"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
I began with my two grandsons on my knee watching youtube steam locomotive videos. They couldn't get enough. Parents bought them a used Thomas table and a lot of 'stuff', and they played with it for hours. I also had a working layout when they were upwards of three years of age, so that helped. At present they're across the country, so their current interest is beyond me. They've both started school. I'm pretty confident that if they were on the left coast with us they'd be right into it.
RR_Mel,
It helps to get started with a couple of roadnames, pick the one you guys both like best.
Does he have any trains to run? what is it he wants to do?
I have hesitated to respond here because I was afraid what I have to say would be taken as criticism. It is not my intent to do that. First of all, does Eli still enjoy running your trains? If so then I would say he is still interested in trains. If he is, then the diorama isn't really doing much for him. It holds one loco and three cars. only the loco and one car can be run back and forth a couple of feet between the two tracks. That isn't going to keep his attention very long. For learning to lay track and add scenery it is a good idea, but most 9 year olds aren't really interested in that. They want to play with their trains. Maybe together build a small layout on a 4x8 sheet of plywood where he can run "his" trains and let him learn as it progresses. Whatever the outcome, just don't let it hurt you if he isn't interesred in model railroading. Back in the forties it was trains and airplanes that most kids were interested in and I never grew out of that as I model both trains and planes. Today's kids have their X-boxes and computer games. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck and commend you on wanting to share things with your grandson.
Hi RR_Mel
First question that needs answering what does he want to do go against that
and your going to have a tough time with him.
Followed by he is nine so is going to need a nine year olds train set
Remember them with things that happen operate and amuse try and lower your self to his level and get the answers.
With me it was easy Dad worked for the railways all his life made the terrible mistake when I was four got my first train set.
I got to go to real railway places with Dad during school holidays, I think modern OH&S might have something to say about that so might the FBI in this day and age.
I also had the operating things for my set giraffe car and operating mail coach
ore car to.
So as well as trying to emulate the world I saw from around about knee hight I also had play value in the trains I had.
that's an answer with some though that will be $1 please
regards John
When my son was a wee lad he would set on my knee and ran trains by the time he was eight he lost interest.
Fast forward..My oldest grandson sit on my knee and ran trains.Today as a young adult he is becoming quite the modeler with a keen eye toward scenery details and is quite knowledgeable in locomotive and freight car details..Far better then I ever did. The real embarrassment is he can almost out switch me.
My youngest Grandson sit on my knees and ran trains and never was interested.
IMHO 1 out of 3 not bad.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Erie-diamond I have hesitated to respond here because I was afraid what I have to say would be taken as criticism. It is not my intent to do that.
I have hesitated to respond here because I was afraid what I have to say would be taken as criticism. It is not my intent to do that.
I am a great believer in letting young kids find their own way and develop their own interests. What interests me does not necessarily interest my kids or grandkids. That is fine with me.
My two passions are golf (summer) and model railroading (winter). I totally enjoy these two pasttimes. But, none of my kids play golf and none of my grandkids show any interest in model railroading except my 7 year old grandson. But that interest showed up on its own. I never once encouraged, let alone pushed, him to enter the hobby. Will it go anywhere? Who cares. I don't.
The fact that I play golf and mess with model railroading are two things that I developed an interest in myself. Nobody led me into either pursuit. I see parents pushing their kids into sports and intellectual and artistic pursuits, and I just shake my head. Now, don't get me wrong. Kids need to be exposed to choices, so there is no cause to shelter them from anything.
I have taken my grandkids to the golf course with me. I am fortunate to belong to a private club where it is easier to take kids out on the course and mess around on the driving range and putting green. It becomes a form of play for them. I have let my grandkids follow me down into the basement as I do maintenance on and around the layout. If they show interest, great. If not, so be it.
I guess what I am saying is, don't lose any sleep if your children or grandchildren show no interest in model railroading. Let them be what they want to be.
Rich
Alton Junction
Mel, with all due respect, I think you need to ask yourself what you want to accomplish with regard to your grandchildren.
Is it you objective to get them to enter and remain in the hobby of model railroading? If it is, and if you will be disappointed if they don't, then you may have a serious challenge on your hands.
Let's face it. How do you get a child or grandchild to do what you want that child or grandchild to do, especially if the child or grandchild doesn't want to do it. Not only with regard to a hobby, but also with regard to pretty much anything.
I don't have an answer for you, but my advice is that, if you can bring yourself to this point of view, let it go and just enjoy the hobby for yourself.
Mel,
my father took me to the train station to watch trains when I was a little lad. He had a strong interest in trains, but as he had to do some of these father and son things, he had to take me along . Unintentionally, I developed an interest in trains through this which was followed by a love for model railroading when I was given my first own Marklin train set at the age of 7.
My Dad never took the time to play with my trains, together with me. I developed that liking all by myself. He did not lend me a helping hand when I started to build my own layout - I did it all by myself! OK, he took me to the lumber yard so I could buy the necessary lumber to build the table. I was at the same age as your grandson is.
Ask him whether he would like to build his own layout - at his place! If so, help him acquire all the materials he needs for that enterprise. Then step back a liitle - let him do the job, let him make the mistakes and help him if he wants your help. You´d be surprised how handy a 9-year old can be!
But before that, get his parents to approve to all of it!
RR_Mel I’m hoping adding scenery will help, that was what I had in mind with the Diorama. Eli has always ask to help me with the scenery on my layout but his favorite place is behind the throttle.
I am no expert on children and I have never had the privilege of having my own so you can take this with a grain of salt. From what you have stated above, I believe THAT'S the area you need to major on with Eli - i.e. allowing him to run trains.
When I was 2 & 3 I LOVED pushing passenger cars around my brother's American Flyer layout. When I got old enough to operate the layout, I LOVED running trains. The "scenery" was already set up with animated cattle, logging, mail chute, and crossings. The best part? Assembling cars into a train and running them. Now I enjoy building my layout AND operating trains.
So, use the diarama as a learning tool for each "session" you and Eli have together but make sure you allow enough of time to run trains. I think that's what will maintain his interest the most - even if he "outgrows" it later.
Having said that, I think what will stay with Eli the most is the time he spent with his grandpa; something that I never experienced because neither of mine were living by the time I was born. Cherish the time with Eli, Mel - even if his interests eventually gravitate towards other things.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
richhotrainLet's face it. How do you get a child or grandchild to do what you want that child or grandchild to do, especially if the child or grandchild doesn't want to do it. Not only with regard to a hobby, but also with regard to pretty much anything.
Simply put you can't its that old horse/water thing. They must have a interest. I have a nephew that is a "serious" railfan but,no model railroading interest he will look at my layout and ask polite questions-hows that work etc or give a polite You did a good job on the factory. I did see him highly interested in how DCC/Sound worked and he actually ran a engine back and forth blowing the horn and ringing the bell and thought that was neat.
Sir Madog Ask him whether he would like to build his own layout - at his place! If so, help him acquire all the materials he needs for that enterprise. Then step back a liitle - let him do the job, let him make the mistakes and help him if he wants your help. You´d be surprised how handy a 9-year old can be! But before that, get his parents to approve to all of it!
I think that's the key - his layout that he builds. I know that my 3 sons loved building things. I was also a cubscout den leader for 4 years and the building part was always a favorite. Plus with trains you get to run them after building them.
My 5 year old grandson in heavy into Thomas the Tank wooden railway. A big part of the attraction is building his own layouts on the floor. I also have let him help lay roadbed and track on my layout. I also have a 6'x12' table with Lionels that he can run and handle.
If you have the room, make that diorama part of a loop of track.
Good luck
Paul
Years ago with the best of intentions I prepared a series of fundamental modeling/model railroad exercises for my teenage grandson's annual summer visit. Inadvertantly I had devised a modeling classroom of sorts and the last thing those guys wanted to do during summer vacation was attend a school.
Being thoughtful they endured gramps's "modeling bootcamp" for a day or so before pulling out their smart-phones and showing me what they really wanted to do. At first I was disappointed and resistant, but soon I was immersed in their project, even grandma joined in. It turned out to be an epic, fun and creative adventure that we all shared in and is talked about fondly to this day.
Finding common ground and learning crossover skills thru the cohesiveness of spending time together is what it's all about.
Regards, Peter
Hi Mel:
I guess I'd better offer my here since I am the one who suggested a diorama in the first place.
I am no child psychologist and heaven knows I didn't get things perfectly correct with my own kids, so these are only suggestions:
IIRC your goal was to get your grandson to help with finishing the scenery on your layout. My idea behind the diorama was to help your grandson learn scenery techniques that would be required in order for him to work on the actual layout. I didn't intend that the diorama be used for running trains, other than for testing the quality of the track laying perhaps.
From what you have said, so far you have been working on things on the diorama that are already done on the main layout. Therefore, your grandson may not see the value in learning to lay track. It's already done! I think he has given you a clear hint that he wants to move forward by his interest in the structures that you have offered to him for him to install on his diorama. He wants to get into scenery!
Get your grandson involved in the planning for the scenery that needs to be completed on your layout. If you already have everything planned out, give him an idea of what those plans are and get his input on how to execute those plans. Make it clear that your plans are not set in stone. Ask him how he would do things like positioning a building to make it work with your track. He may suggest some adjustments to the track plan. Heck, he may come up with some brilliant ideas on how improve your layout. If you agree that's great! He already has a good understanding of how to lay track. Let him make the changes to the track, with your guidance of course.
Most importantly, agree with him to do a little work and then run trains. Don't schedule two hours of scenicking in one session. Set some small goals, and if he wants to do more scenicking in that session then by all means do so. Likewise, if he is getting frustated or bored, quit the scenicking and run trains, or let him do whatever else he wants to.
If something new comes up, like planting trees for example, let him practice a bit on his diorama so he gets it right, and then let him do it on the main layout.
Mel, these are only suggestions, and it is all to easy to sit back and tell you how to deal with your situation. I do think that you are off to a good start.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hey Mel:
Sounds encouraging!
Personally, I'm not sure that I would want someone Eli's age operating a table saw. There are too many things that can go wrong, and I doubt at his age that he has the physical strength to control things if, for example, the fence was to come loose and start to wander. For now, all I would have him doing is taking the boards off of the saw at the opposite end from the feed position. Running a table saw, or any woodworking bench tool for that matter, is not something that can be learned 60%.
Likewise with X-acto knives. I have one numb fingertip thanks to a classic mistake in judgement. I would suggest maybe starting him with simple straight cuts using a straight edge. One option that might give him a little more control is to use a utility knife/box cutter like doctorwayne does. The bigger handle might give Eli a safer grip:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_knife#/media/File:Stanley_knife_1.jpg
In any case, it looks like you are on the right track (pardon the pun!).
We look forward to seeing how you progress.
All the best,
Say hi to Eli for us!
Hi!
I hesitated writing here as well, as my contribution will not help the cause at hand. I do have experience in the matter, having 4 older kids (48, 49, 50, 50) and several grandchildren.
My kids (3 boys, 1 girl) were exposed to MR from day one. They were also exposed to Dad's other pasttimes (auto mechanics, wood working, yard/garden, firearms, various collections, etc.) as well. Guess what, while they appreciated them, none were interesting enough for them to persue......
My advice is to make sure the boy has access to the hobby, but let him determine to what degree..... As I've always said,
"you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him gather any moss".........
With that, I will fade away for the rest of the morning.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Maybe it is just me, but I wouldn't be encouraging a 9-year old to mess with box cutters or Xacto knifes. And I sure wouldn't let a 9-year around a table saw.
richhotrain.........but I wouldn't be encouraging a 9-year old to mess with box cutters or Xacto knifes.
I am with you in regard to hoping that our grandchildren might perhaps find interest in the hobbies that interest us. I have six grandchildren myself, and I am always hoping that the things that interest me will interest them as well. Good luck with your grandson.
#@$%#$ Mel Awesome to hear your 88 and still doing this stuff with grandkids, that's pretty awesome.
I have 2 kids,a 6 yr old and 3 yr old. Younger one always wants to check out my Transformers room(one of my other too many hobbies), we end up spending an hour or two in there most of the time. My 6 yr old is done in 15-20 minutes.
Same thing happpens when we go to the train club(6 yr old), some days it is 2-3hrs, sometimes it is 1-1.5 hrs. It is far easier for me to pack up and leave than it is to fight him while he doesn't listen because today he tuned out early. While, I don't always like it, the stress level goes down
They will not sit there as we can for 2-3-4 hours working on something, the patience isn't there. Best thing is to shift gears, work on another aspect of it or just walk away for the day.
The other thing that I find is them actually doing the stuff works the best for the longest time on average. I say go for it on the tools, hobby knives, power tools. More kids need to learn those things today. Only time I kick the older boy out of the garage is when I'm using the welder, plasma cutter or cutoff wheels/grinders. That will change as he gets older. Show them how to use things properly now and they will most likely do it for life.
Keep working on it and your on the right track. Just keep in mind a 9 yr old does not have the patience that you do so mix it up a little.
Talking to my local hobby shop owner its like a 75% ratio who have to buy ready to run anymore. It's so bad he has had to show people phillips and flathead screwdrivers......... That will not be my kids and it sure doesn't sound like it will be your grandkids :-)