Today I had the privilege of presenting to my youngest daughter's 1st Grade Class. The topic was "Toys of the Past and Present". Students were able to experience all kinds of toys from the past (mainly ranging from the 1890s to the 1960s).
I brought a Pre War Red Comet set with a modest loop of track (that I borrowed from under our Christmas tree) and a classic ZW transformer to demonstrate trains from the past. I brought a modern Legacy Polar Express with the controller to show them trains from today.
I am happy to report that all of the kids ranked the Lionel train demonstration as their favorite and most memorable when writing their reflection paper. And ONLY 10% of the sampled students had ever seen a Lionel train (these kids were all born in 2017).
My hat is off to all those who volunteer all over the country to show trains to the public, whether it be operating Holiday layouts or getting out into the community in other ways. This is Train Season and it is good one!
The two photos were taken right before the kids arrived.
I get to do a lot of train stuff and today was the most memorable experience of 2023 for me. Watching the kids operate the train and seeing their faces light up when it came to life is something you cannot show in a video.
Keep rolling friends,
- Chris RBP
