What I can never understand is how hunters continue to hunt,fishermen continue to fish and even buy a bass boat,women continue their gym classes,the majority of us continues various hobbies and manage time for the kiddies while others quits as soon as baby is born.
By taking "me" time there was less stress on us which resulted in a harmonious life style for all~ I can count on one hand how many arguments my wife and I had in our 24 years of marriage before her untimely demise..
The kids had their "me" time playing video games,reading books,watching TV etc and later as teens hanging with their friends at the mall's game room,roller skate rink or ice cream parlor.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
What I was talking about really is the we are all different from each other. If some folks wish to persue their intetests & activities during their time of raising their family then that is entirely their affair. Its just a matter of doing what you want to do. None of it is either good nor bad - it is what it is - freedom of choice.
As things move along with family & our lives in general more time for hobbies becomes available it was at that stage I was able to engage with MRR again. I'm probably not so engrossed in model railroading as many of you all are. So if I like to do other things that are not related to MRR then I dont really worry about it. I just do what I feel like doing - its just that simple really.
So if I was suddenly overcome with a desire to buy a rifle or some fishing tackle then proceede to hit the woods or some stretch of water & kill wild animals then that is what I would do.
To me its doing what you want to do, but more importantly, to extend that belief to include all other people as well.
But to the OP's propisition - well yes of course there can be trains after you start a family. Its up to the individuals concerned how they allocate their time & what their priorities are, - what the balance is so that everybody gets a fair shake.
Dusty
Dusty,Maybe I should have mention I was talking in general since I've seen many modelers come and go over the years I been in the hobby and their excuses varied from getting married,new baby or a stretch of unemployment among other reasons and I never could understand that and still don't unless they was looking for a excuse to quit the hobby but, as we know nobody needs a reason to quit any hobby.
I will admit my hobby activity slowed when I worked on the railroad due to the crazy on call schedule,being away from home and the need for sleep but,I found some free time for family and hobby..
children never stopped me .I took my son to train shows and stores all the time. My daughter went with my wife to the malls or stores that I would drop them off at no problem. daughter has her own thing now and my son who is 24 goes with me all the time to hobby stores and then to his hobby aircraft and the airpor. We make a day of it.rambo1...
I would say the first couple of years as a new dad, there wont be much time for trains. But they can become a very important bonding agent between the child and the father as the child grows up and becomes able to participate with the trains. Probably best where larger scales like Lionel or LGB come into play since they are a bit more child friendly than the smaller scales. I would find it to be very good parenting to expose a young child to a nice model train layout than getting them hooked on the ipad, iphone ect at such a young age. If more parents would be more hands on with thier children, and not just hand them a device to entertain themselves, we might see more young adults come back into the hobby post college/marriage. Even when the child is in the toddler phase, I am sure one can squeeze some train time in. We all need some down time ourselves. Having even a small starter layout up and running before the child is born would be a good idea. That way you can just go and run a train for a few min when time allows. A fast moving Lionel train, with a couple of action accessories going could be good entertainment for the child as well, even at that age. My sisters kids have loved seeing my trains set up at my parents house at Christmas every year, even when they could just sit and watch with mom/dad. Now they are old enough I just set the train up and let them run it. Some years I take my fathers 1949 Lionel set, other years I take some of my LGB G scale for them to run. Mike
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
rambo1 children never stopped me .I took my son to train shows and stores all the time. My daughter went with my wife to the malls or stores that I would drop them off at no problem. daughter has her own thing now and my son who is 24 goes with me all the time to hobby stores and then to his hobby aircraft and the airpor. We make a day of it.rambo1...
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Silly Silly people.
LION thought you meant how would you model trains AFTER all of the kids were grown up and moved away.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
My kids have grown up and while they were growing up I would still get model railroader and go to train shows, I just never had the room to build a layout. Now that most of them have gone, I'm getting back into a hobby that I love. My collection is currently in train cases on the walls in the house and I hope in the not to distant future to be moving them from the cases to back on the track where they belong.
My biggest thing after having kids is that I didn't make the 'me' time for them. There were many times when I had down time and didn't take advantage of it.
That is what I thought initially also, Lion.
The way the question was put by the OP seemed to indicate that.
With me not being the brightest spark in the fire anyway, it was a natural conclusion for me to arrive at.