Forums

[Anonymous]

how come no none posts in this forum

[Anonymous]

I think the reason no one posts here is that the answer hasn't changed in 60 years. Buy them toy trains at a very young age and play with them yourself!

[Anonymous]

I strongly believe that one reason that there are so few posts to this forum is what I see as the sad state of the prototype RR world today. When I was a boy there were E and F unit powered freight and passenger trains coming through my hometown with bright, eye-catching engines and wonderful bells, airhorns that brought them alive. As someone has said, they were the biggest moving things that I'd seen,at least close up. I was inspired by these at an early age to try to replicate this world in a size I could deal with. Almost all of this has gone from the eyes of today's children; it certainly has in my hometown where I've come back to live, after being away for 20+ years. As I see it kids don't have the opportunity today to see what I did and get excited about these things. I rode the train to summer camp and also as a class trip among others. How often do today's kids actually get to RIDE ON THE TRAIN. With the demise of Southern Rwy's program it is much harder than ever to find even an excursion to ride on. I could go on and on but the point is clear I think.

[Algonquin]

Hi Capers,

I agree that finding a train to ride these days is harder than ever. I am lucky to live in the Chicago area. We have the Illinois Railway museum that operates steam, diesel and trolley all summer long. I take my kids twice a year and they love spending the day riding trains. We also have the Fox River Trolley Museum that runs trolleys on an old interurbin line from Elgin Illinos to a forest preserve that was once a tourist stop created by the interurban line.

I think some of the problem with taking your kids on a train ride is finding one. Check-out the "Tourist Railroads/Museums" section of the Trains magazine page on this site. You can click on any state and it provides a list of tourist railroads and museums in that state.

Regards,

Tim Pignatari

[MikeSanta]

I read both Classic Toy Trains and O Gauge Railroad and I would guess that more of the folks who read OGR like the command control type trains,which are more high tech. Look at the titles of the Kalmbach magazines: CLASSIC Toy Trains and CLASSIC Trains! People who appreciate "Classic" things probably DON'T really like computers. Anyway, to get kids interested in trains, that's why it's a grandfather's duty to make sure the grandkids have trains under the tree-and a layout the rest of the year.

[Algonquin]

I fully agree. I plan to spend lots of time promoting trains to my grandkids.

Regards,

Tim Pignatari

[Anonymous]

Thanks much, Tim, I'm aware of the one museum we have here in our state and also one in an adjacent state which have short, slow rides available. It is still a shame to me that there are so few exciting, faster rides (e.g. daily revenue runs ) to attract potential hobbyists. You are INDEED lucky to live in the Chicago area; I am in a very RURAL area, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

I am lucky to be in the Sacramento, California area. I have plenty of places to go to ride or see trains. My kids really enjoy seeing the real thing, but do not seem to be too interested in my HO layout. It might be that I have it running most of time and they can see it when they want. Their friends on the other hand like to sit a watch my HO for hours. I have taken my kids to "Day with Thomas" and they have a blast, I will probably do it again. I am waiting for the rail fair to come back to Sacramento.

[Anonymous]

I just joined to see what was going on at this site, but, it does seem a bit lightly used. Perhaps because it is not a Forum which is connected to a manufacturer. For many modelers, I think a Forum is a way to get a message out that we "want" something made which we need. This Forum is simply an extension of a periodical which we may or may not be very interested in.

[lupo]

maybe this is the wrong forum to post,

[railman]

because it's an offshoot of the big forum. Like a branch off the mainline, less and less traffic.

[081440]

QUOTE: Originally posted by railman

because it's an offshoot of the big forum. Like a branch off the mainline, less and less traffic.

[#ditto]