My daughter was never interested in the trains, but at least I got her to stop using the phone during dinner. It only took one request, and she never did it again. Dinner remained a time for family conversation.
That was more important than the trains.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I must be the odd-man out here. I had six of my grand kids over last weekend and they all spent at least an hour with the layout. The oldest two with the DT 402 Digitrax throttle, two younger ones with Utility throttles and, lo and behold, grandpa got out an Android tablet with Engine Driver/JMRI on it and the kids all had to take turns using it to select engines and play with all the sound functions.
When dinner was ready it took fifteen minutes to get the trains "parked" and all the kids herded back upstairs. Yes, they all had their own "twitterboxes" as I call them but for an hour anyway, they got distracted enough with running trains that none of them had to have their noses stuck in them.
Cheers, Ed
Howard ZaneI have six grand kids who visit for the holidays....not one interested in trains....only their devices which they will not put down.
That´s the way it is, I am afraid. We are raising a generation of half-witted twits
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
I have six grand kids who visit for the holidays....not one interested in trains....only their devices which they will not put down. A few years back a local group of 6th graders came with their teacher to see trains....again, zero interest...only texting each other. Now, I do not allow devices in the train room except for photography. Times and interest do change, but there is much we can do in introducing this hobby to youngsters (another whole subject). Let's face it, the ubiquitous train around and under the Christmas tree will eventually be found only in folklore.
I had two of my granddaughters 8 and 5 for the weekend before Christmas and Christmas Eve. They were helping their grandmother bake cookies on Sunday afternoon when the youngest came down in the basement to see what I was doing.
I had removed all the turnouts on the two modules I have operable to power the frogs (tired of one locomotive stuttering on them if I operated at slow speed). She asked if she could run a train. I cleared off everything that could cause a short and freed up a 12' section of track. I put an RS3 with sound on that section of track, powered up the system and gave her the UT4. She spent an hour running that engine back and forth on the little section of track. I put a couple cars on the track and let her swtich them onto the boiler plant spur which was the only switch still installed.
By that time her big sister came down to see what we were doing and the two of them ran that little train back and forth until dinner.
So there is hope.
Jeff White
Alma, IL
For some reason this scene comes to mind..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXOsCi_F7w8
Joe
Modeling:
Providence & Worcester Railroad
"East Providence Secondary"
HO scale
i've learned to be content with my interests. I'm happy to share, but enjoy them for the solitude, not to be social.
i think MR operations is a different story. Read that it is like role playing games (e.g. D&D). Recently started and enjoy it a lot.
i was disappointed that my kids weren't interested when I flew model gliders. Only my one son was interested when I flew full scale gliders (and am happy he had a memorable ride).
i can see how the interests in model railroading by the modelers on this forum are varied. Shows how wide the spectrum of modeling is.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
As they say, different strokes. It doesn't bother me if family doesn't show interest. I enjoy trains and my wife supports it, that's enough for me.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
"Gee, kids. A burglar stole our router. Oh, double darn. Whatever shall we do?"
My wife announced to the "visiting hordes" that smart phones on display would earn her ire. And you don't want her ire. So we had a nice time talking and beveraging and munching. Very little grumbling, if any, actually.
Ed
That is sad. I had to carry a pager for 30 years and I frequently go out without my cellphone. I no longer want to be at anyone's immediate beck and call. If I have to wait, like in a doctors office, I will get it out and play solitare.
I don't like watching videos on a cell. I have a kindle fire, which is sort of like a crippled tablet. It's OK for watching videos, but I don't read books or magazines on it. I'd rather have a paper copy.
We are talking about the "dangers" of led's in another thread. Cellphones and social media were sprung on us without consideration of the damages.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley