I didn't hear about Rod Stewart's appearance on Jimmy Kimmel; was he ridiculed for playing with trains ??? That would be typical of Kimmel's adolescent, put - down type of 'humor'.
I too like having a hobby shop close; we model railroaders want to see it -- hold it -- smoke it over before we fork over the money. As I said earlier, I was glad I looked over the Athearn SD - 40 before I had committed to buying it. Also, Thomas the Tank Engine is a cash cow for hobby shops, besides being a way to bring young kids into modeling, hopefully before before the GameBoy -- IPod - XBox - Wii take over.
Regarding the level of detail on today's model railroad equipment, it's all up to the individual modeler. When everything had thick grab irons & steps, it wasn't that noticeable. I was a module railroader from ages 16 to 30, and we subscribed to the "arm's reach" theory: If it looked good when held out at arm's reach, it was good enough. Pulling power & durability were more important, as the stuff had to survive the occasional 'glide test' onto the floor. The fact that Atlas & Athearn diesels loaded differently was right out of prototype railroading.
The biggest problem I have with today's detail levels is durability: I have damaged & broken off details just trying to get the damn thing out of the box!!! Also, today's super detailed RTR models make my 15 year old stuff look like $#!". Walthers has re - issued their Super Chief passenger cars; however the current run is plated whereas the 1st run was painted. So guys like me that want to add to their existing cars, can't do so due to the BIG difference in exterior appearances. Result: No sale . Oh well, since I'm modeling the 1985 era, my level of detail will be the same for that time frame!!!