Quote from: Newportnobby on June 08, 2026, 06:47:46 PM

Quote from: Mr Sprue on June 08, 2026, 06:07:02 PMI guess the best of this hobbies days are pretty much over!

I won't believe they're over, but they do have more competition. People love the latest iPhone/pad and a 70" TV on the wall while paying through the nose for streaming extra channels. They have, to my mind, nothing to moan about. How each person disposes of their income is up to them.
These days, we have more than a couple of model railway manufacturers producing high quality (mostly) detailed models for us to spend our income on. Yes, prices are higher but we have to forget the good old days of low prices. They are long gone

When I quoted "I guess the best of this hobbies days are pretty much over!" It was aimed at comparing shows that were once heaving with attendees and stalls, unlike today where everything has shrunk. Warley around 14 years ago, compared to other shows was like entering a city for model railways, but each year I attended it got less and less and the walkways wider.

Such a sad thing to witness. Ally pally was a fave of mine too, now that's barely worth the visit and I only live about 17 miles away!

For the French speakers amongst us :


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMjcZO8esfM

Ben speaks perfect French 

Quote from: Ben A on June 08, 2026, 06:49:53 PMThe deadline for pre-ordering these models is the end of August, and we will be posting an update and more images, on our website shortly.

Hi Ben

The progress poster at DEMU says the pullman deadline is July, which is correct? I need to get the funds together for at lease one rake of pullmans so wondering how long I have

I'll look into removing it now.  Thanks!

Brilliant, so each third  kitchen is serving approx two coaches worth of diners, the first kitchen about half as many diners... sounds about right.

Thanks that's a dramatic scene last photo! Just sent a pm with 60532 Chris

Neither of those support the bit I quoted - that only 25% of under 45s own a home. The Statista chart is the age distribution of home owners. It's not that surprising that it increases the older you get, because not that many will go back into rented once they've bought and Boomers have destroyed the housing market 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/321065/uk-england-home-owners-age-groups/


https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/census2021dictionary/variablesbytopic/housingvariablescensus2021/householdsofmultipleoccupancyhmo

has HMO data. 2% of property, higher than that of people.

The halcyon days of model railways are IMHO definitely behind us, but the notion that it's doom and gloom I would agree is also wrong. We are back about where we were before cheap Chinese labour and improved moulding technology upended the market and pricing. We've lost the cheap labour (good!) but whilst we have much higher prices in real terms that the boom years we've got vastly better models and technology in the process.

So no its definitely not all doom and gloom, but I don't think there is the volume to sustain the number of manufacturers and therefore that Heljan will be unique.

@5944 can you please fix your link, it's broken the page width.

Quote from: EtchedPixels on June 08, 2026, 05:35:50 PMonly 25% of people under 45 own a home rather than renting and thus often moving around. Many under 40 only have a room in an HMO.

Unfortunately for volume production you need a lot of buyers of the same model, not a small number of very rich people as they simply don't buy enough. Fine for 5 grand etched brass O gauge masterpieces but not for mainstream RTR.

What we actually need is more of less models at lower prices, but that's not in the interest of any market player short term.

I've seen you post similar things before, would be interested in any data on that, because I'll be honest it sounds a bit Daily Mail. A quick Google suggests 56% of 30-45 year olds own their own home, and ~30% of 21-30 year olds. HMO stock accounts for about 2% of properties, and whilst it's more prolific in London and other major cities I'm not sure I'd say "many under 40s live in HMOs" specifically in the context of the halcyon days of model railways being behind us, there's always been that contingent of younger professionals sharing flats in cities. They've never been prolific railway modellers as a demographic!

Quote from: Newportnobby on June 08, 2026, 06:47:46 PM

Quote from: Mr Sprue on June 08, 2026, 06:07:02 PMI guess the best of this hobbies days are pretty much over!

I won't believe they're over, but they do have more competition. People love the latest iPhone/pad and a 70" TV on the wall while paying through the nose for streaming extra channels. They have, to my mind, nothing to moan about. How each person disposes of their income is up to them.
These days, we have more than a couple of model railway manufacturers producing high quality (mostly) detailed models for us to spend our income on. Yes, prices are higher but we have to forget the good old days of low prices. They are long gone

Were prices ever that low, or do they just seem it compared to now? Have a look through this price list for Farish from October 1998.

https://tinyurl.com/y2j2nbe6

Black 5s, £79.95. Halls, £69.25. Using BoE's inflation calculator, they come out as pretty much £160 and £140 respectively today. The RRP for the latest Black 5 is £175 and £190 for the Hall. But the Hall back then was bloody awful!

A J94 in 1998 was £37.75 RRP, equivalent to £75 now. You can pick up an EFE for less than that.

There is some very odd pricing going on with Ebay at the moment. A lot of people seem to be thinking stuff is worth a lot more than it really is, or are simply using Ebay's suggested starting point and adding some extra. The ones that really puzzle me are the ones putting on secondhand Sonic J50s with the auction start price far in excess of the price Rails are charging for brand new models!

TVs are a bad example to quote as an example of excessive spending, as they are probably the only thing that have come down in price over the years. I bought a 42" flat screen when I bought my first house in 2010 and it cost over £900. Replaced it last year for a far superior model for less than a third of that.