Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 12, 1990 TAG: 9006090207
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
And that means interest should be peaking right about . . . now.
"It's nostalgia, really," said Doug Phelps, director of Pulaski Main Street Inc., an organization designed to renew a different interest - one in downtown Pulaski. Phelps requested a study on train collecting last year when his organization promoted its first Model Railroad Show.
The study showed that for the next two or three years, the hobby will be popular among people over 35 years old. So PMI planned its Second Annual Model Railroad Show to be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 16 outside the old passenger deport on Washington Avenue.
More than 2,500 people attended the show last year, Phelps said. This year, he's expecting more.
"A lot of these people had railroads as children," Phelps said. "Since then, the values have gone up."
And so has the interest.
"I think the resurgence is stronger this time than it's been in quite a while," said Jim Molinary, owner of The Rail Yard, a Roanoke hobby shop.
One reason interest is high is that some of the other hobbies, which usually detract from the interest in model railroads, have nothing new to offer, Molinary said.
"Even with video games, the growth rate is slower," he said. "People are turning back to a standard and traditional hobby: trains. That hobby has always been around. It never goes away."
In the past three years, four new model-train shops have opened in Atlanta, two in Richmond and two in Roanoke, Molinary said. "Ten years ago, you'd have half the number you have today."
The number of train shows has increased, too.
"There are more in Southwest Virginia regularly now," Molinary said. "We used to never have shows out here. People had to go to Richmond, Maryland, Pennsylvania or New York."
This year, though, the people from other states will come here to see the model trains, eat the concession-stand food and have fun, Phelps said.
He said he hopes to rent out 100 tables for vendors to display models and memorabilia.
"We're expecting people all the way from South Carolina through to Maryland and Tennessee," he said. "It's a real diverse group."
Some of the enthusiasts from Pulaski used to work for the railroad, Phelps said. Others are business people or teachers. Many are retired.
Molinary said most of the 1,300 people who visit his shop each year are over 20 years old. A few are women.
"I think that's something kind of new," he said. "Years ago, it was sort of looked down on. People said `You're a woman. You're not interested - why should you be?' "
Molinary said he thinks women have always been interested in trains - they just never expressed it. "I think today they're more at ease about it," he said.
Still, Phelps said he hopes in future years to set up another event alongside of the railroad display that will be more appealing to women.
"We were thinking about an antique-doll show," he said.
by CNB