It seems to me that the number of discussions in many model RR forums has declined over the past few years.
In many forums, there are still active posts, but it seems that there is overall a decline in the volume (quantity) of conversation.
Some of this may be due to members getting older or otherwise becoming less active online.
It may also be that some have chosen to avoid public discussions to avoid political and other touchy issues which may pop-up.
I thought I would take the temperature of the forum and see how others felt about the value of having these forums and how we can all do a little work to keep these ties which bind us alive.

Through you, I have learned much and been corrected when I was mistaken and I hope that others have learned from me when I could provide information for them.

Regards

Mike C

This forum is excellent. Over the years it has become more serious and a lot of the humour has gone. Model rail should be fun as we are all just big kids playing with our trains.
The cost these days is now much higher than in the past and youngsters of today are more interested in anything connected with computers and games on ipads etc
Our forum is great for advice but we should also share the enjoyment of the hobby. I have made many friends here although sadly not all are still with us and I enjoy seeing and hearing of layouts .
Relax and have fun and enjoy the company on line with members.

In my case it is time and not wishing to have public exposure, one never knows who is watching. Even more crucial is the fact that the level of knowledge that most of you have is 20 times above mine, so I have very little if anything to contribute. For it is read and learn.

Hi Mike

It seems we are a dying breed, not only model raid road, but also a lot other similar hobby's like model building in general, building electronic kits, collecting coins, stamps, classic cars, HAM radio, etc
Basically most hobby's where you need to physically do something to get it going
Only thing my kids (and most youngsters I think) are interested in is being on-line, watch the screen and exercise their fingers
Its a shame, but not much we can do about it I guess....

Regards

Jean-Pierre

I agree with that although I am not a Facebook fan but it does appear popular. I like our forum here as it is easy to get to know posters even if we dont meet as our personality does seem to show through. Numbers may decline but there are still penty to keep us going. One other advantage on our forum is if we buy from another known member you can be sure that the item will be exactly as advertised and suitable for purpose as against Ebay which for me is not always reliable.
I can find something on our forum of interest daily so for me we must be doing something right.

Mike

I would agree that the discussion has declined and in fact it was a subject we discussed some time ago in this Forum when certain people complained about the daily banter, and as a result there has been a decline in posts from people who were active here almost daily, and others having been made unwelcome. I have also had my disagreements with certain moderators in the past but that is life. The fact is a lot of regulars do not post often in this Forum and what is the reason?

I still enjoy coming in to see the latest but there are sadly very few topics on layouts and MRR and lots of questions from people who cannot use the Search function of the Forum and also a lot of negative posts, and criticism of members which I think puts people off contributing. To the moaners instead of being keyboard moaners get involved and effect change and do better.

I enjoy Facebook because there is a lot of layout based discussion and less moaning, but still contribute here when I have something to add.

I am a 50 something modeller with a 25 year old son who is a keen modeller but what does this Forum offer to the younger modellers???

Sadly we are a declining demographic surpassed by social media. But we should not give up.

I have enjoyed your posts and our private discussions and so I hope you will keep going and maybe through determination and perseverance we can encourage new blood into our hobby, but we have to make it interesting and entertaining to a new generation.

I hope you are well.

Best Regards

Glenn

Hello everyone
I haven’t contributed much to this forum shortly after I started posting about a layout (Marshbach) I was building. Life started to get in the way in the form off an older family member having a fall, having 2 small businesses (we are supposed to be retired) and so on. It looks like things are slowing down a bit and do to recent events( wild fire about 15 miles away from where we live) we are also changing priorities and stopping 1 of the businesses to enjoy life .
I enjoy this forum a lot and learned a lot as well and like to follow some threads. Not into facebook or any other forum do to reasons mentioned in other replies.
Having said all this, I’m going to start again posting about building my layout soon. Marshbach was dismantled and a new is being build.
I really like this forum for the calmness and camaraderie and will be a member for a longtime.

Happy Model Railroading

Robert

Hello Martin,

Glad to see you here, on this forum. I really enjoy your u-tube channel. Keep up the good work.

P.S. I 'm actually at an airport waiting for my connecting flight back to Ottawa -- returning from Goppingen, from the IMA/Marklin Days. What a great event! Those two BR01s and the BR52 made my day!

Cheers,
Andry

Hi All,
I joined this forum back in 2010, soon after starting on a layout with my then 12 year old son.
I haven't contributed much as I'm just a pure novice as compared to the majority on here but have learnt a lot and continue to do so on this forum. A huge thanks to all the great contributors and information and knowledge found on this forum.

My background, going back to when I was a young lad in the 70s that my Dad introduced us to Marklin. Having come back from a work visit to Germany he brought a small starter set M track - 2975. Playing with that on weekends was the best ever. Unfortunately I don't know what became of that set, boarding school and some house moves. Having always wanted to get into the hobby guess I used my son as an excuse. the family moved to Sydney in 2011 and the layout got boxed up and was in storage for quite a while. As with the Gen Z my son lost interest completely however I pulled it out of storage a couple years back and got it all running again. The layout was incomplete with just track work and no scenery. I started on a bit of scenery on my vacation (work overseas), but am now planning to stop that and work on a new layout slightly bigger. My primary objective is to run (play with) trains and not prototypical or even have to make sense. I like to have the ability of running a train continuously not just point to point. It should go through tunnels bridges mountains etc. I've got a mix of locomotives, Steam diesel from German/Europe to USA. Just got in the post yesterday the Flying Scotsman (39969). I guess I don't fit in the typical serious RR modeler bracket for not adhering to real railroad practices. I enjoy the hobby immensely spend hours just watching a train go around. It's a bit sad though the cost of Marklin makes a lot of plans prohibitive of what I'd like.

I stop by every day

Caveats: I run Analogue on M-track

Occasionally

There are days when the threads run to:

Digital and all of its permutations (conversions, updates, fubars , et al.)

and/or

C-track and all of its permutations

and/or

K-track and all of its permutations

and/or

[fill in the blank]

to which I have no knowledge or insights, so I carry on.

Other days I am active to the point of comedy!

p.s. I am on only one other forum and the same thing can happen there...just the day sometimes... There are occasions when I am the only member logged in, which is a bit strange ...Solar Flares?? Phase of the Moon??

Edited by user 12 November 2025 12:42:28(UTC)  | Reason: Added p. s.