Hello All,
Today I made a pilgrimage to a train show and swap meet in Denver, Colorado.
It took about an hour-and-a-half of travel time from where I live.
It wasn't held at a large convention center.
None of the major manufacturers were present.
It was held at the Youth In Model Railroading club space in old town Westminster, Colorado.
Thanks to the Colorado Model Railroad Museum for passing along the information about this event.
A figure eight (8) of folding tables was arranged with scales from N to three (3) rail Lionel represented, with a healthy dose of Lego trains ta boot- -Oh had Lego trains been available when I was a youth!- -all running simultaneously.
It didn't matter that the tables were covered in green carpet or that the tracks were mostly comprised of built-in roadbed type.
Kids were running trains, talking trains, and bringing in modules they had made.
A few storefronts down from the club space is the YIMR shop.
In honor of today's event, tables were set out on the sidewalk and loaded with donated treasures to raise money for the club.
After perusing both the tables and the shop I found a few items I could not pass up.
The total was $5.00- -I had to haggle up from the $3.00 asking price- -for the kids!
I also had another $5.00 for a donation to the train show.
When I drove away, I knew there is a future in this great hobby.
It might not be in $500.00 locomotives or $45.00 RTR rolling stock, but it is alive in the kids- -of which I include myself- -that can spend $10.00, and keep the spirit of this great hobby alive.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
My son loves airplanes but not so much into trains.... He never had a chance to ride a train so he does not have much feeling. So thank you for doing this!!
Jerry
jjdamnitWhen I drove away, I knew there is a future in this great hobby. It might not be in the $500.00 locomotives or $45.00 rolling stock, but it is alive in the kids- -of which I include myself- -that can spend $10.00, and keep the spirit of this great hobby alive.
Great story! Thanks for writing about this.
York1 John
Excellent story. A case of now nurturing it along.
Pre Covid I used to take my grandchildren to shows. Whereas the boys were in awe at the larger layouts, the girls were looking at the 'finer details' and asking the owners of the layouts questions. One owner allowed my younger granddaughter at the controls for around five minutes.
Now we often visit real Heritage Railways and Museums. The same granddaughter seems to manage to find a way on to the footplate of a locomotive or two.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Before they moved, H&R Trains in Saint Petersberg, Florida, used to have an annual train show that featured small layouts built by local kids. I made it a point to be at as many of these as I could.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Kids instinctively seem to be fascinated with items that appear to have minds of their own. It can be an RC aircraft, a toy train, a toy robot....and they just love interacting with them, seeing how they work, and trying to control them themselves. Kids are hands-on. So, if we want the hobby to flourish for any reason, ya gotta let the kids play with it.
Every adult has distinct and visceral memories of events and places in their past. Is there anyone who forgets the smell at grandma's? Anyone? Or your first toy train?
Thanks for posting.