Trains as an Educational Tool

That's great, earl.  My grandson has been helping me with my trains since he was two years old.  When I do any work in my shop, he's right there beside me.

Good Grandpa.  I'll bet he will remember this all his life.

My own dear Grandpa taught me about carpentry when I was but a little shaver, and it is much appreciated.

If memory serves me, I think the Boy Scouts used to have a badge for model railroading.  I wonder if they still have that badge.

Ed

Hands on experience is he best experience in my opinion.  Sounds like this young man will be on the right track.  

JGL

Ed Walsh posted:

If memory serves me, I think the Boy Scouts used to have a badge for model railroading.  I wonder if they still have that badge.

Ed

They still have it. I recently helped a younger person get his.

Model trains are such a great hobby as the benefits are numerous. The hobby helps one develop manual dexterity, and can offer an education on the history of railroading. As an educational tool model railroading can also be an art form that displays vignettes of the past. Other benefits of model railroading are the great folks that you will meet in the hobby, the fun that you will have at the shows and the exercise that you will gain getting out of the house and walking a bit.   

Earl,

  This is how I started, as time goes along get him interested in the Geometry of building layouts, it leads to places further on in life, that few can imagine.  I posted this before, every NASA Professional Engineer I ever met & worked with, started out building O Gauge Train layouts, with his Father or Grandfather's help.  The interest factor in constructing O Gauge Train layouts, can develop into an incredible life long Engineering Career.   The men  working on the NASA Space Shuttle Program in every different Professional Engineering discipline, were living proof, that O Gauge Trains can highly influence a young boys life.

Grandpa Earl you are helping your Grandson in ways you can only imagine.

PCRR/Dave

I think that is a great idea.  I learned so much from working on trains when I was a kid. My Pop would explain what he was doing & then do it with me. Carpentry, electrical work, planning, etc.   Just last month, I had my daughter Lucia (she's 5) help me do some wiring on the little PW layout I built.  She was really interested.  Last night, I was testing a 455 w/ a spare transformer  & I had the test wires hooked up & she came by & remembered what alligator clips were & how you use them

Chris,

That box of wires in your photo looks exactly like my box of wires.  

"Waste not, want not".

Earl

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

  

Earl,

  This is how I started, as time goes along get him interested in the Geometry of building layouts, it leads to places further on in life, that few can imagine.  I posted this before, every NASA Professional Engineer I ever met & worked with, started out building O Gauge Train layouts, with his Father or Grandfather's help.  The interest factor in constructing O Gauge Train layouts, can develop into an incredible life long Engineering Career.   The men  working on the NASA Space Shuttle Program in every different Professional Engineering discipline, were living proof, that O Gauge Trains can highly influence a young boys life.

Grandpa Earl you are helping your Grandson in ways you can only imagine.

PCRR/Dave

Knock it off squarehead 

EARL,

  When I taught intro to Wood Shop to my 7th graders, I set up an oval of track.  During a video of harvesting timber, I would bring in my Lionel Shay engine and show how they transported the logs out of the woods with these engines.  Kidos loved seeing the Shays action and I used to tell them this was like having four wheel drive on wheels.  They loved it.  They wanted me to set up a layout in the shop but with all the dust that was there, I thought about it but then decided not in that environment.  It would have been nice but I would never had gotten any teaching done.

My dad was lead engineer putting the instrumentation in at the pads,  back with , Saturn , Atlas, Mercury,  beginnings....,,I have his build a loco, and ives, trains,  amflyer,  he also built model airplanes, back then,  no radio control,,,  you had to hike after it,  have parts of those,

With layouts, you do all the areas of engineering,  but,,,, you don't need those long equations,  to say,,,no you can't,,,,,

Thanks to my grandson, my postwar #623 switcher is back in action.  He did the entire disassembly, repair, reassembly, and test by himself.

Earl

Earl,

    Great education for him Earl, way to go!  Earl if you take the time to teach him all the house wiring from the breaker box to the different wall outlets, that goes along with constructing a layout, he will thank you big time some day when he owns his own home,  and can due his own electrical work.

RIKI,

    You are absolutely correct start simple and have fun 1st, as the interest grows so does the education.  

PCRR/Dave

EIS posted:

Chris,

That box of wires in your photo looks exactly like my box of wires.  

"Waste not, want not".

Earl

lol. i have wires in there from like 3 layouts ago

The knowlege base with electricity helped me to study for my ham radio licence!

As long as the kids have their own hammer and Dremel tool everything should be alright.    (Gotta get one of these graemlin things for sarcasm.)