I feel John G. raised some excellent points.
> > No body should feel obligated to model what he's not interested in,
> but are today's people thrilled by your cute
> > old steamers and little brown boxcars?
> ====================================================
> IMO, yes they are if you put a throttle in their hand. My evidence?
> The big ol' smile on my 9-year old son's face when he runs the SHS 2-
> 8-0. Thank you Don Thompson.
Unfortunately, my layout isn't built yet, but that hasn't stopped my now 8 year
old son from being an operator. He started operating 2 years ago on a local HO
layout and was able to get me invited to 2 area layouts that are hard to get
into. He prefers steam over diesel, mostly because they have a better lower
speed (he's a tie-a-minute guy) - this is DCC, but the diesels don't seem to be
set up correctly. He's a regular operator now, thanks to an owner being
willing to let a 6 year old take a throttle. Plus the other guys like to speed
up behind him to get him muttering about prototype speeds! <vbg> My 13 year old
son had a blast last year (or was it two years ago? I can't remember which kid
was taken which year) at the Carmel, IN meet, thanks to the NASG module. He is
only interested in kit building and probably doesn't know the difference
between a Geep and a consolidation, but was very ticked off when I said we had
to leave when he'd "only" operated for 30 minutes. I take it that is a good
sign. <vbg> Thanks Alan (and others) for taking this module all over the
country! And thanks to Alan for not pulling his hair out when the speeds
weren't appropriate and the couplings were harder than they should have been -
he could have very well have turned my oldest son off of modeling by yelling or
being critical, but he just smiled instead and my son came away with a very
positive impression.
> > I offer no simplistic solutions, I just suggest we are (mostly) old
> pharts,
> > why should any kid want to join us old geezers?
> =============================================================
> Because what we do is FUN. We just need to show the kids (younger
> generation) what we do, and let them try it.
This is my main agreement with you John. I just need to get off of my
hindquarters, or actually quite working on two HO layouts, and spend time on my
own so my kids have a place to "play" with me.
> One of my most cherished model RR memories was visiting a spectacular
> O scale layout when I was 8.
Similarly, I remember seeing a layout (HO?) in the late '60s/early '70s in
Gatlinburg, TN on the second floor of a former factory (I think - I was still
in elementary school then). It made a big impression on me, especially the
quarry with blast markings and with slimy water and a burned out jeep in it.
> Underlying the question of "why should any kid want to join us old
> geezers", I think is the more important question of "what are we
> doing to encourage the kids to join us"?
I can't say anything here, because other than taking my kid(s) to other
layouts, I haven't done my part here.
Mark Plank
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