Lionel's York display peaked child's interest

Yes that was the idea, offer something the kids would like to play with, plus they can run their train on the the same track as dad. Some argue about non conventional operation but that was not the plan.

I volunteer on the railroad at a local museum.  This past weekend I spent a lot of time in the roundhouse cleaning touch up painting and polishing one of the steam locomotives before it goes into service in the next few weeks.   It was also our first of three Day out with Thomas weekends so there were plenty of kids around.  I made it a point to take short breaks to talk to them and their families as they walked through the visitor portion of the shop watching us work.  I even blew the whistle for one young man (who asked me to) while we were warming up our other steam locomotive.

Little things like that are what help attract younger kids.  The kid I blew the whistle for was grinning from ear to ear.

The newer train sets are great for the kids too and I laughed reading through pages of complaints about them by adults