I think it's more of just a safety warning as opposed to an exclusionary statement, because, after all, these are toys operated with an electrical current and are somewhat fragile. Personally though, I think a lot of people ignore the warning, as I got my first train set when I was 5. 

Read up on the 

Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

 

for an idea of what led to this.

 

I asked a higher-up at MTH a couple of years ago if this was the cause of the change of labeling on their boxes, the answer was "yes".

 

---PCJ

Gentlemen,

   This child safety stuff has gotten so far out of hand, that this crap is now required by Law.

PCRR/Dave

 

I often pondered what bureaucrat thought this labeling necessary.  I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. 

 

Anyone who has witnessed the joy of a child with a new train has to think there's something totally twisted about today's Nanny State.

 

Bruce

Never seen anyone check I.D.s of buyers at a train show or train hobby store.
For that matter I've never seen a "we I.D." sign there either. 

There should be a sign in the store and a pop-up on the for sale forum that says "Buy responsibly". 

Probably wouldn't slow any of us down though now would it.

It should be required to be clarified that the age 14 and up is a safety suggestion and not a statement of fact or even law. Why are there no such age requirements listed on electrical appliance boxes such as microwave ovens, toaster ovens, electric and gas stoves and ranges and for that matter plugging and unplugging power cords from wall outlets. I hope it never comes to this but it might. I will ask a lawyer friend and a law enforcement person if they know of any instance where a legal case has been made of this.

I know a 7 year old that has scale trains!!!! Of course Dad has them.

Though a basher and Hi-Railer, I have always found some of the "Tinplate" and Prewar stuff    very appealing, even more "realistic" than it is supposed to be.

 

At a TCA meet last week I scored, at a price that made me happy ($70.00) an old Lionel #117 station in what I call good shape: complete, undamaged, no rust besides a touch of surface, dirty - or weathered, in my world. I would love to find a #116 (repro preferably) at a proportionately modest price, one day. Great-looking structures, both of them, and more model-like than they are supposed to be. A more realistic re-paint (of a repro only!) would be an interesting project.

 

Now, to the point (whew!), as I was admiring my new find while sitting at my trade table, I almost cut my finger on the edge of the roof. I'm aware of this in old toys, and was not surprised or offended, but I did comment to a friend that leaving sharp edges all over toys was never a good thing. I was sliced, diced and pinched by my big steel construction toys in the 1950's (the PW trains had become less damaging than sharp Tinplate), and I guess that was OK - I learned from it, and it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye...

 

The "extremes" about which we old curmudgeons whine are actual and ludicrous, but so are the very real injuries that some of these newer rules avoid. We think of the 50's and before as the Golden Age, but, really, we were just young. Young overcomes everything.

 

And, yes, the age 14 thing is only a suggestion.

 

 

The suggested age limit probably was was 8 when you were a child.  Question is, did the train survive?  

 

It's really to protect the expensive trains from kids exposed to too much violence and destruction on television, in movies and on the Internet.  Gomez Addams was the biggest threat known to trains when I was young.  Now we have things like Jack*** the Movie and YouTube how-to videos available to toddlers with iPads.  

 

 

 

 

What, me worry?

just be glad model locomotives don't (yet?) require the massive amount warning labels you see today.  i have a 6' step ladder that has so many yellow stickers, it's hard to tell that it's actually made of aluminum.

 

by the way, FYI i recently discovered that nail polish remover will also remove those horrid automobile sun visor attached airbag warning labels.

 

...but you didn't hear that from me. 

It is my considered opinion that the main purposes of the Consumer Product Safety Commission are to make people stupid and to completely eliminate common sense.

 

Pete

They are also handy in helping makers and sellers survive in our "lawsuit-happy" society.

Who'd have thought protecting people from themselves would become a full-time job for the government along with all the requisite formalities.  What a complete waste of tax-payer dollars!!!  

 

Yes... One day we magically went from toy trains being "For ages 8 years and up" to "For ages 14 years and up".  What a crock... not to mention a disconnect from reality.  At 14 most of us had packed away our childhood trains, and they remained packed until some point in our 30's or 40's.

 

I was 7 when I received my first Lionel train set.  Seemed perfectly reasonable at the time.  But that was 1966.  Today in 2015, a parent giving their son or daughter a train set at 7 years old might garner a knock on the door from Child Protective Services!!!    Unbelievable.

 

David

If I recall correctly this all evolved five or seven year-ago around the issue of China using lead paint on children's toys manufactured there.

 

Now there was no empirical evidence that lead paint was in fact used on our toy trains.  But the major makers/suppliers played it safe by added this "restriction."  I guess somewhere it has been determined that kids are more susceptible to affects of lead under age of 14.

 

 

Ron

There is an age warning on the boxes?  oops... 

 

I'm pretty sure the reaction/excitement/joy might have a different expression when he's 14

 

 

If that was the case I would have missed my son's window of excitement!

 

 

 

The only reason I can think of would be the wall plug. Isn't it amazing that most of us survived to adulthood without any of these warnings.

Isn't that the truth... cannot remember how many times I almost electrocuted myself as a kid plugging in a frayed ZW cord, but I survived!

Next thing will be background checks and registration!

 

Will the police raid a kid's birthday party if they are tipped off to under-aged train play?

Wonder what would happen if the toy train raid came as they were lighting the birthday candles.

My father certainly would have ignored it.  He bought me my first Lionel set when I was three (in 1951).

Same people that require instructions on a shampoo bottle. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. 

Why oh why if this warning "For Ages 14 and Up" and/or "For Ages 14 to Adult" appear on rolling stock and even a Die-cast tractor trailer set if it had anything to do with plugging a cord into a 120v wall outlet???!

 

It was simply CYA in case of lead paint from China.

 

i thought it only applied to the boxes.

i've gotten a few mean paper cuts.

OP your wrapped way to tight.I used my fathers circular saw for the first time when I was in 2nd grade to cut plywood for my trains.He yelled at me for not cleaning up the saw dust.Nick

Gentlemen,

   I was given a Lionel Tin Plate 263E Train set with a big Crane Car to play with when I was quite young, I shot my 1st Woodcock & Grouse on the wing with my Grandfathers 28 Gauge Parker double gun at age 6, with my Grandfather at my side. My Father & Grandfather were responsible for my safety and education, not some liberal fool working for the government.  I was raised by men who took their freedom and belief in God very seriously.  By the age 14 I was already chasing the pretty mountain blond haired, blue eyed girls, at 18 I was drafted and fought a war to help keep this country free.  I raised my family with the same beliefs, and I am responsible for that family.  No other man or government will ever tell me how to raise my family.  With freedom comes responsibility

many have died for that freedom, raise your family accordingly.

 

Nick - rockstar 89,

  Looks like we were raised in a very similar manner, I loved your post.

 

PCRR/Dave 

And, of course ..... "don't try this at home!"  ......

 

 

The parents and children should run the trains and switch freight cars and passenger cars together.

 

It would be a bit strange for the parents to just leave the children with the train layout and leave the house.

 

Andrew

 

Think you can blame us Europeans for this

We have CE marking law. And anything intended for below 14 has to be CE marked related to the toy directive. And this means, not possible to take of small parts to swallow, All materials not dangerous to chew on etc. Sorry

Our youngest on his 5th Birthday. The thing he had wanted more than anything for months.
And two years later it's not damaged and still works.....touch wood!
Nick

Nick12DMC,

    The look on your boys face tells the entire story, and he is definitely not 14 in that picture!  I hope when he is a parent himself he passes the incredible feeling and pride of ownership on to his son or daughter, this is what our hobby is all about.  Looks like a 14 year old girl chaser to me, you got your hands full Dad, get him a bird dog and Bowie Knife to go along with his 1st shotgun!  Wish I had one just like him to raise in our back woods, you sir are a lucky man.

PCRR/Dave