www.spielwarenmesse.de » Model railways and accessories » Market overview

They wheeze, puff, make sounds, blink and light up – manufacturers of "rolling stock" apparently spare neither cost nor effort when emulating original objects, not only optically but functionally as well. Model trains demonstrate today's technical possibilities and an unwavering forward-thinking in the branch. Digital upgrading, often criticized as "playthings" for hardcore model train fans, did lead to an increase in play value. However it did not turn out to be a royal road paving the way for hordes of new generation players. Whoever currently gets involved, whether" Beginners" or "Best Agers" that have found their way back, high tech is, plain and simple, the state of the art. Whoever plays, plays digital. And suppliers of romanticism and traditional values - the purveyors of train stations, apartment houses, trees, miniature figures and grass mats that provide the "soul" for all technological features - are not in any way lagging in innovative strength when compared to "rolling stock". For example, consider the laser-cut models shown at Spielwarenmesse 2009 which combine different materials, or the numerous animated decorations so carefully designed in detail.

But is it necessary to start out at the very bottom, so small and simple? All agree that one of the most serious problems in the branch is winning over new generation customers.  And the earlier the contact with this fascinating hobby, the better – a consensus similar to the one that the probability of success in school is greatest when parents do not participate in this responsibility. In order to be infected by the model train virus, it is necessary that children be exposed to this experience when very small. For branch-insiders an unwritten law continues to prevail: where model trains have existed, others will follow; and where they are absent, they will never come. Accordingly, the "model train and school" philosophy is a good method to introduce children, with guidance, to the satisfaction that comes from ones own undertaking. Other experiments such as model trains specifically "engineered" for children have not been particularly successful. If model trains at all, then genuine model trains. And with a technology that fascinates and enthuses!

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