This guy hits all the reasons why #trains and #modeltrain hobbies are far less popular for the 18-35 crowd. TL;DW older hobbyists spent 50 years homogenizing the space into nostalgia-obsessed prototypical opps when 3D printing, CAD, and Sims create new ways to enjoy trains youtu.be/yff-G9kmy0g?...

Have any of the #modeltrains folks made it a goal of theirs to model and paint the 12+ designs of these that are out in the wild? I just need to know who's slutting it up. #trains

I can't hide it any longer. My most controversial #trains hot take is that I think Southern Pacific's P-10 with skyline casings look better than the MT's and even the GS series locomotives. I know some of you won't be able to look me in the eyes any longer, but it is my truth.

Here's some of the coolest garden scale #modeltrains I've seen online this past week. If you follow a lot of what I post, you'll notice there's a few builders that I just can't get enough of and get excited every time they have updates to show!

Not only is Tom Foster amazing at weathering #modeltrains he also makes great use of 3D scanning real people and resin printing them. I really do think that 3D printing people for models in your layout yields the absolute best results. Any other #train folk print or make their own figures?

I'm blaming you #train #modelrailroading bluesky weirdos for making me slowly grow fond of early-era diesels. I lived happy in my steam/electric fantasy world, and here you are tempting me with these little switcher guys. Look at that little guy. I bet he sounds like a truck when firing up. Sickos.

I really want to model this consist but maybe some #train folks can help me answer what flat cars these were? I'm guessing it's some WP 36ft something since SN was a subsidiary. (also yeah making an unpowered Birney car just to be shuffled around is funny to me)

Hey #modeltrain nerds: do you ever collect scales that you don't even model or run? I don't have any layouts in O, HO, or On30 but I just happen to land some either for research purposes for larger scale modeling or because I randomly come across deals I can't pass up. What about you?

I love any layout in an evening setup. I pretty much think that as much attention should be given to how a layout looks in low light as much as fully lit. #modeltrain

My favorite outdoor layouts find ways to ease the models into the surroundings by peppering small trackside vignettes that connect real plants with prototypical ops. Ground cover as rolling hills, small hedges as forests. It's just such a perfect vibe. #modeltrains #modelrailroad

Sometimes you see #modeltrain weathering that is so exquisite and refined that you just obsess over it. This O-Scale SP 4-8-0 weathered by Juan Zuloaga is just perfect. As somebody who's looked at many SP photos, these wear patterns are so precise. It would take me a lifetime to match this, if ever.

Everytime I lose motivation via setbacks with #3dprinting #modeltrains at garden scales I look on Ebay for the prices of HO scale trains and remind myself why it is worth scratch building 95% of my layout. Plus HO, is so much smaller, so much more expensive, and I'm just too clumsy to have that.

I love kitbashes that involve a range of methods from scratch building, 3D printing and other mods. Broken Pine shops posted this beautiful On30 logging #modeltrain and I just adore the resin printed antlers and every tiny detail here. Delightful.

The #modeltrain weathering that insta artist cap47_ achieves is so realistic that I routinely mistake them for full size foamer photography.

Once again paintnrust_mike showing off some incredible weathering skills. Almost looks like the real deal #modeltrains

Are there any other #train or #modeltrain folks who like a locomotive precisely because it looks kinda bad? Like there's just something so derpy about it that you just have to love it? Which locomotives are like that for you?

Psst. You over there. Yea I'm talkin to ya. I can tell you're a reaaalll particular #train nerd. I got this rare Box Motor stash out back that might be your vibe. (takes you behind the bar, to a backroom full of old dudes smoking while gambling over Mahjong)

Imagine being an American and thinking electrifying rail in the US is some "woke agenda" when electric #trains existed all over the country when teenage girl fashion looked like this:

I'm tired of Americans making weak excuses for not electrifying #trains. Americans lost the gumption to actually be #1 at major infrastructure projects in favor of whining that it's not possible while other countries surpass us. It's cowardly and lacks the imagination that made the US a leader.

Psst. Hey you. #train nerd. You like early 20th century box motors? Yeaaaa I got one right here *opens trench coat*

It's honestly impressive just how much the Bay Area fumbled mass transit for the latter half of the 20th century. Ignoring population growth projections for short term political wins basically condemned the region to a 70+ year housing crisis and some of the worst traffic in the country.

One of the biggest advantages to 3D printing #modeltrains is the cost savings at scale. Quantity is key. In a world where one boxcar can be $50-$90 each, having ten of them is well outside most budgets. But not if they are $5-$20 each to print. Hard to top that while getting specific road names etc

My #modelrailroading white whale is finding a 3D printed G scale gearbox that I could modify into various Southern Pacific Locomotives. This German BR78 chassis could work for an SP T-31 4-6-0. I'm printing a test chassis with nylon print gears + ASA wheels that I will electroplate with brass

The GC&E Garden Railway had an open house yesterday. I'm not on the east coast so I admired from afar. GC&E's rolling stock is almost entirely 3D printed. I've bought many of the designs to modify and printing for my own layout. It's a great example of the bright future of #modelrailroading

DIY Digital Railroad made a great video explaining the challenges that keep #modeltrain companies making only popular models. It's why I believe 3D printing + Open Source projects like Dragon Railways are the only feasible path forward. Cost and accessibility are mandatory for this hobby's future

What if defunct Bay Area railways had doom metal merch? These are questions that I alone am brave enough to answer. #modeltrains #trains (this is just a WIP)

Like this was supposed to be a side quest. I wanted to focus on SP commutes but these little Sacramento weirdos showed up in enough books to sucker me into modeling all of them. #trains #modeltrains

Not me looking at a Sacramento Northern Niles Interurban when I still haven't finished the 3D models for the Sacramento Northern Hall Scotts or Holman 1003 series. #modeltrains #transit #trains

And now to deliberately contradict my previous post, I'd like to fawn over Bill Osborne's layout and how often his photos will make me double take constantly. #modeltrains

Another reason why I love garden #modelrailroading is the ability of the sun's natural lighting to lend to realism. It's exceptionally hard to light an indoor layout without it having that "static" feeling. Even with cheap LED tech there's limitations that are exceptionally hard to overcome.

Even though I just recently talked about the merits of scale-accurate ground cover plants for garden trains, this layout is the exception, with the massive ferns bringing a sense of magical tranquility to this overhead wire trolley layout. #modeltrains

I don't typically post live steam but this example of a WD 2-10-0 from Andrew Giffen is so good I can't help but share it. #modeltrains

I love groundcover like this. Any low lying plants that emulate the shape and density of much larger bushes and trees is a big win. In my notes for my own #modelrailroading #gardentrain layout I have a shortlist for Pigeon Point, Silver carpet, and Spathe leaved sedum.

It's monday. Here's a lovely outdoor narrow gauge #modeltrain logging layout called Kittatinny Mountain Railroad. No notes. it's adorable.

When it comes to G scale #modelrailroad layouts that understand the assignment in regards to lighting and a sense of realism I like posting Olli's Railroad as much as I can. So many late day or sunset shots with long shadows, letting the lights dance across the locos to give that authentic feel.

Here's all the coolest #modeltrain stuff I've seen in groups this week in the #train niche known as the garden railroad scene. I probably should post other scales more, but eh the real little trees vibes are too good

I'm a big fan seeing folks running #garden trains during twilight and early dusk. I want to see tiny #modeltrains lit up against a darkening sky.

Is there a term for the #dropout #dimension20 #starkid #smosh group of classic internet properties that have rebuilt and/or Voltron'd themselves into a successful media ecosystem? Internet Millennial Extended Universe? Gotta be a way to describe this collective niche of talent.

I always chuckle at the anti #transit losers online who basically argue this while pretending the US is #1 in some ethereal non-measurable way that somehow doesn't include advanced #train technology aka the thing that the US spent most of the 19th and 20th century taking pride in leading.

While I don't model the modern era in #modeltrains I really love when other modelers integrate tagging and patch jobs into their work like this. Getting so much texture and color from a model like this is so satisfying to look at.

I wonder why I've seen so much online overlap between #modeltrains and the #furry community. Is that true IRL as well? It's really cool to see it on bsky. Is it even possible to do a panel at a con like @furcon.bsky.social about garden railroading model work and layouts? (art by Hexteknik)

One advantage to using #3dprinting for #modelrailroad in O and G scale is improving the per unit price gap for prototypical modeling. If $30 of plastic and hardware can get you to 85% prototypical accuracy instead of $125 each, you're gonna have a better time getting a dozen boxcars to your liking.

It's the same for every hobby as it is in #modeltrains the folks who insist they want to keep "politics out of their hobby" are the first to push their own on you at every turn. They then complain about low attendance when virtually nobody under 35 is interested cause they alienated everyone.

Sometimes garden #modeltrain layouts are so gorgeous that it's just otherworldly and you look back at photos you took when visiting said layout and just don't even know how to process their quaint and quiet brilliance.

I don't intend to make #modeltrain switch puzzles in Yuba City but you bet your ass I wanna make a derpy Sacramento Northern box motor that putts around my garden making cute little deliveries to itty-bitty 1:29 scale Californians. Here's your flowers and shirt buttons don't get swooped by a crow

Does anyone else just have a folder of other #modeltrain layouts where instead of doomscrolling you just look at them and fawn a little at their majesty? I have so many of these photos but a dozen or so just never cease to amaze me. This is an outdoor G scale garden layout btw.

I can't sing enough praise for #modeltrain hobbyists like Sarah Griessenboeck over at TrainKitchen who not only sell O scale kits but also offer files to #3dprint Her work is fantastic and because of the download option I'm able to repurpose parts to print in 1:29 G scale trainkitchen.com/downloads/

You ever run an inventory of the #modeltrains you have, want, or (maybe like me) in the process of 3D printing/building and realize that you've gotten a bit out of hand? Sacramento Northern isn't even the main railroad I'm modeling! Yet here I am, with parts to build all of this in 1:29 scale.

Based on a great point from @interurbanera.bsky.social about maintaining whimsy on your layout #modeltrains I agree and my personal preference is lots of easter eggs to keep the sanity on your proto layouts. Hiding a cryptid like Mothman is a nice reminder to yourself that this is meant to be fun.

One thing I really love about #garden #trains is Gauge One layouts in the UK. I love the focus on fast-paced passenger services. 1:32 trains are so often express and hauling ass, compared to the slow crawl of American layouts. Just a personal preference. (nice vid by Bill Robertson btw)