Children in the train room?

[TurboOne]

Here Here to all who lets kids near the trains.

If you don't pass on the train, when you pass on then what ?????

We have the old wooden smash em and bash em Thomas. And we have breakable Thomas. Other kids come over and my son tells them about breakable Thomas he runs it slow. When we are alone, we sometimes run the trains faster, but with friends around we run them slow and show them how. Works out great. The whole reason for getting back into trains is the kids, so we always include them.

Tim

[rayport]

I keep my old MRC Prodigy with 4 throttles as a back-up to my Zephyr. That way when my grand-children come over I simply throw a switch and four of them can each run a train.
Girls at 4 and boys from about 6 are quite safe - when they know that this is for real and that you expect them to be well behaved. After four years with this set-up I have yet to come close to a "near miss" and every one has a good time. They are after all the next generation in the hobby.

[Anonymous]

my daughters, ages 7 and almost 11, help with the layout itself and I have shown them how to handle things with extreme care. they are well aware that the trains and accessories are very delicate.

[bogp40]

My origional layout, or should I say my son's layout was table height 28-30" on the typical 4x8 ply. This is what rekindled my interest in trains. All my children had some interest and ran the trains. Of coarse the special delicate pieces were out of reach when they were very young. After joining a club, with a very large layout, my kids would sit at the cabs and I would let them run(only my stuff, and they knew not to touch any other members equipment). My daughter, at 7, could run a cab and control a train on her own. Other members where amazed, that she knew the blocks/ reversing better than some casual users. The proper training and exposure to the hobby made for many fun times. Now that they are teens and young 20's their interests are elswere, but occasionaly they will come to the club and all love to help out at the club show and open house. They were taught right, they always know what I want for Christmas or birthday.
Even at our shows/ open house there's always a young one w/ the grabbies, usually accompanied by a clueless adult. But that's what lexan is for. Now if we could stop the parents from touching we'd be all set.
Bob K.

[selector]

My kids are all gone, but I let my 9 year-old nephew run my trains. I supervise closely when he handles them, and he knows not to move them when I am not nearby.

Sometimes, you have to reinforce good behaviour, such as when a young boy asks to run the trains rather than just going ahead and doing it. When Alex asked the first time, my answer had to be 'Yes!'. He was interested, but he knew to ask. He's ready.

Other part of the my response is....I am a 52 year-old kid, and I get to handle my trains...so there!

[MidlandPacific]

The issue hasn't come up yet, since we're at T-minus and counting on our first. But it will, and when it does, I plan to let them in - after a couple of simple precautions, like putting plexiglas around the edge of the layout. How could I not? For all the time and money I've lavished on mine, I can't really argue with my wife's description of my layout: "it's a toy." It is, after all: I'm playing with it. And I LIKE playing with it. And if my children like playing with it, that will mean my hobby can become a family activity, and that would be fine with me. I spent a lot of weekends waiting for Southern Railway freights with my old man, and we both enjoyed it. And a LOT of older model railroaders let me come into the room, ask questions, and sometimes even run the trains.

[robengland]

Jack has had his own Athearn diesel since he was 3. It was cheap second hand. I practiced my first weathering on it. I stole the handrails off it for another loco with missing parts. He objected to that until I told him it was just one less thing he can break, and New Zealand locos don't have handrails anyway. You just gotta have a reason with kids. Now at 5 I trust him to run anything. He knows not to handle the good steam locos but anything else goes. If he is in doubt he asks me.

[ole1]

I belong to a train club and we have a lot of families with children visit. We don't let the kids run or touch the HO layout (those Broadway Limiteds are too expensive) or the Three Rail layout (likewise for the postwar Lionels) so we made a simple layout with a loop of three rail track on a 30"x8' table that's 30" high with a Marx train, a couple of plastic buildings,a home made water tower, a few oversize figures, vehicles and bottle bru***rees and we call it our U-Run-It layout so now kids of all ages can have a turn at the throttle. It was inexpensive to make as we either had the materials around the club or members had things to donate and now everyone who visits can get a chance to run a train. Ole

[robengland]

The Marklin metal stuff is pretty robust, though Jack's friends managed to kill a loco by holding it down while running it [:(!]

[jfugate]

I know of one top-notch modeler who used to open his superb layout to the public for shows until one time a kid who couldn't see yanked on his superdetailed multispan bridge model and tore it all to shreds trying to pull himself up so he could see.

Since that time, he'll only open the layout to adult modelers and NOT the general public.

To bad, but I'd probably do the same thing were I in his shoes.

[mcouvillion]

When my kids were little, I taught them how to handle the trains properly, including running them slowly. They used to fuss at me when I wanted to run them fast! They knew not to look with their hands and to never touch someone else's trains without express permission.

At train shows, or when our modular layout is on display, I am amazed and appalled at how ill-behaved many children and parents are regarding other's property. Many can't look without touching, and the parents encourage it! I have no problem with an enthusiastic child asking many questions, wanting to see up close, but still respecting my property and that of the other modelers. I have a huge problem with kids that think it is their right to do whatever they please with other people's property, even when warned to look but don't touch. I have removed little hands from rolling stock and structures on numerous occasions. The trains are my hobby, not my kid's play toys. I'm not about to let someone I don't know damage my investment.

Mark C.

[grayfox1119]

I have 8 grandchildren and they are all welcome with some control. The youngest is only 20 months old....she doesn't have her engineers license yet.

Now the real danger is the family cat!!! My son's brand new Diesel engine was found on the floor....it weren't the kids.......CSI was sent in to investigate and the cat hairs were found in the cab...END OF STORY !!!!

[bpickering]

Of COURSE they do- otherwise I wouldn't let myself in. >:-)

Seriously, I highly supervise them. They get to use the UT-4 to control the train, and I watch along on the DT-100, ready to kill power or stop if they're getting into trouble.

The most popular right now is the E-7A/E-7B from BLI. The whistle and bell are especially popular!

Brian "Little Boy At Heart" Pickering

[jwr_1986]

I belong to a club with a rigid and frankly rediculous policy on children. One of our members was an ex janitor form a school so kids are the devil to him. Personally I would be happy to let them run trains and even handle the cheaper ones. I see it as a great opurtunity to teach them and get them interested in learning. Unfortunately that is not the wy the rest of our club thinks.

Jesse

[Anonymous]

Although I'm only 15, I've learned to never let a wild kid operate any of my trains. Still
it's better to let a responiable child or pre-teen operate. One time when I was 12 a man from the San Diego model R.R. club invited me operate his $1000 DCC HO scale SP
daylight on the club layout (Which is huge !), & I'll never forget that experience, even
though Ive operated trains on other layouts (including my own stock).

[Anonymous]

Sorry my spelling is derailed.

[yellowducky]

I do "Hands on Trains " whether at home or on the "road".

Yes there is the occasional oops, young or old. Life goes on.

[lesterperry]

I have a 6 year old grandson who loves my trains. My layout is about 48 inches above the floor with a hidden yard under the layouot. He loves to carefully remove the cars from the hidden yard to a table top wher he says he is fixing them. The only problem i have with that is figuring out which car goes where to stay on schedual. I recently put a shelf aroud the inside of layout about 24 inches high put track on it and got Bachman Thomas trains and he loves it he can run his trains whill I run mine. I even tied it into my hidden yard so that we can visit each other layout. He love to run thomas up to the C&O running overhead.