a hobby for the well-heeled
One-time childhood pursuit now
a hobby for the well-heeled
BY GLORIA STRAVELLI
Staff Writer
JERRY WOLKOWITZ staff Jeff Carhart, owner of Model Railcraft Supply Depot, examines an HO scale locomotive from his inventory in his Red Bank shop.
While most of us wait impatiently in our automobiles for the gates that halt traffic at railroad crossings to be raised, Jeff Carhart savors the moment.
"I’m the one who cheers when the gates come down at the railroad crossing," admitted Carhart, a railroad buff and proprietor of Model Railcraft Supply Depot at 60 Broad St. in Red Bank.
"It’s Red Bank’s best-kept secret," quipped Carhart, who runs Model Railcraft from offices above Broad Street where he caters to a worldwide clientele of model railroad hobbyists and collectors.
Just a few weeks ago, Carhart was juggling a telephone, cell phone and fax machine to keep up with orders pouring into the model railroading supplier via mail order, the Internet and eBay.
"The holidays are just a natural for train sets," noted the Little Silver resident, adding that the post-holiday season is a busy time as well.
"We get our second wind this time of year because my regular customers buy before the holiday and tell us to hold onto it. They don’t want their order getting caught in the Christmas mess. And, people buy big after the holidays because they didn’t get what they wanted."
As popular among youngsters in their heyday as video games are today, model railroads have become a favorite hobby of well-heeled baby boomers, Carhart explained.
"My typical customer is a successful guy who is buying what he couldn’t buy and doing what he couldn’t do years ago," he said. "I kid around by saying, I sell happiness."
There are about a half-million model railroaders and toy train hobbyists in the United States and Canada, and model railroading is especially popular in England, Germany, Australia and Japan, according to the Model Railroad Industry Association.
A model railroad hobbyist since childhood, the Red Bank native was a customer of Model Railcraft when he owned Carhart Auto Diagnostic Center at the intersection of Maple Avenue and Route 35. When he learned the longtime owners had decided to sell the business in 1997, Carhart took his brother’s advice and turned his hobby into his livelihood.
The 25-year-old business was almost exclusively mail order to overseas customers at that point, and model kits were widely used.
Carhart added a Web site and built Model Railcraft’s online business.
"That’s what was missing," he said. "I did a lot through eBay."
Despite a growing Web presence, Carhart said 80 percent of the business is still with mail order customers.
Over time, model railroading has evolved and kits have been replaced by models that are "ready to roll" factory-assembled models, Carhart added.
Model Railcraft stocks an extensive inventory of supplies for model railroad hobbyists, from rolling stock like freight cars and track to accessories like buildings and scenery, and detail items like miniature horns and windshield wipers, by quality manufacturers including Kato, Athearn, Atlas, Walthers, Bachmann, Marklin and Lionel, which produced the first electric model railroad set in 1901, according to the MRIA.
Prices are 20 percent off retail, and the discount is deeper for bigger ticket items, Carhart noted.
According to Carhart, technological advances in the manufacturing process have resulted in high-quality models.
"Prices have gone up but quality, and dollar value, is better than it ever was," Carhart said. "And, what you can buy today just was not out there years ago. I would equate models to museum quality now. One reason is laser printing, laser cutting, use of computers in manufacturing process."
An average locomotive for the beginning modeler — "a good runner, ready to roll" — can run around $65 to $70 for an Athearn. A serious collector can lay out $600 for an HO-scale steam engine with sound, he said, and the pricing can go higher for German-made Marklin or Trix models.
"Putting together a Trix set can easily run $3,200," Carhart said.
New variations on standard scales are produced from time to time, Carhart said, displaying a tiny "Z" scale freight car that is 1/220 scale, but HO, at 1/87, remains the most popular, accounting for 80 percent of the model railroad market.
Digital sound bytes of steam engine horns and whistles that evoke a bygone era are the newest feature available to enthusiasts of the hobby, which dates to the late 1800s.
"The newest thing is digital sound, all the bells and whistles are there," he noted. "Technology is so good that you have microchips in the transmitter and receiver."
Growth is built into the model railroad supply business, Carhart noted, because manufacturers continue to produce new items and trends change rapidly. Plus, changes in real-world railroads fuel modeling.
When the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroads merged, Carhart explained, the resulting railroad reached back into the heritage of the rail companies and adopted a vintage look, touching off a frenzy among collectors wanting to stay current.
"They went back to old colors, calling it their heritage paint scheme, and models reflected that," Carhart explained. "In real life, when the BNSF was formed, customers battled for the models."
Similarly, when the Concorde took its last flight, collectors clamored.
"You couldn’t buy a model of the aircraft, they were all gone."
Carhart has expanded Model Railcraft’s core of overseas customers by going after U.S. business via the Web site. Now, he is poised to expand into the local market.
"We’re approaching $500,000 in sales," he said. "We’re in a growth stage."
Plans to build local business include renovating the company’s second-floor space — essentially storerooms — to add a showroom to accommodate walk-in customers.
"I’m after the serious modeler," he explained. "Until now, it’s been mail order and online, and those that knew where we’re at."
In addition, he will expand inventory in a growing collectibles sector — model aircraft, cars and trucks, emergency equipment and construction equipment.
According to Carhart, more than 100 years after the first model railroad was produced, the hobby remains a popular pastime due in large part to nostalgia.
"It’s a time machine," he commented. "Every kid had a train set. It brings you back.
"I’m building a set for myself," he added. "It’s so soothing. You sit there and hear it rumble along the track. The train goes around just like in real life and you hear the clickety-clack, clickety-clack. It brings you back to good times."