The trainset found at the Greenbelt Museum would be popular for children and most households, but there was a growing number of model railroad enthusiasts demanding working scale-model trains. In fact, this group of experts tended to look down at the amateurs.

"To the model railroader, "toy" means "tin-plate" - what you buy in a department store for Junior's Christmas, all off-scale, incapable of giving the expert observer that illusion of miniature actuality the modeler craves" (Furnas 49).

       By the late 1930's miniature railroads were no longer a novelty for children and families at Christmas. Model railroad clubs began springing up and members would pull their resources to fund their expensive hobby. In an article in Scientific American from 1940, it is clear that model railroading had become a serious advocation. "Thirty-five dollar locomotive assembly kits are as a common as flies, and if you want a truly super-de-luxe engine, you'll pay as high as $295 for it" (Griebling 218). By 1940 it was estimated that they were "nearly 100,000 [model railroaders] in the country" (Griebling 218), and many more around the world.

       This rise in railroad enthusiasts demonstrates the far-reaching appeal of trains and the railroad. It also displays the dichotomy in American life, most people couldn't afford a train set from a dime store let alone the hundreds of dollars and amount of time needed to maintain a high quality scale model train.