Model Railroad General - MRG, where dreams come true

[Łimønča]

You're starting to come off as more autistic than the model train guy. If anything, I've got to applaud you.

My friend, I am not autistic, but I am rapetistic AKA, DTR (Down to Rape).

 

[Ged!]

Model train shit is true OG autism. Shame that autists nowadays are into furry porn and autogynephilia, cause there was something kinda special to this stuff.

 

[Semiprofessional Sperg]

@Had, anything controlled by the government is shit

 

[awoo]

Related https://kiwifarms.net/threads/train-discussion.76615/

 

[Łimønča]

Hermann Goering was a train chad.

 

[No Batty Boys in Jamaica]

Model train shit is true OG autism. Shame that autists nowadays are into furry porn and autogynephilia, cause there was something kinda special to this stuff.

There is overlap. Oh god is there overlap.

Kids who spent too much time playing trains in Roblox and Minecraft and then turn into troons and furfags.
Old school train spergs who had AGP all along, came out in their 50s when their parents died, and are now hons. Homeless troons who ride the rails because they can't afford a car and don't want to be riding Greyhound.

If anything they're still into trains but they have to spend more of their autismbux on fursuits and penis inversions. $20,000 can get you a vaginoplasty, but it could also get you a 2-rail O Gauge layout with DCC and multiple realistic-scale train consists. A $2,000 fursuit costs the same as 10 good quality HO scale locos. A $600 session with a dominatrix to fulfill your oddly specific and tragically exclusive fetish could've gone to a Seaboard System rebuild GP-16- LOOK AT THE FUCKING BRAKE SHOES AND PROPERLY COLORED WHEELS!!!

Me, I prefer to watch real trains for free. I wanted to see if there were any Traincows but I guess not lol.

 

[Hepativore]

I wonder how difficult it would be to put together a train layout with modular scenery pieces. This way, you could swap out the scenery with the pieces you made to change it whenever you wanted.

Part of the appeal with model/toy trains is the same with people who like building/crafting things. It is fun to have your own functional miniature world.

The problem though is that it is a hobby that has largely been taken over by boomers and the remaining Silent generation. This is not a cheap hobby by any means and many millennials and gen Z do not have the deep pockets to do a lot with this even if many of them admire the toy train sets of their parents and grandparents.

As an aside, I wish that model train makers would also have versions of those really bizarre armored trains that you saw during WWI and WWII.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

I like playing ticket to ride

This is a GAMES forum, you play train games not play with trains. Your post should read "I like to play games USING the Number 9: Revolution 3D - Ticket to Ride or the 9T2R for short"

 

[I'mma real anime gurl]

The model train shop near me has stuff that I use for my 40k figures.

 

[No Batty Boys in Jamaica]

I wonder how difficult it would be to put together a train layout with modular scenery pieces. This way, you could swap out the scenery with the pieces you made to change it whenever you wanted.

Part of the appeal with model/toy trains is the same with people who like building/crafting things. It is fun to have your own functional miniature world.

The problem though is that it is a hobby that has largely been taken over by boomers and the remaining Silent generation. This is not a cheap hobby by any means and many millennials and gen Z do not have the deep pockets to do a lot with this even if many of them admire the toy train sets of their parents and grandparents.

As an aside, I wish that model train makers would also have versions of those really bizarre armored trains that you saw during WWI and WWII.

There are ways that model trains could be made substantially cheaper, but due to the way this kind of industry works, it won't happen.

HO smaller trains could now be battery powered and remote controlled. This would allow tracks to be cheaper. DCC would be much less complicated. People don't use trains long enough to run out of battery all the time, and there'd be recharging tracks. It'd be more kid friendly because there'd be little risk of shorting out the trains. O-scale might be able to use battery as well if the train was lightened enough. Extra batteries could be stowed in tenders, dummy units, or power cars.

I don't think the market is big enough to entice a disruptor to bring in something new, though.

 

[Hepativore]

There are ways that model trains could be made substantially cheaper, but due to the way this kind of industry works, it won't happen.

HO smaller trains could now be battery powered and remote controlled. This would allow tracks to be cheaper. DCC would be much less complicated. People don't use trains long enough to run out of battery all the time, and there'd be recharging tracks. It'd be more kid friendly because there'd be little risk of shorting out the trains. O-scale might be able to use battery as well if the train was lightened enough. Extra batteries could be stowed in tenders, dummy units, or power cars.

I don't think the market is big enough to entice a disruptor to bring in something new, though.

The main driver of price I think, is the fact that many people buy these things as models to keep behind glass cases, not actually run, and the companies that make model train engines and cars often do so as limited runs to keep prices high by creating artificial scarcity.

I mean, these are like the people who buy expensive and rare comics while never intending to read them as they obsess over never taking it out of the packaging to preserve its value.

The makers of model trains appeal to the collector's market as these people have money to waste. Whether or not they run is beside the point to many collectors.

As for making the trains battery operated, that might work for smaller scales, but for S-scale and up, I think it would add a lot of weight and many of these engines already weigh two or more pounds, which would increase the wear and tear on the wheels and track. Also, where would you mount the battery? There is not that much extra space in an engine frame to accommodate the space a battery would require and so you would have to make the engines wider or longer for that purpose...and then they would be out of scale.

I have an S-scale set and several engines and during the "golden years" of model railroading of the 40's, 50's, and 60's in the US, American Flyer made many trains and accessories that were affordable for the average person. However, when American Flyer went under, the costs of these things spiked, as it then became a "luxury market" for people trying to set up their own personal museums for model trains and would tear their hair out if somebody dared to take their vintage Northern Pacific locomotive out of its original packaging.

 

[Glowie Hunter Art Bell]

I'm all for this thread. I've got like $3k worth of HO scale stuff chilling in my basement in boxes

 

[Hepativore]

Here is some food for thought...

Why is it that the vast majority of people interested in model trains and accessories at the shows I have been to are men and boys? Why are women relatively rare in this hobby? As traditionally-speaking, dollhouses and people have been marketed to girls and women, why has this not also carried over to toy trains and playing with miniature towns and settings? I just thought about it today and I could not come up with an answer.

(Although, if a girl or woman tried to get into this hobby now, she would probably be labeled "trans" by her peers and encouraged to troon out. Trannies are the worst perpetuators of gender stereotypes around.)

 

[MasterCylinder]

I used to have a hornby railway set when I was a kid, it was built upon this track matt

Loved it to death but goddamn was that shit expensive, could never afford any of the bigger/longer trains. Only one I could afford was a 2nd hand Flying Scotsman from a toy and train fair, the rest were small tank engines and a diesel engine I won in a magazine.

Sadly when I had to move house there wasn’t room in the new place to set this up again so I had to have it all dismantled and most of it got wrecked in the move. I ended up selling what non broken stuff I had left and moved on.

A couple years ago a family friend died and I was given a massive crate of 40+ bachmann brand trains. Sold all those for a pretty penny, People really love these trains.

That’s all the train sperging I have really, it was fun times but I’m glad I moved on in the end.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

Here is some food for thought...

Why is it that the vast majority of people interested in model trains and accessories at the shows I have been to are men and boys? Why are women relatively rare in this hobby? As traditionally-speaking, dollhouses and people have been marketed to girls and women, why has this not also carried over to toy trains and playing with miniature towns and settings? I just thought about it today and I could not come up with an answer.

(Although, if a girl or woman tried to get into this hobby now, she would probably be labeled "trans" by her peers and encouraged to troon out. Trannies are the worst perpetuators of gender stereotypes around.)

It's not just model trains. The same idea can be applied to model airplanes, balsa kits, model cars, rc vehicles, ships and boats - anything transportation technology related. Why they tend to appeal to males the majority of the time is probably because of what they represent. All those mechanical beasts are the manifestation of harnessing the raw power of fire in combustion, and electricity and seeing it put to work to perform a function. There's a certain mechanical beauty in seeing all the tiny components come together to perform a function that would have otherwise been impossible using just human strength.

Basically, the thesis of this is power. Men like powerful things and cars, trains, airplanes, ships are manifestations of that power greater than what's humanly possible. Building small scaled down representations of those things is like a nod of appreciation to the real life thing.

 

[Anonymus Fluhre]

Once I get back home and the basement is finished I'm looking into building a gaming table for Warhammer 40k that will have a train go through it. I'm looking into anything close to 28mm scale in terms of a chassis and motor and then 3d printing a train that should go well in that era. Even a 32mm scale one will do as I can make the shell of the train and carts to look 28mm and just claim it's a huge train. This way I can have the best of both worlds. A train setup and a miniature gaming table. I believe Walthers has what I want.

 

[Hepativore]

It's not just model trains. The same idea can be applied to model airplanes, balsa kits, model cars, rc vehicles, ships and boats - anything transportation technology related. Why they tend to appeal to males the majority of the time is probably because of what they represent. All those mechanical beasts are the manifestation of harnessing the raw power of fire in combustion, and electricity and seeing it put to work to perform a function. There's a certain mechanical beauty in seeing all the tiny components come together to perform a function that would have otherwise been impossible using just human strength.

Basically, the thesis of this is power. Men like powerful things and cars, trains, airplanes, ships are manifestations of that power greater than what's humanly possible. Building small scaled down representations of those things is like a nod of appreciation to the real life thing.

I am sure that there is an evolutionary psychology explanation for this, but would that also not apply to women as well? As women are physically weaker than men, how come this does not lead to even more of a psychological fascination with heavy machinery or fast-moving vehicles? It would seem like it would cause a drive to compensate for this aspect of female biology in terms of female strength differences as operating said machinery would serve as an "equalizer".

 

[Car Won't Crank]

I am sure that there is an evolutionary psychology explanation for this, but would that also not apply to women as well? As women are physically weaker than men, how come this does not lead to even more of a psychological fascination with heavy machinery or fast-moving vehicles? It would seem like it would cause a drive to compensate for this aspect of female biology in terms of female strength differences as operating said machinery would serve as an "equalizer".

You make a good point. I think women can be attracted to it, but most are probably not too keen on actually creating those machines, whether they're scale models or the real thing. Ultimately those machines are inventions that have to be constructed.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Once I get back home and the basement is finished I'm looking into building a gaming table for Warhammer 40k that will have a train go through it. I'm looking into anything close to 28mm scale in terms of a chassis and motor and then 3d printing a train that should go well in that era. Even a 32mm scale one will do as I can make the shell of the train and carts to look 28mm and just claim it's a huge train. This way I can have the best of both worlds. A train setup and a miniature gaming table. I believe Walthers has what I want.

Unfortunately, WH40K stuff appears to be roughly 1:60 scale, meaning the closest available mass produced stuff you'd be looking for is S scale as that's 1:64. The next biggest is double that (O scale, 1:32) and the next smallest would really be too small (HO/00 Scale, 1:87). And suffice to say, S scale isn't one of the more popular ones though it does have its niche market and available retail supplies. 3D printing also may help bolster available options.

That said, there is in-universe justification for giant-ass trains, though. In the Space Marine game with Titus, there's the one early level with the gargantuan freight train taken over by Orks that Titus and his two Battle Brothers use to get to the Titan Manufactorum. Some G scale flatcars would work excellently for this, though as an operational layout on a table you'd be limited to an oval at best. Though as static set pieces they could be cool on a Adeptus Mechanicus setting.

You make a good point. I think women can be attracted to it, but most are probably not too keen on actually creating those machines, whether they're scale models or the real thing. Ultimately those machines are inventions that have to be constructed.

I find that while there are women who are interested in the machines themselves (the one Disney animator who had a literal full scale spur and locomotives in his backyard? His WIFE was the one who legally owned his big steam engine because SHE'S the one who bought it!), more often they seem interested in the scenery aspect. Would be an interesting study, suffice to say.

 

[Anonymus Fluhre]

Unfortunately, WH40K stuff appears to be roughly 1:60 scale, meaning the closest available mass produced stuff you'd be looking for is S scale as that's 1:64. The next biggest is double that (O scale, 1:32) and the next smallest would really be too small (HO/00 Scale, 1:87). And suffice to say, S scale isn't one of the more popular ones though it does have its niche market and available retail supplies. 3D printing also may help bolster available options.

That said, there is in-universe justification for giant-ass trains, though. In the Space Marine game with Titus, there's the one early level with the gargantuan freight train taken over by Orks that Titus and his two Battle Brothers use to get to the Titan Manufactorum. Some G scale flatcars would work excellently for this, though as an operational layout on a table you'd be limited to an oval at best. Though as static set pieces they could be cool on a Adeptus Mechanicus setting.


I find that while there are women who are interested in the machines themselves (the one Disney animator who had a literal full scale spur and locomotives in his backyard? His WIFE was the one who legally owned his big steam engine because SHE'S the one who bought it!), more often they seem interested in the scenery aspect. Would be an interesting study, suffice to say.

It's between O and HO scale. Hence why I just need the engine and 3d print the rest.
Should mention there are minor size difference in scale depending on where you get them from. No one has ever bothered to standardize scale ranges for all markets. France for instance it's 1:43.5 for O scale.