows or clubs - heck, I don't even go to them myself. But you're not going to find many younger modelers at "traditional" places like at exhibits or on forums. You only have to look at the literally millions of train photos and videos online (mostly from younger generations) to know that railfans do still exist in significant numbers. I have a 6 year-old friend who is passionate about trains - but who is growing up learning about them through Youtube. He got an HO train set as soon as he was old enough - and since I no longer have room to run mine, I gave them to him.

I am concerned about the rising costs of models, and the lack of local availability in many places (I had to buy many of my models on the Internet). But there is always an interest in the trains themselves, and as long as that remains there will be models of some sort.

gearhead wrote:In the 1970s-1980s they has a model train section with Tyco/Bachman and Lifelike..Now in 2011 all they have is some cheap New Bright Train Sets...are we on the way out?

Toy stores are not the target market for model train sets. Chains like Toys R Us specialize in selling "disposable" toys, and a model train set does not quite fit the mold of "pull out of the box and destroy."

Guys, it doesn't matter what toy, or related shop, one cares to cite currently. The fact of the matter is that where once model and toy (Lionel/Flyer) trains held a prominent place in a great many stores of various and diverse nature (toy, hobby, hardware, specialty and department stores), they have all but totally vanished from all of these today. In most areas it is even becoming difficult to find a hobby shop that caters to model trains, period! This is a striking and fairly recent trend, whether or not folks care to admit to it or not, but none the less a very real one.

I was in FAO Schwarz in Manhattan, one of the world's largest toy stores and a high end one at that, just two weeks ago. But save for a couple of basic Lionel sets, toy trains appear all but absent from the store's inventory.

I recall visiting Macy's in NYC as a kid myself long ago at Christmastime and seeing floor space larger than my current residence exclusively devoted to toy and model trains and seeing thousands of dollars change hands in just minutes (when thousands of dollars was BIG money!). That was back when the hobby really was a big deal and of broad interest in America. How things have changed...and certainly not for the better in terms of sources for model railroading's potential longevity!

CNJ999

I remember even as a kid growing up in the 80 and 90s even during the early 2000s Toys R Us and Kaybee Toys along with Child World had tons of model trains from Bachman, Tyco, Lifelike and Lionel. I do remember operating sets from Lionel gracing store windows and sadly it's become a thing ofthe past. Thankfully there is still a strong following due to railroader websites and online shopping through Walthers, Atlas,etc as well as railroad shows. Sadly the video games, angry birds and online porno have replaced something that requires skill and precision oh and for Americans to take the time to actually building something.

I remember Toys R Us as well as KayBee with a decent selection of model railroad stuff as well as just model cars, ships, and planes. I never made it over to Toys R Us much as the nearest one was something like and hour away from me in North Syracuse, NY off I81 North. I can't speak on behalf of every Kaybee Toys store on the subject on there model selections weather it was railroad related or not as some of the stores in the bigger malls in the larger citys keeped there model area a bit longer than other stores. What I do remember is the Kaybee Toys in the local mall near me on the other hand I recall a small 8 x 8 area set aside for model trains mostly N and HO scales after a while they cut back on Model cars, Ships and Planes then they did away with there model paints all together and keeped just testers glue. By the mid 90's they did away with all models and only carried them on the holidays around Christmas by 1995 or 1996 they were done altogether with stocking any models. By 2008 or 2009 KayBee toys closed its doors during there bankruptcy and re-origination at the local mall down the road from me.

Anytime we lose an outlet for our hobby goods the hobby suffers. But Toys R Us never was a real hobby shop, nor did it ever try to be.

What I have noticed is a reduction in the amount of offerings lately in Hobby Lobby. Admittedly, this is more of a big box craft store, but they do a sort of rotating series of specials which include model kits and model trains.

I like to shop at Hobby Lobby, mostly for their scenery materials. This stuff isn't marketed as such, so you have to look closely and imagine how this stuff might look on your layout.

It's rather academic for me. The nearest Hobby Lobby is 150 miles away in Cheyenne, WY. My LHS is a local model shop and gun store in North Platte. Talk about one stop shopping! I can buy ammunition, a model ship, and an N-scale locomotive all under one roof! Only a 50-mile one-way trip.

Denver and it's shops is 200 miles away. But it can be worth the trip. Otherwise, it's shop by phone from the Walthers sale flyers.

A few years ago, I was really worried about the future of the hobby. But it is more resilient than I had thought.

Les

Ha, that's funny! I had the same issues when I lived in Wellington, Co.! There was a Hobby Lobby in Ft. Collins and the freight station museum in Greely, Co had a HUGE stock of stuff from a closed hobby shop. I joined a club in Ft. Collins that had there meetings on Tuesday nigts at rotating locations. The funny thing was that the first meeting I attended was there member's train show night! I worked in Cheyenne at VAE Nortrac bending 1:1 scale rail in a press for BNSF, UP and DME switches. Luckily I moved back to "the land of many hobby shops" after 6 months of that mess! 4 decent hobby shops within a 25 mile drive! The way it should be!
Mike

conrail71 wrote:Ha, that's funny! I had the same issues when I lived in Wellington, Co.! There was a Hobby Lobby in Ft. Collins and the freight station museum in Greely, Co had a HUGE stock of stuff from a closed hobby shop. I joined a club in Ft. Collins that had there meetings on Tuesday nigts at rotating locations. The funny thing was that the first meeting I attended was there member's train show night! I worked in Cheyenne at VAE Nortrac bending 1:1 scale rail in a press for BNSF, UP and DME switches. Luckily I moved back to "the land of many hobby shops" after 6 months of that mess! 4 decent hobby shops within a 25 mile drive! The way it should be!
Mike

Something that has increasingly become apparent to me over the course of the past decade or so is that, almost regardless of a region's population density, model railroad hobby shops tend to flourish in a few very specific regions (eastern MA, north-western NY, several spots in the upper mid western, together with a few others) while they have been dying off in droves virtually everywhere else. My entire area (southeastern NY) was a major player in the hobby from the time of its very inception until about 15 years ago. Thereafter, it dwindled visibly year to year right before my eyes, to the point that there today is not a single model train shop east of the Hudson River between the NYC line to just south of Albany to my knowledge! One or two remain just to the west of the river in this same geographic area, but are scores of miles from the real population centers. Take a look sometime at the distribution of shops listed in MR and after considering the size of many states relative to their number of shops (if any!) you'll appreciate this disheartening situation. Perhaps the most disturbing figure and worthy of citing in this discussion, is that in the early 1950's MR once listed ALL the hobby shops known to them to be carrying model trains. The single line register, in very small type, went on page after page. For just NYC proper it listed something like 130 shops!

CNJ999

this day age some shops list them selves in the MR only and some only list them selves in MRC a vary select few are listed in both. As for the rest there hidden away some have store front's as well as an online Ebay store.

It strikes me as ironic that the roots of the model railroad hobby lie in the Great Depression. The hobby was very popular then because it was a low cost (!) way that craftsmen could keep their skills sharp and pass the time. Of course, back then the hobby was based on scratchbuilding. Purchased items were mostly things that could not be made at home.

I enjoy scratchbuilding both model railroad and model ship subjects, but my work is mostly sub-assemblies to increase detail or make modifications. I don't think there is much of that going on, even. The last time I went to my LHS hoping to stock up on basic styrene stock, I found the selection basically sold out. When I asked the shop owner about it, he said he sold so little of the stuff he wasn't restocking. His comment was that modelers these days were too lazy to scratchbuild anything. He ought to know.

There used to be a fantastic hobby shop in Greeley, CO. I don't know anything about a museum shop there. The former hobby shop moved from downtown to a strip mall, where it is basically an aquarium store. The downtown location is now a used appliance store. There are some other train stores north of Denver, but the primary shop is Caboose Hobbies, south of downtown.

Colorado Springs used to be awash in model railroad stores, but the number is much reduced.

I don't think the model railroad store listings in the magazines mean much anymore. When I am on the road, I typically search the Yellow Pages in the local phone book when I hit the hotel. So many small shops are operating on such thin margins they probably cannot afford listings in magazines.

Why are these shops dying? It is not competition from big box stores. Hobby Lobby carries only the most rudimentary stuff. Wal-Mart carries no model building items of any description anymore. I used to think the big mail-order discount jobbers were the problem, but even these seem to be much reduced.

If we are heading into another depression, I think our hobby will be ill-suited to cope. $25 switches, $40 cars, $150+ locos is not going to cut it. Model railroaders who cannot solder or paint are not going to cut it, either.

Les