Just a quick report. (And maybe some ranting.)

Friday I went to the annual O scale meet in Indianapolis.  This year it is an O scale / S scale dual meet put on by a new sponsor, the O scale Resource and S scale Resource e-zines.  I wasn’t expecting much as I have been dissappointed by this show when it was operated by others.

It was really pretty good.  Saw a lot of old friends.  I would recomment it.  There were 5 operating layouts, 3 in On30, 1 in regular O and one in Proto 48.

Now for the rant part.  Since getting older and trying to sell our products to a maturing customer base, one of the excuses that I would get from folks attending shows is “I’m not at the point of buying structures yet, I’m still working out my track plan.”  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this from guys 10 years my senior and I’m 68.  I saw a guy pushing a walker to the parking lot with a big box of brass locomotive.  Wake up guys!  It might just be a bit late to START that layout.  Now, I’m not trying to kill anybody’s dream, but let’s be realistic.  Y’all need to get some track down and run some trains.

The one thing I noticed, that I really didn’t like was all of the pre-built structures available.  The stuff from Woodland Senics and Menards is unfortunately for Clever Models LLC, really nice.  Yup, you pay a lot for it, but I saw a lot of it going out the door.

WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE MODELERS OUT THERE.

I do appreciate all you out there that buy our products.  I Really, Really do!  End of rant.

Comments

[Peter Wehrhahn]

Hi Dave,

you´ve described the big changes in the modelling hobbies. If you check some of the magazines, you wouldn´t see much scratchbuilding articles this times. I think the train/model enthusiats like to have an instant kind of luck, wenn buying rtr models. I am not happy with this situation because the young/new modellers have no chance to learn from the "experts". I like to read my DVD collections of the "Railroader" and the "Gazette". Great stuff from good times. Even the oldest issues showed me good modelling practise to learn from.

For your business, I think, it should be fine to get the pure cardmodellers on board. This group is strong in Europe with some nice online forums available. I stadily try to seed the Clever-Models bug there and the only commercial ad on my blog is one to the Clever Homepage.

Hope to see more builders here. Thanks to you for the models free of charge.

Best wishes from the old Germany

Peter

[JAT]

I hear you, but believe that under the principle of "it's my layout (hobby), dammit" If someone with "one foot in the grave" is enjoying perpetual planning, then live and let live.
We (the modelers) are here! I personally don't lose any sleep over the availability of pre-built structures. I also don't buy them. I spent my younger years in the hobby without the resources to buy expensive craftsman kits. So I learned to scratch-build what I wanted, often using just the advertisement photos in MR as a guide. (Also loved the E.L. Moore articles).

The advantage is that I can now build things that you cannot get on a kit.

As the years went by, and I gained the resources to buy expensive craftsman kits, I seldom did, as I really enjoy scratch-building. I did buy a few over the years, perhaps a half-dozen, because a) I wanted them, b) I found them at a ridiculous price, and c) it was just too much material gathering work to scratch-build. Sheepscot "The Lime Company" is the best example.

Which brings me to CleverModels. The attraction was the high detail level and the low cost. Where else are you going to get a kit of Jefferson Ice? Nowhere, that's where.

As for older guys to teach the younger ones, I agree there is a shortage, but there are efforts being made. I was contacted last month by a magazine editor who wants to do a profile on mentors in the hobby. So there's that...

[Dan]

I think it comes down to much of the focus change on model railroading. As operations interest increases the modeling aspect of the structures decreases because it is time taken away from getting the track and other systems up and running and then operating. Different strokes for different folks. There is still no shortage of folks who enjoy the modeling aspect though. Again different tastes :)

[Rusty Westermeier]

You forgot there was an S scale layout there. I was running a battery powered GN FA and FB on it. There were many S scalers there and we build things because so little is available in our scale. That's why I like your kits so much. Wish I had known you were there - I'd like to have met you.
Rusty Westermeier

[Jim Gore]

Actually, the first hand-on clinic to sell out at the O Scale National was my cardstock modeling clinic (of course, using Clever Models kits). Extremely well received and a great number of modelers interested in doing more. I was quite impressed!

[Kevin WS]

Yes Dave, time runs out. In my case I no longer have the money and time for the layout I would like.

Bur for me that's no big deal - I am now into building tiny N Gauge layouts that are basically switching puzzles, with lots of buildings, scenery and operating potential!

[Jacques]

When I’m done building the backlog of Clever Models that I have, the only premade models on my layout will be original American Flyer accessories. I have a big layout! And I have a lot of cardstock building to do. Man, that hotel kit has a lot of windows 🤪