A nice feature on Charles Ro Supply Company just north of Boston.
I miss the Caboose Hobbies store in Denver. They had a large inventory including brass models. People would fly in from all over to shop there…Brick and mortar model train stores have become something of an endangered species. It is nice to see one that seems to be thriving.
I think that is true of many hobbies. I dabble in ham radio and it seems to be mostly populated by baby boomers.Model railroading was once the high tech item to have and was very popular in the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's Passenger and railroad routes were everywhere, baby boomers grew up in the Golden era of railroads,. In the 1960's the railroads began retracting, air travel replaced train travel and the demand for model trains also went down. Then in the 1980's the internet, computers and smart phones came about and the interest in model railroading was being kept alive only by those that had model trains as a youngster. Today most hobbies are supported by the older age group and its a tiny fraction of what it once was. Hobby shops are now mostly a thing of the past and sadly, the young generation has little or no interest in them.
And more importantly, your Cat cannot disrupt operations in a simulation, unless a simulated Cat is includedI think that is true of many hobbies. I dabble in ham radio and it seems to be mostly populated by baby boomers.
I wonder if the availability of high quality simulators at affordable prices has also made a difference. Why build a model RR when you can have the entire NEC or Maria's Pass on your PC, furthermore with many systems you have the ability to customize, add trains and scenarios, scenery etc. just like model RR.
This one is also the retail arm of G gauge manufacturer USA Trains, so they don't have to turn a huge retail profit to stay in business as they are also a service center.Brick and mortar model train stores have become something of an endangered species. It is nice to see one that seems to be thriving.
Brick and mortar has been under siege for decades but hobby stores traditionally associated with boys/men were some of the first to die off. You can find supplies online but the selection is shrinking, prices increasing, and brand new middle-range products few and far between. Feels like the 1980's were the model train heyday. One of the appealing aspects of visiting a country like Japan is that physical hobby stores still have a role to play in the current market.Brick and mortar model train stores have become something of an endangered species.
I feel there is a lot of specialist stuff out there. Thanks to modern manufacturing methods small batches are now more achievable than in the past, and small companies have been instrumental in driving this. I think in terms of raw choice there is probably more on the market now than ever before.Brick and mortar has been under siege for decades but hobbies traditionally associated with boys/men were some of the first to die off. You can still find supplies online but the selection is shrinking, prices are increasing, and new introductions are few and far between. Feels like the 1980's were the heyday.
Are you sure you're not thinking of Eric Fuchs? I used to go there when much younger. The coolest thing I bought was two HO scale electric trolleybuses that were steered along the road by the overhead wires. They were made in Germany.If memory serves (and it's getting rustier all the time), when I lived in Boston I used to visit the Charles Ro store on Tremont St. in Boston. I later lived in Malden, so I hope I would remember if the store had been in Malden then (this was in the 70s and 80s; my younger coworkers in this century used to say I must be talking about the 1870s and 80s, to which I would answer, "Why, as Honest Abe said to me …")
One of our cats has an absolute fit and goes on attack mode when I put the train up under the Christmas tree. It gets to be quite the hissing contest—and the train gets derailed!And more importantly, your Cat cannot disrupt operations in a simulation, unless a simulated Cat is included
One of our cats has an absolute fit and goes on attack mode when I put the train up under the Christmas tree. It gets to be quite the hissing contest—and the train gets derailed!
I tend to disagree. In the mid 1950's the Lionel Train Corp was the largest toy manufacturer in the world. I don't believe that has since been duplicated by any model train company. Times have changed.I think the high water mark for model railroading was the late 90’s early 2000’s. During that time Chinese technology and low costs made finely detailed models available to the masses and the advent of DCC made operations more prototypical, affordable, and a lot more fun. And, baby boomers were starting to retire with lots of modeling time on their hands (speaking from experience).
The new Walthers 1000 page catalog was the high point of my modeling year (which streamliner were they going to introduce?). Also the small modeling companies offered lots of variety. And yes, @railiner, Caboose Hobbies was worthy of a long road trip.
I think that is true for tinplate (Lionel and American Flyer) whereas for HO it was still the era of Athearn diesels with rubber band drives and Mantua diecast steam locos. As we progressed into the 70s and 80s better more scale and detailed equipment came out plus DCC which was especially a boon to operate on club layouts where you wanted to operate multiple trains.I tend to disagree. In the mid 1950's the Lionel Train Corp was the largest toy manufacturer in the world. I don't believe that has since been duplicated by any model train company. Times have changed.
Good explanation. As a kid, nothing was more fun than exploring under the Christmas tree to see which presents looked like it was a Lionel car - sometines you could tell by their orange box color showing through the wrapping. . But my brother and I still laugh (not at the time) about our parents giving away our extensive Lionel collection after we left for college. An NYC 4-6-4 and the UP F3 locomotive set were our favorites. But then my parents gave me us an HO trains set and I was fascinated by the detail (as well as getting more trains in a smaller space) . Been HO ever since until our recent move.I think that is true for tinplate (Lionel and American Flyer) whereas for HO it was still the era of Athearn diesels with rubber band drives and Mantua diecast steam locos. As we progressed into the 70s and 80s better more scale and detailed equipment came out plus DCC which was especially a boon to operate on club layouts where you wanted to operate multiple trains.
wow, great pictures.Good explanation. As a kid, nothing was more fun than exploring under the Christmas tree to see which presents looked like it was a Lionel car - sometines you could tell by their orange box color showing through the wrapping. . But my brother and I still laugh (not at the time) about our parents giving away our extensive Lionel collection after we left for college. An NYC 4-6-4 and the UP F3 locomotive set were our favorites. But then my parents gave me us an HO trains set and I was fascinated by the detail (as well as getting more trains in a smaller space) . Been HO ever since until our recent move.
I think this is generally a problem with old books and even old magazines.I was surprised how semi-expensive old books and other printed matter are at Dale's Train Station in Norfolk, VA. Higher prices than I'm used to for old books in general. I'd link to Dale's, but it's a Facebook link. You can search if interested.
A nice feature on Charles Ro Supply Company just north of Boston.
I remember Nicholas Smith from when we lived in Swarthmore, a cool place to go to although I was modeling HO and they were more O/S.I've been lucky as far as O and S gauge trains go. I live a 15 minute drive from Nicholas Smith Trains, one of the biggest in the US. I'm an hour drive to the Strasburg RR, and less than 2 hours to York, the largest train show in the world. I have layouts for both my Lionel and American Flyer trains. If you live near Media, PA you can stop and see them.
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