As in the USA and UK, the internet and electronic toys have made it difficult for traditional model railway retailers to survive. Attempts to host model railway conventions in Durban and Cape Town have aborted primarily on cost considerations. Yet exhibitions in Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Johannesburg have been well supported by the public (particularly the younger generation) so the interest is there.

In order to widen the scope of the communication process among the members of the model railroad community a decision was made to create my own website and the North Star Railway was born.