I've got a different take on the hobby...

I have seen many model railroads over the years and the "established" ones (the older ones) seem to have a fleet of old blue box Athearn and Roundhouse rolling stock with older style locomotives. It's fine to have the same blend of detail, and the quality of the superdetailing on key items has always been the highlight of the tours. But compare that level of detail to something manufactured in the past three years and the difference is clear. Having scale 8" thick ladder rings are now unacceptable on any type of railcar. With the advances of plastic extrusion and dye technology, add in the now cheaper photo-etching component, manufacturers are now putting out railraod-specific details and eye-popping details on over-the-counter rolling stock. I think it's a sign of the times that most model railroad manufacturers aren't branding their items as "toys" - because they are not. In fact, one such manufacturer (DeLuxe Innovations) was the first that I have seen that states "not recommended for people 12 or under".

Look at any "modern" model railroad. It's like a totally new perspective on the hobby. There are some advancements like block detection and speed matching on locomotives that adds to the realism of these miniature worlds. Most of the focus has shifted away from the detailing of cars and kitbashing, and been put into the electronics - especially over the past 5 years. I picked up a pair of Athearn MP15AC's a while back (SP, of course, at 189.00 a pop), and the decoders had sound, there were multi-functioning lights off the "light bar", including a Mars light function. I'm glad that I never had to add a detail, or any other aspect of realism to those locomotives, because they were perfect out of the box. And instead of spending time and money on modifying the locomotives to match photographs, I focus now on weathering - which has been grossly overlooked since the earliest model trains were introduced. I can also spend time on putting together buildings and structures instead of focusing on the railroad only parts. I don't mind paying a little extra for something that is done right, and if a model is done correctly, I'm more satisfied than frustrated that I need to "correct" a detail that was overlooked my a manufacturer. I'm glad that over the past ten years the hobby has developed a new set of standards regarding details.

As for the hobby shops, I for one like to have a hobby shop close by, but find that there are no railroad-specific hobby shops in my area anymore. Most now carry RC and Thomas stuff because there is a market for those items as much as there is for trains, so now the train part of the shop is now a department, of course with less inventory. Craft supply stores have been a blessing to me because they carry many other things that would overwhelm any hobby shop. I do buy online, but try to keep things as local as possible. Since I model the SP - but live nowhere near where the SP ran, I keep finding that I have better luck in SP-rich territory when it comes to locomotives and rolling stock.
What I don't care for is that a lot of manufacturers or distributors are now selling direct. That kills the hobby shop more than anything else, and it seems like that trend is here to stay. It also becomes a problem for the exposure of the hobby, so it becomes a fringe hobby. If you don't believe me, look at how Rod Steward was ridiculed on Jimmy Kimmel. That would not have happened 40 years ago.