I was just looking in at the welcome board and there was a new member from Brazil saying Hi.
I hadn't given much thought to this before but it started me wondering how popular and vibrant model railway enthusiasm is around the world.

I know that here in the UK it is very well established and there is never any weekend that goes by where there is not a model railway exhibition or two to visit. Also there is a myriad of clubs and associations available to join.

I should imagine it is the same in most of Europe, North America and Japan but what about South America, Eastern Europe,China/Asia, Africa, etc.?

It would be quite interesting to hear from other members around the globe to give their views and accounts of how popular railway modelling is in their part of the world. Also are model railway parts (locos, track, scenery, etc.) easy to come by.

Thanks

Regards

Hi Joe. Here in Melbourne, Aus, there is a fairly lively scene. Lots of people model US, but there is also a small, but apparently growing, band who model Australian. Of course, there is also plenty of UK.
Most of the shows feature excess OO/HO, and N scale is very much the poor relation. As far as shows are concerned, I limit myself to 2 only. Not cost or distance, but staleness. These days I only go for the vendors, some of whom don't appear in the LHS and are based on-line. I like to view the new releases and dream!
Thanks for this thread, could prove interesting. Bill.

This is interesting and I await responses from around the globe.

I've lived in France for over 20 years and I've never met anyone interested in model railways.

The cost would put most people off - the price of an N gauge loco is around 200 Euro.

Best regards,


Joe
P.S. I model British outline !

i know a couple of my friends who are poles , and model the pkp at home in poland  , and there are some russian modellers aswell .

There are very few model railway folk in South Africa compared to the population. This could be due to the prototype not being very well liked here because they are slow, unreliable and dirty etc. so not really any inspiration to kids. Also, hardly any models RTR of a Spoornet locomotive or train. Those that model trains seem to do either American or British outline in N, but OO/HO also has mainland European outline.

An interesting question, thanks for asking it.

FWIW: 

Model railways are not new in New Zealand (my homeland), to the extent that there have  been scale model trains built and operated here since before WWI (I kid you not).

As a result, there is a very active model railway fraternity, covering a wide variety of scales and interests.  These vary widely from the traditional OO/HO British-outline,  Continental European  (Marklin products abound) via the US (n all the scales), and to Japanese (predominantly N BTW).  There is also a very great interest in Bush tramway (logging railways), and even urban tramcars.

That NZ modellers are world class is reflected in articles which appear in such magazines a railway Modeller and Model RailRoader.

To complicate matters somewhat, and  as some of the membership will be aware, New Zealand's national track-gauge is 3ft. 6 in. (1067mm), which puts it into the 'Narrow Gauge' category.  Due to NZ's isolation , the New Zealand Government Railways Department (and its successors, the latest being 'Kiwirail) this system is also a unique entity with a long history of designing and building both its locomotives and rolling stock.   To model these, three distinct scales have  evolved:  9 mm : 1 ft (aka 'sledgehammer scale'), Sn3 1/2 (the predominant scale for NZR modelling) and, most recently NZ120 (aka TTn3/12), which runs on N-scale track (just like us).

In NZ, 'N' is almost exclusively UK and US-themed, with an increasing interest in Japanese N becoming evident - due to the improving exchange rate.

There are however a (very) few who use N to try and replicate the local railway scene, with me being one of these.  As those who have read my introduction will be aware, this has led to the creation of NZN-Freelance, the existence of which was recently acknowledged by an article (on a gold-mining railway) which appeared in the local national model railway magazine (progress indeed )

'Z' is making an appearance as well, but it is VERY expensive and almost mythical (the smaller it is, the more that it costs...) It is largely imported (the internet being a very useful tool for the purpose)

HOWEVER 'N' is almost unobtainable in hobby shops (and I was told by one national retailer that they were completely getting out of it as there was 'no interest), and such N as there is is ridiculously overpriced.  This has created a Catch-22 situation for those who are interested in our scale; High local prices force us to go off-shore  which in turn mean that no-one buys from the local shops who stock less and so-on, and  so on...

Unlike some countries, there are no N-scale specific clubs, but the scale is well-regarded within most model railway clubs, although in some there is still a group (largely older and modelling in OO/HO) that regard what we do as beneath contempt, and comments about magnifying glasses and microscopes tend to be voiced by this lot.

Nationally, the model railway clubs come under the umbrella of the NZ Model Railway Guild, which co-ordinates their activities, and arranges for a national Convention once every two years (the next being held in Hamilton in 2014).  The 'Guild also publishes the NZ Model Railway Journal, a magazine which largely reflects NZ Govt. Railways (NZR)  modelling (invariably in Sn3 1/2, but increasingly in NZ120), but s also increasingly acting as a showcase for those who model railways in New Zealand which are not NZR - myself included.

However, as with many things,even in New Zealand there  a down-side to the MR  hobby,  in that the age of railway modellers in NZ is slowly becoming older, as fewer and fewer 'young ones' are coming into the hobby overall. This is apparently an international phenomenon, and is due largely to the attractions of computer-games , videos etc. etc.   A solution is still being considered...

Hope this is of interest, and, as I said, thanks for asking.

Komata

Whilst we have a growing number of followers in South Australia, I am extremely lucky to have SANGS in Adelaide. South Australian N Gauge Society. It does mean one of the largest clubs and layouts in our favourite Scale. http://sangs.asn.au/sangs/index.php

Folks,

Model railway enthusiasm here in Brazil is very low - this is a country where the railway system dropped out of sight and out of mind of the general public. My LHS estimates about 2000 to 3000 interested souls, nationwide.

We have one manufacturer (Frateschi) and a variable number of backyard artisans. Most stuff is imported, but it's expensive as there is a 63% import tax on model equipment. Most Brazilian modellers are forever looking for ways to get around these duties - smuggling included!

Cheers NB

A belated thankyou to those who replied. (Been a bit busy)
I found it interesting and shall be researching this a little bit more.

Thanks

Regards