Trolleyville Editorial
For some time, a lot of people associated with the model railroad hobby have been bemoaning the aging of the hobby along with the lack of younger participants. We have heard a lot of talk about the fact that we all want to preserve the hobby for the next generation. But here is the fallacy. This hobby changes for each generation as each hobbyist begins the hobby by attempting to model items that they see that strike their fancy. For electric railway modelers in 1920 it may have been a Brill Double Truck Steel car. In 1940 it could have been a pre-war PCC. By 1950, it may have been a post-war PCC and in 1975 it may have been a Boeing -Vertol SLRV. If there are potential modelers and hobbyists out there today, they would probably want to model a Light Rail Vehicle or modern streetcar. But, as we all know, there are no models of them readily available. Our hobby today is composed of Modelers who make models from scratch or kits; Hobbyists who buy models and other hobby items but are not kit builders and Manufacturers and Suppliers to develop and make products available.
When the Southern California Traction Club was being organized back in 1995, we had a student from another country, who was attending a local junior college, and was extremely knowledgeable in the hobby and the manufacturers in his native country. He could have obtained a position in any model train hobby shop ion the area. But he told us that being in the model railroad hobby and running or participating in a model railroad a business were almost totally incompatible. So he refused to get involved in any business venture because he insisted it would "...ruin his enjoyment." of the hobby. Our young student made many contacts for the SCTC and helped them obtain many parts. His attitude always puzzled some of us but as the years passed, we started to see and experience many examples of exactly what he meant, occasionally from modelers but mostly from manufacturers and suppliers, especially those who are or were modelers. His statement really meant that to be a good businessman, you had to "let go" of some of the peculiar behavior of some model railroaders and act like a professional business proprietor.
Here is precisely the major issue. Modelers and hobbyists pick a hobby mainly for their enjoyment and not to run a business. The hobby is "today" or "yesterday" for each of us, not tomorrow. So we have concluded that it is not fair to expect today's hobbyist or modeler to care much about tomorrow. He or she does not really know what "tomorrow" is. Could any of us been interested in today's Light Rail Vehicles or modern streetcars when they had not yet existed even in the minds of most urban planners. Hobbyists and modelers can not really grow a hobby. They enjoy the products that businesses (manufacturers, distributors and hobby shops) provide.
To grow this hobby, those of us that enter the business world must behave like true business owners. Businesses care about tomorrow. They want customers. They need customers to survive. They know that they have to worry about new customers as they lose old ones for obvious reasons. Some Model Railroad businesses need to take lessons from those who run newspapers and magazines. Both of those printed media have been declared obsolete many times over but they seem to continue to find ways to remain relevant in the computer and internet age. Trolleyville came to this conclusion recently when we tried to expand our reader base. Trolleyville is currently staffed by modelers but it is a business. We spend a lot of effort on writing the articles and we have to pay for space on the internet. So we are keenly aware of the problems being a business while trying to enjoy the hobby.
About two years ago, the Trolleyville Times staff realized that due to the shrinking of the "traction" hobby participants, we should look to broaden the appeal of the Times.
[Note: The term "traction" has been used to describe electric railways, both mainline electric locomotives down to the smallest four wheel streetcar. The term originated in the late 1800s when there was both cable traction and electric traction. Cable traction, except for three lines in San Francisco, is largely extinct.]
After much study and discussion, we decided to expand our interest into Urban Rail Transit. This would have to include commuter train modeling and this would be done easier in N scale. Commuter trains with their "backward running" trains were catching the attention of the younger generation and with their sometimes flashy paint schemes were attracting the public, among those could be potential hobbyists and future modelers. We contacted some N scalers and we also hoped that we could get readers in N scale to furnish some articles, modeling hints and other items.
Trolleyville first contacted a few N scale clubs and advertised in the monthly issue that we would be happy to promote their layouts, clubs and N scale if they would provide us with some input. After all, we were new to the scale and the philosophies upon which N scale is based, Ready-To-Run and Plug and Play, is much different from the philosophy upon which HO, "Kit Building" was based. N scale is so prevalent in Japan, that Kato, a well known model train supplier, who used to make items in both HO and N scales has largely abandoned HO scale for the N scale market. They even offer N scale Amtrak Electric locos, model trams, and tram track. The younger N scale hobbyists are used to "instant gratification". They have no recollection of television sets that you used to turn on 15 minutes prior to your desired program for the set to "warm up". How about having to adjust both the horizontal and vertical linearity before getting a viewable picture? What about having to consult the Encyclopedia Britannica or visit the local Library to get serious questions answered? All of this is now done almost INSTANTLY on "smart" phones.
At the same time, many of our traditional suppliers were and are still disappearing. Franciscan Hobbies in San Francisco suddenly closed early in 2014; then Allied Model Trains in Culver City declared bankruptcy and closed in 2015, and so far in 2016, Caboose Hobbies in Denver closed although are rumors of new owners and a new store. In this process we became acquainted with Greg Arnold, current owner of Arnie's Model Trains and Milepost 38 Toy Trains in Westminster, California. It is a 72 mile round trip drive from West Los Angeles to that store and we find ourselves taking that trip at least twice each week and enjoying every trip. The first thing he told us was "...How can anyone be grouchy running a model train store?...". He is always pleasant and welcomes everyone into the store even if you are a regular customer. He always makes you feel that he is honored that you came to his store. He has specials and there are always customers in the store. They are normally open every day except Sunday. In fact, he started his holiday Sunday hours early this year on November 6th to accommodate those "early" holiday shoppers.
Why is this? One thing we noted is that Greg Arnold is NOT a modeler/hobbyist........He is a businessman who inherited a model train store from his father, Jerry. Jerry Arnold started the hobby shop in 1975 in another location and was in the process of moving into the current location in 1985 when he passed away and Greg took over, keeping the same solid business principles espoused by Jerry but none of the encumbrances of being in the hobby. Knowing he had to reach the next generation and knowing he was NOT a member of that group, Greg found himself a young Torrance, California teenager, a model railroader with a dominant business mind and created an atmosphere for this 'kid' to thrive and today, he is the store manager for Arnie's Model Trains. Kevin is not yet twenty-seven years old and may be among the "best" in the business. Greg has consistently avoided the trap that "the hobby is dead" and that "young kids do not like trains". He does things to keep his store in the minds of his customers. Last month on the 17th and 18th, a week BEFORE the Thanksgiving holiday, he held a two-day, ten-hour-a-day sale with after dinner specials. Why? Because at this time in Southern California, the freeways have become so crowded during normal business hours on weekdays that it affects his customers ability to get to the store. Guess what? The results were 40% over what was expected... ...another success! He is considering opening on Sundays in 2017 because on most Sundays, the freeways are more negotiable. Pleasing customers has to remain ahead of "cutting costs" in successful businesses.
Lee English, Bowser CEO, also is NOT a modeler/hobbyist. He is a business owner in the image of his late father Lew English. Lew started Bowser in 1961 in the basement of their home in Muncy, PA. Lee started working in the business with his father and was very well trained over 47 years to be the CEO of the corporation that Bowser is today. He was first to study and learn computers when very few people heard the word or knew what they were or what they could do. Within 30 feet of his desk is a fully stocked model train store, a thriving internet operation and a model train manufacturing facility. Critical hobby information is floating in the air around him. His company runs frequent internet sales and honors those prices in the hobby shop. Most successful business owners want to ensure that their businesses survive. They continuously try and increase their customer base by whatever means necessary.
So, what this hobby really needs is MORE serious forward-thinking professional business owners.
So, as we mentioned earlier, the hobby consists of modelers, hobbyists, and business owners. Being both a hobbyist or modeler combined with running a model railroad related business is dangerous and often hurts both operations. The sad truth is that modelers/hobbyists very often make lousy business owners because they let other factors, like their love of one type of train versus another, affect their judgment. We continuously experience modelers/hobbyists that continue to bring some outrageous behavior into their businesses.
One example of bad behavior was recently experienced when the Southern California Traction Club started to experiment with N scale. They built a three by four foot module, obtained some Kato Unitram and Unitrack along with a very nice Kato Virginia Express Commuter Train that they planned to run in the Cab Car Leading position, since the Cab car had headlights. The SCTC discovered the world of Woodland Scenic's building and lighting materials and went to work. They started to understand and appreciate the "plug and play" concept in N scale and started to look for some American-prototype streetcars to operate, so they eventually obtained two Bachmann Peter Witt trolleys. Since the module was going to be operated using their new Roco Z21 Command System, all items were to be DCC operated. After realizing that after the Bachmann Peter Witt, there were not a lot of USA-prototype streetcars easily available, they were led to Tomix, Tomytec and other foreign manufacturers that had embraced N scale for some time. Because of the size of N scale equipment, the level of detail modeling that the club was used to in HO scale was just not practical in the smaller 1/160 scale.
Then, on Shapeways, a 3D printing business, the club found a beautiful N scale shell of a United States prototype Light Rail Vehicle that has been in service since 1981. In acquiring the shell from Shapeways, they noted who the originating designer/producer was and sent an email to them asking if they had any recommendations for powering the car. After all it did not seem that a reasonable businessman would go to all that trouble to draw the car in a 3D program and have shells made if there was no way to make it run. The club's queries were met with total silence....no response. Of course, the club wanted to find out how to finish the car (paint and decals) but they knew better than to ask this particular supplier, a well known Modeler-Hobbyist-Business Owner (MHBO) who does not respond or do business with anyone that he does not like and/or does not 'worship' him.
In another example of bad business behavior, a customer that had a problem with a product supplied by an MHBO was told to go "...sell the products on eBay.." instead of engaging in an intelligent discussion to attempt to satisfy the customer or offering to take the products back. Another real example of unprofessional and childish behavior is storming into a meeting full of potential customers and berate them for not buying enough of your product. That was a real beauty and will be remembered for ages! While this is sometimes typical behavior of hobbyists and modelers, no self-respecting entrepreneur would do this, especially if they were really interested in growing their "business". One such MHBO started to introduce models of light rail vehicles to his customers some time ago. However, the lack of finished models combined with the unprofessional behavior of the supplier in certain situations did not help and may have contributed to some of the resistance to the development and production of model light rail vehicles today.
Business owners occasionally encounter difficult customers. They really like some customers and there are some you may not really care for but you do not slam the doors on them by refusing their business unless they are "abusive". On the other hand, merely pointing out errors or omissions in products can not be classified as abusive, although we have seen cases of an MHBO doing exactly that. No true businessman would make fun of things that his customers like to do, kick people out of his store or refuse to complete an internet sale just because he did not "like" them. But some of those who are both modelers/hobbyists and suppliers do some of these things on a daily basis. Our student had told us years ago that to be in business you have to be willing to do business with people you do not like and he had met so many modelers/hobbyists that he did not like that going into the hobby business would have ruined the hobby for him. We now understand what he meant and that says it all.
So those of you reading this probably belong to one of the following groups:
1. If you are the owner of a model railroading business, you already want to grow the hobby and if you are trying to succeed, you are doing what you can to promote your business. Just visit Arnie's Model Trains in Westminster, CA or English's Model Railroad Supply (EMRRS) in Montoursville, PA. They are committed to operating successful businesses in a future, thriving model railroading hobby.
2. But if you are among the current group of modelers and hobbyists, who would really like to engage the next generation in model railroading, you are in our second group. There are things that you can do. First of all, to engage the next generation you will have to use their communication media. This means both the knowledge and use of social media and smart phones and whatever technology brings in the next few years. The younger generations have been blessed with instant gratification and may not really be able or willing to deal with kit building so the many features of N scale, especially the space issue, may be more initially appealing. Using a smart phone to run trains will be a tremendous advantage. Roco, ESU and Marklin jumped on this years ago and now even Bachmann is on board. If you are a member of this group and belong to a progressive model railroad club, you should let those who can "speak the language" move forward and engage these potential hobbyists. One club with which we are familiar has been allowing show visitors to run trains using tablets and/or smart phones and there have literally been lines of youngsters waiting for their turn. Our of their members, who was resistant to DCC for some time, after all the obstacles were removed, decided to embrace DCC. He really liked it and regretted waiting so long. He obtained a tablet, learned the operation of the Z21 and is now one of the major instructors with young visitors at the shows. He says he has never has so much fun in his life. Here is Pete DeBeers with two such visitors at the last appearance of the club. The visitors are actually running a model New Orleans car, ringing the bell and operating the lights in addition to moving and stopping the car seen in the left photo below:
At a recent appearance of the club in October, between 40 and 50 youngsters and in some cases their parents lined up for a chance to run a streetcar from a tablet or smart phone. To run Thomas the Tank Engine on a layout that only ran trolley cars from overhead wire, they placed a trolley pole on the coach Clarabel to get power for Thomas to operate. Miniatures of Lighting Mc Queen, Doc Hudson and Tow Mater (from the hit movie "Cars") have been strategically placed on the modules at shows for some time. The response to these actions was always interesting and very enjoyable for the club members that participated.
3. If you are a hobbyist or modeler and really do not care about the hobby surviving into the next generation or after you leave this life, you are in our third and final group. And we are finding out that there are a lot more of you out there than you wish to admit. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that position. But, if you are one of those who really is not comfortable with technology, never could program a VCR, hate people using smart phones, refuse to get one and have learned as little as possible about computers, the internet and current technology as possible, that is also fine. Enjoy both your version and portion of the hobby but for the good of the future hobby, please get out of the way and stay out of the way of those trying to promote the new technologies associated with model railroading. The model railroad businesses are going to need all the help they can get to promote their business and the hobby.
The time is very favorable for the hobby right now with the growing acceptance that public transit is now a necessity it you want to move about in most of our nations large urban areas. The denigration of those who choose ride the bus, streetcar or subway-elevated train is decreasing. With these new hopefully unprejudiced riders can come a whole new group of hobbyists and modelers and maybe some business people. This hobby started as a social endeavor, the family creating a small village under the Christmas Tree and it grew in different directions, tinplate vs scale modeling and then traction and narrow gauge modeling. Now we have many scales starting with G (large scale) and then O, S, HO, TT, N and Z scale, all of which have their advantages, disadvantages and supporters. Maybe in ten years, we will again have accepted as usual, the (light rail) train or modern streetcar under the Christmas Tree ...who knows!
On the other hand, we are aware of interested young people who have been denied admission to model railroad clubs strictly because of their age. We have seen some hobbyists chastised for using ready-to-run equipment by some of those modelers who believe that you are not a real model railroader unless you can scratch build a passenger car from popsicle sticks. Then there is the model railroad manufacturers who have chosen to believe that there is no future in model railroading and will not invest in the future with modern urban rail vehicles.
Over the years, we have seen many examples of good public relations and some of the opposite, some of which were nothing short of horrible. In those cases, we met some of the enemy and, unfortunately, they were some of us!
