Development of the model railroad in Europe
From children's toy trains to model trains
From the beginnings of the model railroad - or rather toy trains back then - there has been a consistent tendency to focus more on the model to this day. However, since a model railway is still partially used as a toy today, there is an ever increasing concentration of camps among the fans in Spielbahner, for whom the whole thing is a high-quality toy, "rivet counters" who want to replicate the model as precisely as possible, and Collectors who either collect the models for their own sake or who hope for an increase in value. Although the boundaries between the two groups often cannot be drawn strictly, the tolerance for the other group is very weak.
The development on the British Isles is completely decoupled from that in continental Europe after the Second World War at the latest and is therefore not dealt with here.
Historical development from children's toys to models
The classic toy trains were built on a larger scale at the beginning of the 20th century for the nominal size 1 on a scale of 1:32 and 0 on a scale of 1:45. Well-known manufacturers were u. a. Bing and Märklin . Due to the limited space available at home, vehicles, buildings and other accessories could usually only be imitated in a simplified manner. The locomotives and wagons were usually shortened and built with simplified axles . Locomotives were only occasionally reproduced to an approximate scale, but these were very expensive and only reserved for a limited group of buyers.
In 1926, the Bing company brought out the so-called table railway in the nominal size 00 with a track width of 16 millimeters (half of the 0 track with 32 millimeters). In addition to the clockwork locomotives, there were also electrically powered locomotives a little later. Although the space problems were largely reduced, the Bing table train could not develop into a real model train. In 1932 the Bing company ran into economic difficulties and had to stop model railway production.
Stephan Bing and his engineers moved to the company Vereinigte Spielwarenfabriken Andreas Förtner and J. Haffner's Nachf. KG , where he created the Trix brand . In the spring of 1935, the model railroad called Trix Express was reissued in the 00 gauge. Märklin followed in the autumn of the same year with a similar but incompatible offer to Trix. Both companies initially started with simplified vehicles, although attempts were made to imitate the typical character of the models.
As early as 1937, the first more realistic models with lengths and axle sequences that were almost to scale (e.g. the Pacific locomotive 20/57 from Trix or the HR 700 from Märklin) or real-world station buildings (such as the Stuttgart Central Station from Märklin) were reproduced. With its “Handbuch 1:90”, Trix had already strongly promoted the idea of model railways and advertised realistic operational processes. The accessories have also been expanded accordingly, for example through a variety of realistic signals with electrical controls and train controls.
After the war, especially in the early 1950s, this trend continued. The models were more and more consistently modeled on the prototypes, true to scale and detail. The manufacturer's ranges - in the meantime Fleischmann had also been added - were systematically expanded. In addition, in the 1950s, new plastics processing technologies opened up completely new possibilities for detailed model replication, which would only have been possible to a limited extent with the previously customary production method from lithographed sheet metal.
Already in the 1960s, more or less true-to-scale vehicles in the now dominant size H0 (1:87) were common, with one exception: passenger coaches continued to be shortened. Initially, a length of 24 centimeters was common here, but this value was soon increased to 26.4 centimeters - especially by the Röwa company - which, on the one hand, corresponds to a length scale of 1: 100 for 26.4 meter wagons of the UIC X type. Basically, only wagons that exceed a certain length limit are shortened, which sometimes leads to distorted proportions in mixed trains.
The first true-to-scale UIC-X wagons based on models from Germany and Italy appeared in 1967 from the Italian manufacturer Rivarossi , but their widths were closer to 1:85. The Austrian model railway manufacturer Liliput offered a series of Swiss UIC-X cars in 1970. A year later also models of the German Federal Railroad. It was not until 1976 that the French manufacturer Jouef followed suit with series UIC-X cars based on the German model, and in 1977 based on the Swiss model. This was followed in 1978 by a series of SNCF Corail compartment cars . However, these car series remained unfinished in the following period.
The manufacturer 'ade' ( Ade-Modelleisenbahn GmbH), newly founded by Willy Ade after the Röwa bankruptcy, brought out cars based on German UIC models that were just as true to scale and with previously unknown levels of detail, but which also included types such as Silberlinge and IC- and TEE carts included. The program, which includes both quite expensive finished models and kits, was subsequently expanded considerably with a large number of variants of the prototype, mostly through one-off special series.
The Austrian company Roco entered this market segment with the Eurofima car from 1983. First the SNCF version appeared, then the other railway administrations followed. In 1987 Lima followed with models of Corail open- plan cars . In spite of announcements made in 1987, Lima brought the DB TEE / IC wagons to the market from 1989 onwards, and Silberling wagons from 1990 onwards, bringing Lima up to the level of the other model railway manufacturers.
In the following years (late 1990s) an extensive range of full-scale cars was created, primarily from smaller manufacturers. Of the three big names on the German market, only Fleischmann dared to buy slightly longer cars from 1990 onwards - a length scale of 1:93 and thus a length of 282 millimeters was used. Märklin has also been offering cars in this scale since 2006. Roco had dared to approach this car length as early as 1982, based on the Swiss standard car IV , in order to test the broad market's ability to accommodate longer cars.
For a number of years, the previous 1: 100 models from Roco and Piko have been offered at low prices and are now practically all classified as entry-level models, whereas in the higher price and detail classes they are only offered in the length scales 1:93 or 1:87. In some European countries, especially in France, there are no longer any shortened cars on the market today.
Economic development
In the German-speaking countries in particular, model trains were a mass hobby among older children in the 1960s and 1970s; Boys in particular practically always owned a model railway, which was defined by the manufacturer - Märklin , Trix or Fleischmann . The systems of the three were largely incompatible with one another and the ranges were rather small.
In the course of time, however, other providers pushed onto the market, including Jouef , Kleinbahn , Liliput , Lima and Roco . All these providers took over the two-wire direct current system from the Fleischmann company, which today dominates internationally.
Märklin was able to keep its central conductor AC system in Western Europe. Many providers offered and still offer their models adapted for this purpose.
Trix, on the other hand, adapted itself to the two-wire direct current system in the 1970s, while its own three-wire direct current system became less important. Third-party offers for this remained meaningless.
Many of the new providers are betting on very low prices. Especially with Kleinbahn, Lima or Jouef this was achieved through a very simple detailing for the time; at Roco due to a limited downward compatibility. As a result, especially in the 1970s and 1980s, these companies made a contribution that is hardly comprehensible today for beginners in the hobby of model railways.
Manufacturers reacted to the emerging information technology in the 1980s by announcing systems in which several trains, provided they are equipped with a corresponding module, can be controlled independently of one another. Various manufacturers developed their own systems that are incompatible with other providers. In addition, such a control was initially very expensive (the price of a locomotive initially increased by up to 70 euros with the module if it was installed from the start). For the retrofitting in the specialist trade, about 30 euros were initially added; Originally, the basic devices could be estimated at around 700 euros and - due to the system - only limited downward compatibility. Control via a PC was possible; Such systems, however, have hardly played a role to this day and make the whole thing even more expensive. In the course of time, the costs fell (the prices for locomotive decoders that could be installed by yourself fell to under 20 euros, the basic devices for the control system fell to under 100 euros) and the number of systems shrank, but the decoders in the locomotives were unique for a long time at Märklin system-related (replacement of mechanical or electronic switch) standard equipment. Today, however, due to the advent of decoders with possible additional functions (sound ...), these are now also part of the basic equipment of other manufacturers.
In addition to the increasing demands on the detailing, there was also the division according to the model period shown in the 1970s. Up to now, the current news was always interesting, but the period from 1950 to 1970 remained the dominant model for the future - the childhood of most model railroaders.
However, there were and are fewer and fewer new hobby model railroaders. Reasons that have been brought up again and again are primarily to be found in the prices, which have risen well above the inflation rate year after year , and the increasing spread of game consoles and PCs in children's rooms. However, these reasons have not been proven. Other hobbies are also expensive. Decisive, not even proven in the actual sense, are reasons in the change in vocational training and in the behavior of model railroaders. The last point regarding behavior is underestimated. How is a hobby supposed to be successful when the basic mood of the hobby model railroaders from the mid-1980s spreads a negative mood in many cases.
Furthermore, points of contact between young people in Germany and the role models of Deutsche Bahn have decreased due to the sharp increase in private transport. At the same time, the experience horizon on the real railway is narrowed due to the inconspicuous locomotive and train designs. Old model railroaders were able to experience a great variety of types of steam, diesel and electric locomotives with fascinating shapes and paintwork. The opposite example is Japan, where exciting express trains and especially the Shinkansen are very well known among children and young people. In addition, traveling by train is an everyday occurrence for most of the students. It is therefore significant that the Japanese model railway manufacturers are free of crises despite computer games and thanks to clever market strategies.
Advertising for model railways outside of the trade press is almost no longer done today - in the past, advertisements from the major manufacturers in Mickey Mouse magazines or even in the mirror during the Christmas season were common.
In addition, buyers are increasingly divided into three groups: on the one hand, toy railroaders, for whom only the play value of the models counts, whereas detailing is mostly criticized as unnecessary price gouging and unnecessary sources of defects; Demanding model railroaders who try to recreate a model situation as precisely as possible and pay attention to the smallest details; as well as collectors who want to collect a diverse number of models and sometimes hope for an increase in value. Manufacturers tried to please all three groups, resulting in models that are expensive, fragile, and prone to compromise. This trend continues to this day.
In the last few years, partly beginning in the mid-1990s, but increasingly in the mid-2000s, the framework conditions changed dramatically. Initially, the number of models produced declined, which was offset by tighter profits and significant price increases, but finally sales at some important providers collapsed.
The manufacturers reacted to the reduced number of items almost exclusively by increasing the prices, with further diversification of the offers (usually on demand from customers who are not prepared to adapt model details). Savings potentials such as manufacturing in low-wage countries or management reforms within companies were completely left out for a long time and in some cases still are today. However, some smaller manufacturers implement these points very massively, which means that they intervene in the usual price structure and thus raise doubts about justified prices. Comparisons with England or the USA have a similar effect, where higher levels of detail and equipment are also sometimes offered for significantly lower prices. The trade press accompanies such developments completely uncritically, even obvious implementation errors are ignored in the tests, whereas self-evident things such as flawless printing are mentioned again and again.
Some consumers blame the costs for the development of technical properties that they do not need themselves or are not interested in adapting their existing systems to newer developments, so that downward compatibility with sometimes very old standards, especially in the field of wheels, is maintained got to; on the other hand, customers want to be satisfied who insist on the current state of the art and absolute scale. The collectors, in turn, sometimes want the realization of rare or exclusive model variants that can only be sold in extremely small numbers from the outset. The manufacturers tried to serve both groups with the same products, which in the end led to expensive and fragile compromise models that did not really satisfy anyone. Such models are still being brought onto the market en masse today.
As a result of this development, sales for model railways initially continued to rise, but with ever lower profits. Most recently, especially in 2005, the sales of some established providers also fell massively. As early as the 1990s, the Italian company Lima initially took over a number of providers who had often got into financial difficulties due to models that were no longer technically up-to-date, such as Arnold , Rivarossi and Jouef . As a result, and due to inflated asking prices, the entire Lima group collapsed at the beginning of the new millennium. The British Hornby Group, which took over the Lima Group after its bankruptcy, is only hesitantly beginning to bring the models, some of which are no longer state-of-the-art, back onto the market.
In 1996 the Trix company was taken over by Märklin , and here too they were no longer up to date with the latest technology. From 2005 the providers Märklin, Roco , LGB , Klein Modellbahn , Mehano and Fleischmann got into financial difficulties. Märklin was taken over by financial investors, then took over LGB itself, but had to file for bankruptcy in early 2009. Roco and later Fleischmann merged into the newly founded model railway holding . Klein Modellbahn ceased operations and Mehano relocated production from Slovenia to China.
In the traditional toy trade, the model railroad often only has a modest marginal existence, many customers are served in specialized shops whose range is larger and is considered to be of better quality.
Used goods
Around 1970 the interest in used model railway articles arose, so that a used goods trade was established in Germany, both in new small shops and on special model railway exchanges. The second-hand goods stores later mostly also took in new goods, in particular from companies other than the usual big three (Märklin, Fleischmann and Trix), which were traditionally traded in toy and stationery stores, and thus distributed the articles new for Germany (especially also Roco). The model railway exchanges reached their peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s before the advent of Internet auction platforms such as eBay . In this context, an offer has developed on eBay in which almost every item, including older items, is always available. This leads to significantly lower prices for both used goods and new goods, which are only slowly developing.
The model trains, often models from the Märklin company, have lost their reputation as an investment. Only a few and rare models (mostly from the time before or immediately after the Second World War) achieve a high price. Most of the newer models, like any other collectible item such as postage stamps or weapons, hardly reach the original price. The prices quoted in collector's catalogs are often more or less wishful thinking when they are in mint condition. The average price on online auction platforms or auctions is considered more realistic today. A further reason is seen by experts as the manufacturer's policy of flooding of new items, which had forced many collectors who previously relied on completeness to make restrictions for financial reasons.
Current development
Since the insolvency of the then third largest provider Roco in the summer of 2005, a rethinking has been evident in the entire industry. Manufacturers are starting to compete on price again instead of filling every gap in the range with an exclusive but often compromised model. In most Western European countries, this development has already resulted in the manufacturers only announcing their models again when they are almost ready for series production, otherwise the competition would immediately offer the same model at a slightly lower price. This leads to some interesting changes, even Märklin foregoing major compromises here, which would otherwise be necessary for the downward compatibility with old track systems and habits, which would otherwise be in the foreground.
Piko , a supplier from Thuringia, has placed a focus on simple and modern locomotive models at prices of around a third of comparable "high-price models" and other "hobby items" that are manufactured in China at minimal production costs and thus completely change the known price structure. Piko now makes a large part of its sales in this hobby area. Similar models are meanwhile offered by Märklin, the Slovenian manufacturer Mehano and Roco, whereby the differences to the "normal" models in price and detail differ greatly within one manufacturer. These manufacturers are also increasingly offering starter sets within the sight and reach of children, especially at discounters.
Manufacturers benefit from the fact that in the age of competition on the railways and the deregulation of European railways, many possible color variants of one and the same vehicle type are possible. This is due to the fact that most railway companies now only buy "off the shelf" instead of having their own vehicle types constructed. In this way, dozens of color variants can often be created from one shape and the same shape can be used throughout Europe. Accordingly, these hobby ranges also consist almost exclusively of such modern vehicles or of vehicle types that were sold by the former state railways to various competitors.
At the same time, some new small providers such as Heris, LSModels , Railtop, ACME and Alphatrain have appeared on the market, who consistently manufacture their models in the low-wage country of China and do without a large part of the structures of traditional providers. A constant catalog program is largely dispensed with, and models are only available to a limited extent. This eliminates the problem of the so-called contaminated sites of traditional manufacturers. In addition, a greater number of variants can be offered, which meets the needs of specialized customers. The disadvantage is that certain models are often difficult to find after the production period and are no longer available for hobbyists. With passenger coaches in particular, a competition has developed over the detailing inside the coach and on the coach floor. Just a few years ago, one-piece, only hinted at interior fittings were completely normal in the car models, but in the meantime there has been a switch to multi-part, inserted seats, printed compartment doors and shown luggage nets. Small parts for equipping buffer beams on the showcase models are now standard. In recent years, traditional manufacturers have also switched to offering many of their models only as a single edition or to changing versions or eras in quick succession. However, the resulting higher workload and ever lower numbers of items resulted in drastically rising prices across the industry.
Change in the distribution of model trains
Toy shops
For a long time, that is, before the 1930s and even afterwards, until the rise of department stores and department stores in the 1970s, model trains were sold in specialized shops, which primarily expanded their range of products in their existing environment and thus their specialist training and were able to incorporate their specialist knowledge in the sale of model railroad products. Back then it was not uncommon for optician stores to also sell model trains and other technical toys. Of course, there was also an offer of model railways in the toy stores of the time and in the correspondingly equipped toy departments of large department stores.
Department stores and discount stores
In the course of the 1970s, the first pure model railway specialist shops were opened. At the same time, several discounters at the time upgraded their range to the model railway market. While the model railway specialist shops focused more on the well-funded, model-oriented buyers and even back then on small series manufacturers, the discounters relied on the inexpensive mass products of the model railway industry and on brands that were more likely to be attributed to toy trains.
Typical for sales in large specialist shops, department stores and toy store chains, and in some cases to this day, is that the corresponding offers are underpinned by demonstration model railway systems. In the small specialist shops this was rather the exception.
Until well into the 1990s, and in some cases even today, the demonstration model railroad will be the focus of the pre-Christmas period. At these layouts, with mostly somewhat overloaded landscapes and several trains going around in circles, many children not only pressed their noses to the protective glasses, but also got their first impression of a model railway layout and have stuck with the model railway hobby to this day.
Mail order
As early as the mid-1990s, the model railroad had disappeared from discount stores, apart from a few special offers. Since then, the model railway has mostly only been available to customers in specialized shops and specially set up departments in toy store chains (in Germany also in large department stores). Since the 2000s, the range of mail order sales has increased by leaps and bounds due to the Internet, based on an existing range of mail order companies that specialize in foreign products or that have sold domestic products below market prices.
This also led to the fact that individual manufacturers have started to offer products for direct order. Manufacturers have also begun to impose requirements on retailers' basic equipment, similar to what has long been the norm in department stores with other branded products, for example in the fashion or watch industry.
Toy trains
Things looked completely different in the 2000s with the so-called toy trains . While, as mentioned in the mail order section, the model trains have largely disappeared from the discount stores, the toy train products are still vying for customers with their extensive accessories in the best locations. In addition to the traditional system trains from Brio and Lego , which are not standardized among model railroaders, the shelves are also dominated by Playmobil products in nominal size IIm . Since some of the products are designed for children from around 3 years of age, the prerequisites for entering the hobby of model railroading are actually given in an extremely affordable form. The big three mentioned, as well as many competitors, rely less on true-to-scale model railways, but on an imitation of the prototype, taking into account the greatest possible play value.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Own experience in the late 1980s: Price examples are based on a locomotive decoder on the one hand and a central unit, transformer and two driving devices on the other
- ↑ Own experience in the mid-2000s: Conrad electronic prices for decoders, stock exchanges and Ebay for basic devices from initial packs