Ever had children over and it turns out better than you thought?

We had the whole Children's Choir visit the layout one Christmas, along with the Seminarian in-charge of them. They were all deliriously excited, staying in the trainroom for 1 1/2 hrs., running back-n-forth commenting on various details and vignettes. I don't know who had more fun, these young guests or my wife and I.

3 years ago, we have a family and friend get together on Christmas Eve, had 5 little kids (ages 3-5) come over. So the only trains I ran were the Thomas and Friends series from Lionel. The kids sat their and watched them and did not touch the track, trains or buildings.  That shocked me.

Not children, but new voices and new model railroad guests, for us, these seminarians visited the layout just before leaving for their further studies in Rome at Christmastime. Along with our pastor, they were as excited about the trains as the children had been, previously, rushing around the trainroom, exploring it in spontaneous partnerships. One of them said to us that my modeling was evidence to him of how much I loved life and had joy in me about sharing life. I will never forget that. I took his words as a Blessing, as did my wife.

FrankM

I have a large layout. My grand son who is 3 comes over and gets so excited he runs continuous laps circling the layout screaming. It is a riot to watch him.Nick

grandkids came over for the first time since they were babies (they live far away) ages 6 and 9....granddaughter is 6.....grandson reaches out to touch the trains.....granddaughter yells at him.."don't touch them! they're expensive!!" ….blew my mind!....I took that little girl to the local Oliies store where I knew they had some kids lionel sets, and got a set for her very own!

harmonyards posted:

grandkids came over for the first time since they were babies (they live far away) ages 6 and 9....granddaughter is 6.....grandson reaches out to touch the trains.....granddaughter yells at him.."don't touch them! they're expensive!!" ….blew my mind!....I took that little girl to the local Oliies store where I knew they had some kids lionel sets, and got a set for her very own!

WOW!I would not see that coming!!I would have to pick my jaw off the floor.Such a smart girl.

NO!

Yes, absolutely!!!!   Look at that little boy's face and tell me it wasn't worth it.  His great-grandmother couldn't get him to put down the CAB-1 to eat!

His great-grandfather told me later that the kid asked for a train layout like mine for Christmas.  

My work here is done!   

George

Never underestimate what a properly coached kid will do.  My 3½ year old grandson loves operating my FlyerChief trains.  I gave him his own little corner to play with as he sees fit.  He loves RR crossings and populates them with Plasticville crossing gates and even blows the horn/whistle in the proper manner.  He also has his own Brio set here and at his house which he loves.  Every time he comes over, it's "Grandpa, let's do trains!".  How can I resist???

I get calls from friends to bring their children or grandchildren to see the trains. As an example, one neighbor called to bring her two grandsons...the picture tells the story of how that visit went. I always let the young children operate the Thomas the Tank...keep the voltage lowered, which also keeps the speed under control...

Of course, they both liked their engineer caps too!

Whenever someone visits...we quickly review the rules, there are only two (2), before heading down to the lower level...goes for adults too!!! So far, haven’t had a problem...

The only exception to the “do not touch” rule...was for a couple that I had invited...he is an Alzheimer's patient...he picked up and inspected a few cars, then relocated them to new locations...he seemed inquisitive and enjoyed his time here while visiting the layout and that’s all I cared about.