Nowhere is it etched in stone that the only significant model railroad scales run from N to G scale, with a brief nod to live steam's inch-and-a-half to the foot . 

• Let's consider Live Steam first, and try to figure out why its demographics are heading into Old Age . Premises based on observation, experience, and common sense :          
• There are many fewer skilled craftsmen and machine-literate people than there used to be

·       If automobiles were marketed like live steam locomotives--- sold in unfinished parts to be machined and assembled by the purchaser --- most of us would still be riding horses

·       Locomotive prices now equal or exceed those for luxury automobiles; they often exceed $30,000, and some mega-scale ready-to-run locos are priced at $80,000, the price of a nice Mercedes.

·       Very few people write a check for the full amount of a car; yet, live steam locomotive manufacturers expect to be paid in full at the time of purchase .Would you own an automobile if you had to pay cash for it up front ?

·       The car-leasing and -rental system opened the doors for a widely expanded market for cars

·       In these days of instant gratification, people want to have their purchases available right now

·       Auto buyers are reasonably sure that they will be driving their cars for some time, and therefore don't hesitate to stretch the purchase cost and assembly over a significant period of time; new buyers of live steam and mega-scale models can't be confident that they will still be in the hobby in five years.

·       Dr. Albert Einstein's definition of insanity : Doing the same things over and over again, and expecting different results.

·       The cost of liability insurance will increase at the same rate as (or faster than) legal fees and inane jury verdicts.

·       I just read a Letter to the Editor of the BRMNA Journal, the newsletter of the British Railway Modellers of North America, that "... many young people are unable to use simple tools; they hold a hammer at the top [Ed.: I can't even picture that, as even young chimpanzees know how to use a hammer] , that many Grade 11 students [age approx. 16] do not know which way to turn a screwdriver [to] tighten a screw; and many have never used a portable power tool". GOOD LUCK in preserving the model railroad hobby with entry-level folks like that !