Online Marketing In The Model Railroad Industry

Online marketing in the model railroad industry is booming. New technology that is available today, in sales of model railroad products is way better than ever before. There was a time not that long ago that you were limited to going to a hobby shop, and buying what they had on the self. You would also be able to order from that shop by catalog, and then wait for the product to come in. You could still do this today, but you don’t have to. Companies now market directly to their customers online. Some hobby shops have adapted to the change in technology. Then there are some that have gone out of business, because of these changes. It is not my intention to put down stores that have not changed with the times. I personally like to be able to walk into a shop that sells trains, and get information from someone that truly knows what they are selling. I do like the change in prices from shopping on Amazon, EBay and other Internet based hobby shops.

I subscribe to a number of hobby stores that market directly to me by email. These companies show me new products, and let me know when there are sales. One of these hobby stores is Train World, and they have a very large selection. They have a physical location and an online sales platform. This is one of the ways that hobby stores are surviving in this economy; instead of being able to sell just to one neighborhood, they are now able to sell to the world. You may have to wait to get your product unless you live in New York, but they have customer service numbers and cheaper prices. This is only one of many mom and pop stores that have grown into major players in this industry. So with this in mind I say: “if you have a hobby store and it is not doing well, then try to expand into Internet sales, and if you have no money or customers then you need to close down and try something new.” This is the nature of Capitalism to make money. So if you are a modeler that is not tuned into new technology then you should get into it soon, because times are changing.

Other new technologies in this industry that are marketed online: magazines, video sales, how tos, and anything that you can buy that relates to the hobby. Video of how tos are a bit behind the times. I am planning to change that real soon. First off on that topic, how many of you have a working VHS player anymore? I can tell you that in the last few years I have had a few, but they never last long. How many times can you play that Allen Keller VHS before it is no good anymore? (I am not downing Allen at all) Nowadays it is hard to find a VHS tape to record on, but train videos are still being sold that way. Allen Keller has even taken some of his old VHS and put them on DVD. I say make them on Blue Ray Disc, you can add PDF files to them and much more. Look at Model Railroader Magazine stepping up to the plate with an online downloadable magazine, and how to books. This is the future my friends. How about Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine with it’s free online subscription, they are making money just selling ad space on there website, it cost the modeler nothing. The magazine is comparable to Model Railroader and it’s free. (Not putting down MR, I am a subscriber)

I Told You

I know that it may not mean much to my readers, but I am learning a lot at Full Sail University getting my Entertainment Business Degree. I was a person that did not really care for shopping online, downloading music, or think that online education was any good. I also thought that big block stores are terrible, but have changed my mind a bit about it. (I have a Sam’s card now even) I still like the individual attention from a sales person at a store, but say God Bless to the big block and Internet store. Without these stores I could not even begin to have anything that I have now. Having said this now, I have alienated my fellow modelers that sell goods at train shows. Here is the glory of it, I plan to sell direct to the public from tradeshows. With technology being the way it is, I can show my videos from Trackage Video at the show. I will then have some videos on DVD, Blue Ray, and then I will have cards (Like at the Wal-Mart checkout) to sell for a downloaded video. This is much cheaper for me; I don’t have to make as many duplicates at Disc Makers, and then can pass the savings on to you. This is just one of my plans for the future, I do hope that I don’t put anyone that makes railroad videos out of business. It is my plan to try to work with as many railroad video makers as possible to get their videos out in the same way as mine. (If there is anyone willing to work with me; Allen, Model Railroader, TM Books and Videos get in touch we can build a team.) I have many good ideas very little money.

Trackage Video Online Marketing

That will wrap things up for today, and if you are interested in being part of the evolution of model railroad videos contact me. I hope that you liked this post and I will be back again. If you are a rail-fan or model railroader follow me through my journey through a masters degree and the start up of Trackage Video.

Robert Reynolds

I am linking a few good online sites that direct market to the model railroad hobbyist, and I do not get paid for this or endorsement products (Yet).

MTH

Model Railroader

TM Books and Video

Train World and Train Land

Model Railroad Hobbyist

Walthers

Model Train Stuff

Factory Trains Direct

 ExactRail

Modeling In Film

Modeling In Film

My Project and Team Management class Instructor, Nicholas Carver, inspired this blog topic. He asked me this question, “I wonder if you could make a connection to miniature modeling in film?” This is a topic that I have not even thought about. I started to look it up on the web and found a few things of interest. I only thought of the How To Videos for my future business plan, but the film industry still uses models for some of their scenes today. The thought of this opens a new door for my future business Trackage Video.

In my research of this topic I found the film The Legend Of Zorro [2005]. The film used a 1:4 scale model train to blow up in the final sequence of the movie. I have found a video of this scene, and also a few pictures of the train from Weta’s website. According to Weta “there was a time that there was no alternatives to using models for certain movie tasks, and that rumors of their demise are exaggerated”. Weta has built models for a number of movies: The Lord Of The Rings, King Kong, and others. Generally speaking the same techniques that model railroaders use to model: mountains, towns, backdrops, and all other aspects of scenery could be used in film. 1:4 scale is a big difference to 1:87 scale of HO modeling, but very similar. Anyone that is reading this that is not familiar with scale models 1:87 means it takes 87 of this size to make 1 proto-type. The movie model at 1:4 means that it would take 4 to equal 1; this is in lay terms, and there are mathematical equations involved.

1:4 Model Train By WETA

  The next movie that I would like to talk about is Unstoppable [2010]. In this movie the models used are the real things. They are a number of engines owned by a few different companies. The engines are painted for a fictitious company called, AWVR (Allegheny and West Virginia) the trains area or trackage rights are in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. According to MyRailfan “Canadian Pacific #9777 and #9758 played #777 and #767 in the film's early scenes, while Canadian Pacific #9782 and #9751 were given a damaged look for portrayal in the later scenes of the film. AWVR #1206 is played by 3 SD40-2 units from Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad.” One of the locomotives had to be modified, to be used for the filming of the cab scenes. All of the locomotives in this film were painted special for the movie. The locomotives that were painted to look as they were damaged; is like a techniques used in model railroading, called weathering that makes a model look real. I have not found any information on any models used in this movie; they could have used some, I don’t know. They did use some CGI to film some of the effects. This would be an example of 1:1 modeling.

Modified Cab

This has added a new possible business model to my future business Trackage Video. I could branch out into the motion picture industry. I could build model trains for film, or even become a company that would be a consulting firm about the railroad for film. There is a lot to think about here. I would like to thank my instructor for the food for thought. If you are interested in model railroad videos, or trains in general please feel free to follow me through my Masters Degree Program at Full Sail University, and the start of my future business Trackage Video.

Thank you,

Robert Reynolds