Any Kids Here besides me?

[Anonymous]

Hey Ya'll


Am I the only kid here, I hope I'm not, becuase I'd sure feel lonely amidst a sea of "old people" [:D] [:p] [:o)] [:D]

No ofdense is ment by the comment above. Its just a friendly joke amognst train people.

steel rails

[lionelsoni]

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=55816
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16387

[Roger Bielen]

Though we may be long in years we're all kids at heart.

[Anonymous]

Good Enough.

Adults can be kids too, thats what this hobby is about, to have fun, and be kids, wheather we are kids or adults.

steel rails

P.S. Old People Welcome!!! Ha, Ha, Ha

[IronHoarse]

Yeah, I am a kid...been one for 56 years now.

[Anonymous]

Define "old people". When I was a kid, anyone over 30 was "old". Now at 64, everyone over 80 is "old". Many years ago, when my mother was in her 60's, the 97 year-old neighbor called her "girly". Since we all "play" with "toy" trains, we're all "kids" at heart. Joe

[brianel027]

Steel Rails, I know what you meant but also understand that just about all of us older guys are still kids - at least when it comes to the trains.

During the postwar "glory days" I got my first set before I was even a week old. So I guess the train bug is really planted well. Over the years, I never understood how I never really got the opportunity to be married. I'm a small, short little guy by male standards. While most women don't seem to look at me as husband material, I can go to a playground and sure enough some kid I don't even know will call me "dad."

So taking that lead, over the years I have taken a number of kids from single mother homes under my wing. Which is what got me involved again into the train hobby. I built a small door-sized traveling layout that I took to shows. So there I was amoungst all the other bigger modular layouts with guys running the then brand new TMCC stuff, and yet people always flocked back to my little layout. KIds always got the chance to run the trains. And their parents always asked lots of questions. I think it was because the layout I had seemed practical.. that it wasn't so big or expensive that a family couldn't afford to attempt to do it to.

That's always been a fun part of the hobby for me... watching kids faces as they see the trains, sometimes for the first time. Watching the expressions and their eyes light up... I can visualize what I must have looked like watching my trains so many years ago.

One of the kids I took under my wing is now 11. Some years ago he wanted video games and I said not from me. I figured he could get his fill of that from friends. So I got him a train set. He wasn't so thrilled until I told him he was going to help design it and build it... then his attitude changed in a flash. So he has a pretty complicated door-sized layout. He was more than likely the only kid in his whole school with a train layout, but that's how times have changed.

Now the boy (Josh) lives pretty far away. His mom is clueless on trains, so his layout is still at my house for when he visits. But he wanted some trains at his house, so for CHRISTmas this year I sent him a load of stuff... some things off his layout, some off mine and a couple of new "used" things. And he'll be getting some more.

Anyways, the trains for me have been a blessing. I know they help keep me young. And with my artistic and creative abilities, I've been able to be in the hobby on a shoestring budget, buying junk, low-end, and beaters and fixing them up. Aside from exposing the hobby to kids, that has been a big part of the fun for me. I figured I may not be able to afford the top line trains I might like, but there's nothing stopping me from having nice lower end trains in road names that I really like.

Steel Rails, hope you have folks who are encouraging you in the hobby. Yeah, it's always been an expensive hobby (and not getting cheaper either) yet with some seaching and patience, it can still be done.... might not be brand new from the local hobby shop, but to me, even a used train item is still new to me when it makes it to my house.

[Anonymous]

Yup,

I do understand that adults can be kids too. The "old People" thing was just a harmless joke. Again, sorry if I hurt anybody's feelings with that coment. I like this hobby, because not only do I think trains in general are cool and it lets you be a kid, no matter if you are a kid or not.

Definintion: Old People: "People who don't know how to be a kid and enjoy trains", and I don't think that any body here fits that definition.

Have a Good Day,
steel rails