"We kids learned as soon as we were old enough to comprehend, the (model) trains were to look at, not touch,"

Nice story.  Pity they have to sell the trains to pay assisted living.  My wife and I are learning first hand the process of getting an elder into a home.   

Gentlemen,

    Been down that road 2 times now, with both my mom and my mother in law, be careful and never sign anything that makes you responsible for your parents debts. Sorry that he had to give up his Trains, and in our home we not only touch our O Gauge Trains, the kids get to run them, via remote control, and play with everything on the layout, especially the farm  set up with the animals, as I did when I was a kid.  

PCRR/Dave

I learned from my father that his toy train collection was for playing with when he set them up. My finger prints and those of my brothers were all over his trains, regardless of how rare they were.

So to this day, I am a collectors worst nightmare. I run every train that gets into my house, collectible or not. There is no such thing to me as a collectible new in its original box.

I learned at an early age that trains are toys and meant to be played with!

Pete

And my kids knew there were trains that were for collecting and trains that were for play. It wasn't hard for them to differentiate, and they weren't deprived.

I wasn't allowed to touch the postwar trains my dad had (that had been his fathers childhood trains) when I was young.  They were put around the christmas tree where I could watch them run until I was about 3 and received my own modern set which took over that duty for many years.  About 10 years later I finally snuck out the box of my dads trains and did all the maintenance on them and got them running again (including one that had been destroyed by him as a child ).  Needless to say, I play with them every year when I have the chance.

I also played with my grandfathers G scale trains nearly every time I went to his house when I was younger.  I knew how to plug them in and run them before I could even walk.  He usually assisted me with them when I was really little, but as I grew he simply told me to be careful and cautioned me about certain fragile things.  Of course stuff got broken, but he'd fix it up before the next time I came over.  Probably went through a lot of glue, but he never really complained.  I certainly blame him for the model railroading bug.  I still set up a loop of track at his house if there isn't a big family event going on and he enjoys seeing his collection out and running.  My cousin has a 2 year old that is big into trains (mainly Thomas), but I set them up for him to watch occasionally when they're over.

Had I grown up like the kids in the family in that auction, the story probably would have been different, but now I have a bigger train collection than my grandfather and run, fire and wrench on the full size ones at my workplace.

I see some reasonable rules about touching.  If the trains are NOT YOURS, ask for permission to touch.  If you are not a member of a train club, ASK before touching.  Learning to become a responsible citizen and adult is a GOOD thing.  If they are yours, or you have permission to touch, treat them so they last a lifetime.  Accidents do happen, but don't run them like Gomez Addams.

"We kids learned as soon as we were old enough to comprehend, the (model) trains were to look at, not touch"

A lot depends on what kind of trains and age of the children. You're not going to let a toddler play with an expensive detailed train item on the floor. Traditional Lionel-type trains were made for repeated handling by children.

When I was a kid my dad put a lot of work into building a rather detailed HO layout. I respected the trains and understood that they were not meant to carried around the house for general play because they had somewhat fragile details. I did become a fully competent model railroad engineer and I handled the trains only in the context of operating them on the layout.

I didn't have much contact with Lionel trains as a kid but I'm making up for that now. Vintage Lionel doesn't have the details and scale fidelity of true-scale trains but they do have a unique play factor of their own by virtue of their larger size and sectional track system suitable for temporary and evolving layouts.

As a youngster, I would allow my son from age 3 and up to handle the Trains with guidance and a watchful eye from me.  

Now at age 13, I have no concerns at all how he handles the Trains when I'm not around, because I now he will be careful and do it right.

We also have a fun game.  We must set up and build the Trains we want to run without using our hands at all.  The first part of our operating session is building the Trains using switchers.  Then we run them... Lastly, we put them away trying never to use the dreaded 0-5-0.

It's not the kids I'm worried but the adults who think a train just sitting there is for the taking. I had two engines and several cars stolen when having family get togethers. Not one time but several times. Did I ever get the trains back--NO. 

Yes those people are banned from my home. I have stopped having open houses and only trusted freinds are invited now. 

As stated in my bio while I was in grade school and Jr. High my father worked second shift. I would play outside after school and after dinner go to the basement or my playroom and build lay-outs and run trains unsupervised. Mom would have a hard time getting me to do my home work.

david1 posted:

It's not the kids I'm worried but the adults who think a train just sitting there is for the taking. I had two engines and several cars stolen when having family get togethers. Not one time but several times. Did I ever get the trains back--NO. 

Yes those people are banned from my home. I have stopped having open houses and only trusted freinds are invited now. 

No good deed goes unpunished !