Hi Gaylord We had firsthand experience of your observations at Scranton a week ago (that long already?) when we allowed a nine year old to run our S Scale Workshop layout for a full two hours. He was too short to see the layout without a stool so he'd crack the throttle, then jump off the stool and run ten or fifteen feet down the layout and hop back on to resume throttle duties. He ran the train at realistic speed and knew what switching maneuvers he wanted to make. Watching him was a lot of fun. You may see his face in the next Dispatch. Of course it would be impractical to allow one kid that much time at a public show, but it does set one to thinking about how we can get the kids more involved, if only for a short time. You never know how these experiences will imprint a young mind.
Cheers Jim Martin > On August 17, 2013 at 10:25 AM ggill64 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I support Bob's suggestions. During the public show at this year's S Spree, > we had Lionel's TMCC system operating an SD-60 on one of our loops. The SMSG > guy running that train positioned himself outside the oval, and any time a kid > came along we would offer him or her the opportunity to press the horn button, > which in this case also flashes the ditch lights. > > The looks on the kids' faces is priceless when they see the effect of their > actions, and the parents are usually beaming too. We're giving them a chance > to be hands-on and interactive with the trains, and there's little likelihood > of damage (you can help them hold the controller if you think they might drop > it). > > Fun for everyone -- especially when we learned a neighboring layout's TMCC > unit was occasionally controlling our train! > > Gaylord Gill > > --- In [email protected] <mailto:S-Scale%40yahoogroups.com> , Bob Werre > <bob@...> wrote: > . . . The radio controlled DCC throttles allows that to happen very nicely. I > find it much better to be near the kids than to yell at them from across the > castle walls. We have also found that if you position 2 members outside at > opposite corners they can effectively watch an entire oval type layout. > . . . > > > >
