# POLL - How old are you?



## NorfolkSouthernguy (Jan 29, 2019)

How old are you? I think it would be interesting to see how many users of the forum fall in which age bracket. 

What age group dominates the forum, how many younger folks are coming in or already in the hobby and who are the oldest users.👍

Should be fun.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

you don't have one that says 'whats that sonny?' ..
that's my choice, lol


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I have read articles suggesting that the average model railroader is a Male between 55 and 75. Your preliminary results seem to bear that out.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Well, the age part, anyway....no telling what the genders are from this poll.....


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## Atlanta (Apr 29, 2019)

This poll is very interesting but it reflects actually date of age only.

More interesting would be how long or since when you the got infected by the "Virus Mobanicus" like we say in good old Germany (MoBa is the shorten of Modellbahn = Hobby Model Railroad or Model Railway) "Virus Mobanicus" is also the model RR Virus, what holds lifelong.

I got infected by that model RR Virus when I was a young lad of 6 years around 44 years ago.


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## rogruth (Mar 6, 2012)

I am actually surprised to see that 41.35 % are under 60.
Maybe there is some hope for the hobby.


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

rogruth said:


> I am actually surprised to see that 41.35 % are under 60.
> Maybe there is some hope for the hobby.


It’s only been up 8 hours. Recalculate in 48 and see what you get.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

That's 37.83 now.....and that's only 36 people out of our over 21,000 membership....


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I think because the great majority come here to ask a question and never return. Or they are here to sell a relative's estate and we never see them again.

Active membership is likely to be less than 200.


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## Roger Hensley (Oct 29, 2015)

Well, I've been at it off and on since about 5 and steady since 1980. I'm now 80 and still building although slower.


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## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

Roger Hensley said:


> Well, I've been at it off and on since about 5 and steady since 1980. I'm now 80 and still building although slower.


I'm with you Roger.

Seems I'm the only one (so far) to have punched the 81-85 button. Not a drive-by either, I'm here for the duration. 

Bob


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## gimme30 (Jul 26, 2018)

Where's the option for "older than dirt?"

Seriously, I'm only just 55, a bit younger than the majority so far, but my body feels like it's over 150. Went straight to hell overnight when I turned 50. 

I'm thinking of changing my name to Methuselah.


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## Spence (Oct 15, 2015)

I'm 74 and grateful that I can still participate in this great hobby. I do however have to take a break once in a while if I'm doing a lot of work on the layout just to let my aches & pains recover.


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## Jeff T (Dec 27, 2011)

As I type this I see 2 that are 85+.

God Bless!!


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## rogruth (Mar 6, 2012)

I didn't mention my age when I first posted on page 1 but I am also 85+.
ASnd I still play with my trains.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

If it matters to anyone, yes we have over 20,000 members ....
but , in 2019 only 2400 have visited [80 pages times 30 per page] ..
so the numbers should be 'adjusted' a bit ..
note: that this number does NOT include guests, which -may- be members, but choose not to log in or post ..


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## DMASSO (Jul 25, 2015)

Seventy three years old.


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## NorfolkSouthernguy (Jan 29, 2019)

*I started the POLL and forgot to vote my age!*



MichaelE said:


> I think because the great majority come here to ask a question and never return. Or they are here to sell a relative's estate and we never see them again.
> 
> Active membership is likely to be less than 200.


I would have to agree with you there. although I am not a long term member and even still hot and cold with visiting the site. I will say that I visit no other of the Hobby forums except this one. 

I tend to visit and stay a while. Its sort of like YouTube. You go on YouTube to see how to do this or that then 4 hours later I am way off my original topic watching something that I have no idea why I am even watching it. :laugh:


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## x_doug_x (Jun 21, 2010)

NorfolkSouthernguy said:


> I would have to agree with you there. although I am not a long term member and even still hot and cold with visiting the site. I will say that I visit no other of the Hobby forums except this one.
> 
> I tend to visit and stay a while. Its sort of like YouTube. You go on YouTube to see how to do this or that then 4 hours later I am way off my original topic watching something that I have no idea why I am even watching it. :laugh:


Mark, what part of tn are you in? I'm also in tn and always selling some sort of model train stuff.


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## AFGP9 (Apr 8, 2015)

73 years old here. Got my first American Flyer set in 1954 from Santa. Ran that train for a good many years then cars and girls got in the way. After that it was drag racing and Harleys. Somewhere in there began an HO layout. One of several, all the while buying American Flyer with a long range goal in mind in that gauge. Now officially American Flyer runner/collector for a solid 30 years. Still enjoy it with no plans to stop now.


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## highvoltage (Apr 6, 2014)

Old_Hobo said:


> Well, the age part, anyway....no telling what the genders are from this poll.....


I would guess predominantly male. Not from this poll, but from reading the board.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

You are likely correct, but the question was not included in the the poll, so.....just sayin'.....


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

wvgca said:


> If it matters to anyone, yes we have over 20,000 members ....
> but , in 2019 only 2400 have visited [80 pages times 30 per page] ..
> so the numbers should be 'adjusted' a bit ..
> note: that this number does NOT include guests, which -may- be members, but choose not to log in or post ..


A lot of people visit forums but don't actually post. It's a whole lot less that post than visit.


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## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

Old_Hobo said:


> You are likely correct, but the question was not included in the the poll, so.....just sayin'.....


I enjoy your posts. Neat avatar picture. Every time I see it reminds me of "The Polar Express." Looking forward to seeing it again this Christmas season.

Bob


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## NorfolkSouthernguy (Jan 29, 2019)

Well, the poll is still ongoing and it’s still only been up a few days. I am hoping to see some youngsters numbers increase. It seems as of now the median range is about where it has always averaged 
56 - 75. However I do think at age 56 it tells me that people are getting into the hobby a bit sooner. 

I see a lot of youtubers who are 20’s - 40’s making videos about their layouts. I was introduced to trains around age 11 by a Tyco set called Silver Streak that was very popular in the 1980’s. I still have that engine and original cars, power pack etc. 

I have collected every since and I am 47 years old now. I tried to come up with a way to see if we had any females among the group. There was no way in doing so with this particular poll. There are a few youtuber female train hobbiest around. There is no doubt that it’s still a male dominated hobby. The interesting part of the females on YouTube and in the hobby are all UK based. That’s at least the ones I personally know of.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

NorfolkSouthernguy said:


> How old are you? I think it would be interesting to see how many users of the forum fall in which age bracket.
> 
> What age group dominates the forum, how many younger folks are coming in or already in the hobby and who are the oldest users.👍
> 
> Should be fun.


Here is one I had going a few years ago, you can read why I started it if you want.
Might be interesting to see how the results changed over the years?

https://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=14168


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

MichaelE said:


> I think because the great majority come here to ask a question and never return. Or they are here to sell a relative's estate and we never see them again.
> 
> Active membership is likely to be less than 200.


Actually as of Sunday, 10/27 at 5:10 PM, 208 members had visited today, and 396 in the last 3 days. People visiting within the last week was 559. And that's "last visit"; several of us have been here more than once in that time. So a lot more than 200. You could filter that and see how many of those people have more than, say 10 posts, but still, pretty good numbers. The "very active" members, those who visit daily or slightly less frequently is going to be much less than that, maybe closer to your guess of 200-ish.


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## Atlanta (Apr 29, 2019)

My little nephew is 5 years in his age, he allready started Model Railroading with a two axle Diesel Shunting Loco in G Scale (European 1:45). I am sure, our hobby will not dying.


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## Jscullans (Jul 8, 2019)

I’m a 27 year old equipment mechanic just getting back into the hobby.


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## DJTrains (Oct 8, 2008)

I'm 71 and still living by the grace of God. Had very severe open heart surgery last April and as you can see, it worked.  I've decided to really get into model railroading in a serious way for whatever time I have left. Our children and grandchildren (16) all love to see my trains but none of them want to get into it themselves. But they can't wait to see and operate my trains when visiting.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

And as for age, well, as my father used to say: "Old enough to know better, young enough to remember how!".


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## NorfolkSouthernguy (Jan 29, 2019)

DJTrains said:


> I'm 71 and still living by the grace of God. Had very severe open heart surgery last April and as you can see, it worked.  I've decided to really get into model railroading in a serious way for whatever time I have left. Our children and grandchildren (16) all love to see my trains but none of them want to get into it themselves. But they can't wait to see and operate my trains when visiting.


Congrats on your surgery. You could have another 40 years who knows right? I am glad to hear that you had a successful heart surgery. Life is so precious and short because the clock never stops running. 👍


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## DJTrains (Oct 8, 2008)

NorfolkSouthernguy said:


> Congrats on your surgery. You could have another 40 years who knows right? I am glad to hear that you had a successful heart surgery. Life is so precious and short because the clock never stops running. 👍


Thanks much, Mark.


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