Why Do We Feel The Need To Have Young People Take Up Our Hobby?

My 4 year old Grand Daughter running the S&Y RR. If she follows the other grandkids she will move on to other electronic gizmos in a few more years and leave the trains behind.

I have been a railfan from as early as I can remember. Kids are curious and interested in whatever is happening around them, especially if it is in motion. Dad was a railfan and took me with him train watching so my native interest&curiosity  naturally focused on trains.  Being a railfan is the other pathway to a life-long interest in model railroading. 

Lew

Bill T posted:

My 4 year old Grand Daughter running the S&Y RR. If she follows the other grandkids she will move on to other electronic gizmos in a few more years and leave the trains behind.

Maybe true Bill, but you'll always have the memories and the pictures.

I gave my 12 year old grandson, who was adopted from Ukraine at age 11, an MTH Crescent Limited 4-6-2 and Lionel cars to match. Unfortunately my operating briefing was incomplete. He had a derailment and did the rerail with full power still applied - the ensuing sparks which as we know can be spectacular, scared him and worse, his mom (my daughter) so I doubt it’s been run since. Don’t make my mistake! Be sure you do a full briefing on the nature of electricity. My daughter who grew up around my trains now thinks they are a fire hazard... End of my $400 investment (track, cars, power) not counting the gift of the 4-6-2.

Bill T,

Your beautiful granddaughter will have warm memories of running trains on your layout. It could very well be that, after she has tried the other gizmos out, that she will return to trains when she is older.

My oldest daughter falls squarely into that much derided "millennial" generation, and she's getting married this fall. She and her fiancee came for a visit last weekend, probably the last we'll see them before the big day. They both asked me if they could have a train set for Christmas.

There appears to be an increasingly convincing amount of evidence that suggests that electronic screens are addictive, whether they are used for TV shows, games, or 'net/social media.  The brain becomes wired to crave the visual stimuli, and it is trained to respond accordingly.  The human eye has always been attracted to movement, the more movement, the more forceful the attraction.  These activities tend to support an inherent tendency toward solipsism, too, which, I think, helps to explain certain social ills growing in seriousness and number.

  I wouldn't call it a need to have young people take up a hobby (any hobby) rather I think it is a situation where an individual's pursuit of a hobby has brought them a sense of satisfaction/accomplishment/respite from the day/etc. and they make an attempt to interest young people in that hobby in the hopes that the hobby will do the same thing for them.

My dad and one grandfather was a railroader, and l lived on Depot Lane. My great aunt was postmistress, and hung the bag on the post every morning, across from station.  How many kids today have that experience or similar?  In the largest cities they are exposed to commuter trains.  I am sure they are just part of their scenery. The rest of the country...?  I rode many a mile in a grandfather's pre-WWII vehicles. There is a small core group that loves those vehicles, and trains, and model trains.  Each of those core groups will carry on. Sadly, they are all smaller.  And there are members that had no childhood exposure to any of them.  All too soon that will be all left.  Watch Antique Road Show and see oddball fragments of history that are collected.  As long as there are trains, there will be model trains.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Bill T posted:

My 4 year old Grand Daughter running the S&Y RR. If she follows the other grandkids she will move on to other electronic gizmos in a few more years and leave the trains behind.

Maybe true Bill, but you'll always have the memories and the pictures.

Couldn't have said it better myself. My girls, at the moment, are obsessed with my trains and I will take advantage of every second while I still can. Hopefully they don't grow out of it, but if they do, the trains will be there for their kids and so forth. For now I look at these photos and nothing else matters:

Bill, looks like me and you are living the life with these beautiful girls! Enjoy them my friend!

Starting them young Dan, really cute!

Absolutely John, its either this or watching Paw Patrol or some trash like that LOL, I'd much rather them here with the trains using there imaginations.

P.s. I've been tracking your layout progress, can't wait till you can finally get off the carpet my friend, it is coming together beautifully though.

Thanks!

One of my earliest model train WOW moments as a kid was seeing my uncle Bud’s Lionel NYC A-B-A pulling passenger cars in his attic.  I enjoy running trains and I enjoy discussing them with other modelers, but for me the absolute most fun is seeing the excitement on kids faces when they ask “When can we see the trains?” or seeing THEIR first WOW moment when they see the trains for the first time.  There is absolutely nothing like it.  For the last few years, I have been running trains in my attic for my uncle Bud’s great grandchildren.  I’m pretty sure that at least a few of them will take up the hobby.

Dan Gonzalez,

Cherish these days with your daughters. They go by very fast and they don't come back. Try not to let work or other things get in the way. No man ever said from his deathbed" I wish I had spent more time at the office".

There are practical reasons I can think of:

• History. By bringing young people into the hobby, we pass on historical information on real railroads they otherwise would not have full access to. Prototype railroads built this country's expansion by expediting the movement of people, goods, and information (mail service). Towns and cities developed around railroad routes. Though some events related to the railroads' history and expansion might be considered questionable by today's standards, the overall is a net positive in this country's growth.
• Education on Prototype. Hopefully, we can convey to them rail safety, its impact on domestic and international commerce and the practical issues of how rail transportation works in general.
• Passing on skill sets not readily learned in school today. When I was in school (when dinosaurs roamed the earth), we had wood, metal, and electric shop classes. These skill sets have helped me over the years both in and out of the hobby. Modernly, schools have gotten away from "blue collar" practical skills, choosing to focus on either STEM (not necessarily a bad thing) or a "humanities" / political correctness curriculum (opinion). Additionally, the modeling skills have practical applications outside the hobby as you learn how to build stuff.
• Passing on our trains. My efforts at cloning myself aside, it's apparent I won't be around forever. So giving the younger generation an appreciation of the hobby means the trains have somewhere to go after we're gone, and hopefully they'll be passed on before ending up in some collection or recycled into some other products. A couple of our younger members were conspiring on how to separate me from some items in my collection -- I was so proud of them!
• Sharing our time. Kids need time with their parents and/or adult role models. OK, maybe we're questionable role models at times, but the mentorship aspect of spending time with kids -- teaching them the benefits of cooperation and interaction rather than video games is beneficial (opinion).
• Building an empire. OK, maybe not in the Bond Villain megalomaniac sense, but the hobby allows one to use their creative talents to build a small world they have some element of control over -- an outlet/temporary escape from the real world where they have little control. Great stress relief.

I'm sure I could think of more stuff, but it's early out here and I haven't had my morning coffee.

When I was younger, real trains were interesting, with a variety of rolling stock and paint schemes and car types, etc. Nowadays, real trains are a bore: stack trains, endless coal and oil trains, all alike. Doesn't excite a desire to replicate in miniature.

Because we can!  I doubt she’ll ever be a diehard like me.   However she’ll remember my love of it when she remembers he dad.   And that’s ok with me.   

When children are young (pre-teen) they crave something more that screen time - their parent's attention! My father shared his time with me and I shared my time with my children. My father has been gone  about 5 years now and when I think about him my memories go right back to the time he spent with me doing hobby things such as models, trains, etc...

Obviously kids need to be interested in hobbies but doing them WITH your kids makes all the difference!

The title drug me in.  I think it is the same impulse that drives folks to convert others to their favored religion, or political outlook.  I personally never cared to convert others to 17/64, but I recall meeting a fanatic proselytizer for Proto-48.  Just like a religious zealot.  I couldn't get away fast enough.

But sure - show the kids a few hobbies.  Just hope they can keep it under control.  Sometimes I wonder what I could have done by channeling more of my spare time into the study of physics or something.  

It is always the belief of someone older to pass on good things to those that are younger. Whether it happens or not is always the catch.

BUCKSCO made the best point .

If it is only the running or operating of model trains that the pleasure is derived, most people will quickly move on from model trains.  The hours my 42 year old layout has been operated is less than 5% of the time that was enjoyed in planning,  building, procuring and modifying it.

The same can be said by me of my teenage building and flying 049 and later Fox 35 powered U control model airplanes, free flight air planes, my 2 year scratch building of a 36 inch scale, tube run radio control Coast Guard cutter, and etc.  As for the Fox 35 U control planes, the cost of fuel and time to fly when neighbor shift workers were not sleeping in the day time limited time flying too.  The same can be said for my other main hobby of vintage stereo gear from the 1970s.  Most time and most enjoyment is in hunting, procuring, repairing, seeking media to play and setting up and testing the gear.  Those functions are more rewarding than simply listening for hours at a time.  Most listening occurs during the Christmas season.

My point is just the thrill or experience of running model trains will not be enough to keep many interested for a long period of time. Model trains today have much more competition than in the past for the young folks attention.

For me and my family, the train running of the childhood family layout was down on the living room floor for the two weeks of Christmas and them put away until next year. 

For over thirty years my existing layout was down on the family room floor for a the months of Dec and Jan and taken up until next year as it would not be use much the rest of the year and took up most of the room!  This limited exposure and the fun of looking forward to coming back next season added to keep the trains for getting old fast and helped keep up interest for years.

Charlie

BILL T: She may eventually move on in another direction, but, I'd bet she will always remember Grandpa letting her run his trains! Thanks for sharing and enjoy the good times, as always.

Rusty

Daniel Gonzalez and Jeremy Ferrell: Have fun and make some good memories, that they, and, yourself will always remember!

Rusty

Another practical point - availability of new items.  With a smaller market, items will be pricier or the market abandoned for greener pastures.  You are lucky if you limit your tastes to post war, MPC, or some such since there will always be a secondary market.  I don't for see growth in our numbers, but if we can curtail the shrinking . . .

Brendan

i just turned 24  and for me as well as a friend of mine who is 19 when the holidays come around we get train fever and start pondering trains we want.

i've been fascinated with trains my whole life and kids at school thought i was wierd because instead of video games or what not like everyone else wanted i was wanting a train set or an engine or something train related for christmas

when class got super boring i would sketch out layout plans on loose leaf until i got caught by the teacher

i believe the hobby needs more folks like me who have a deep passion for trains

The pleasure of operating trains is enough for me. I run my layout several hours a week mainly on the weekends. My favorites are my legacy engines followed by TMCC and conventional after that. I can run more than one train on my loop, if they are Legacy or TMCC, and I just sit back and let them run. 

So we’ll have someone to sell to.

Like so many others who have posted earlier when my grandkids come over no doubt I will hear “Grandpa can we go upstairs and play with the trains”. These words bring happiness to me as they are making memories for both of us. They enjoy pushing the No 90 controller buttons and watching the accessories in action, or sometimes the younger ones just like pushing the buttons as fast and as many as they can to just hear the sounds. Full throttle operation seems to be always the norm. This is fine with me as they are having a blast doing so.

We were at the Somerset County 4H fair yesterday and there was a tent with a big modular O gauge layout set up by the Somerset County 4H Trainmasters; a club made up of a group of youngsters. It was refreshing to see this, so why do we feel the need for young people to take up our hobby?  If they do not, an important part of our history will be lost and forgotten.

This may not be a popular viewpoint, but to me: Why should I be made to feel as if it's my responsibility to "grow" this hobby as well as introduce young people to it?

Personally, I will be involved in model railroading in whatever form I can: New product (if available), secondary market (for desired items out of production), vintage (if desired and/or can be made usable), kit bashed and/or scratch bashed/built (IF no other way).

That's because trains have been a part of me before I can even remember. Trains and railroading is in my blood, and I will always and forever be interested in trains. You can't INSTILL that into folks. It's either there or it isn't, and oft times even those that such is in... can't tell you why.

So, the hobbyist should help "promote" and "grow" this hobby?

Frankly, it's not my worry. It's up to those that derive income from the hobby to promote it for their own gains. Not mine.

My "Prime Directive" in regards to this hobby?

Simple: To enjoy it and have fun.

There's more product in my chosen scale than I will EVER be able to acquire even a minuscule PORTION of. No way, ever.

For decades railroading was my avocation, then my vocation, and now I'm retired on RR retirement. Railroading produced my family-supporting income, and railroading was my way of life. And though railroading was work, I loved it. Those days are behind me.

By huge contrast, model trains are my HOBBY.  There's a HUGE difference between model trains being one's hobby and deriving income from the hobby. In the past I made the mistake of making my hobby of model trains also become a source of income via custom assembly/detail/paint/decals/etc, as well as professionally designing and installing model train layouts commercially.

Doing so nearly ruined my hobby.

Even after shutting down those endeavors, it took a couple years for the enjoyment of my hobby of model trains to return.

SO... those of you (hobbyists) that feel motivated to promote and grow this hobby: More power to you. Have at it.

Just remember: Though a hobbyist may feel it's their personal mission and moral responsibility to "promote and grow" the hobby... BUT...

It ain't mine. Further, I'm not having any part of any idea that it should be. (AND... I highly suspect there are throngs of others hobbyists that feel the same way.)

As a hobbyist, MY goal is simple: To have fun. Along the way that means CONSUME available product that others depend on selling in order to survive. Thus, it's THEIR responsibility to grow their own market, not mine.

Sure glad General Motors, or Ford Motor Co, or any other manufacturer/producer of goods aimed at a market, don't try to guilt-trip us consumers into feeling obligated to helping them promote and grow THEIR market.

No, such a phenomenon seems to be unique to certain segments of the hobby industry. (Which I suspect is primarily pushed by the SUPPLIERS of said hobby for their own purposes.)

SO... I'm a hobbyist and I will always be in this for personal gain: To have fun.  To quote Major Payne: "That's my 'business', and business is goood!"

Andre

Kids haven't changed - their environment has.

The phones are just a distraction because they're the easiest things to deal with. We used to go out to play. Then TV came along. Then both parents started working, and the VCR / DVR became our babysitter. The phones are just the next step in the chain.

Kids, physiologically, have a need to get involved with things. Our club layout has kids visit every weekend, and the kids are glued to the trains. Amazing that we don't have more kid layouts in the area. But that's not easy for the parents, so they get shipped off to organized play dates or sports teams, which evolve into traveling teams, etc. But the parents can't spend time on the floor or next to a layout the way our folks did. Life is too busy.

It's not just trains, either. I'm big into recreational aviation. Our local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association hosted a weekend aviation camp (day camp only) in June. The HS-age kids LOVED getting hands-on, learning how to drill, rivet, bend metal, etc. Hands on activities were cited as the best part of their weekend.

There is hope....

Trains have always been my passion for the past 66 years from when I was five. I'm now 72. It is the one hobby I have enjoyed consistently all these years. A lot of good points have been made here. Maybe there is no one answer that is right. Maybe growing the hobby should be looked at from a slightly different angle. Why narrow it to say just young people. After all look at the age spread and this is truely a hobby for all ages and it is not just a boys only hobby too. Also people get into the hobby later in life. This a a great hobby to be in but the competion from the technical end of what is being brought out makes it hard. With trains there are different levels of what you can do. One thing for sure you can learn a lot of skills from building your own layout. Most of them enjoyable, some not ...wiring for me "UGH'. I'm going through a stage where I am enjoying building the layout more then running trains right now. That is not to say that every so often I go to the attic layout and just sit and watch some trains running. If by chance the hobby starts to wane it is because the more inovative things that are coming along interest the younger generations more....................Paul 2 

paigetrain posted:

i just turned 24  and for me as well as a friend of mine who is 19 when the holidays come around we get train fever and start pondering trains we want.

i've been fascinated with trains my whole life and kids at school thought i was wierd because instead of video games or what not like everyone else wanted i was wanting a train set or an engine or something train related for christmas

when class got super boring i would sketch out layout plans on loose leaf until i got caught by the teacher

i believe the hobby needs more folks like me who have a deep passion for trains

I'm 29 and have a similar backstory.  The margins in my school notebooks were full of switching patterns and layout sections with notes figuring out the wiring for activating different accessories.  Ever adding to that Postwar dream layout that would never fit on the 4x8ft table I was allowed

Nobody mentored me, I had supportive parents, but often I felt looked down upon by others in the hobby because I was so young.  So I ended up doing my own thing and figuring it out as I went.

So my thought is, those who are interested will find the hobby, and we should just be willing to answer questions when someone asks.

...and this forum is great, I've been a reader for probably 5 years now.

I'm 34. Does that count as "young"? If so I'm involved.

When my nephews (3&5) come over they love to see the trains run. First thing they ask after they walk in the door is to have me turn the trains on. I make them wait till after dinner, otherwise we'd be running trains for hours. They live in a condo so there is no room for anything beyond some wooden Thomas trains. An O gauge starter set isn't fitting.

One challenge with young people is that "real" trains aren't very integrated into modern society.  Here in the West, perhaps a long string of containers or hoppers makes one late for work.  The Railroad scene seems homogeneous and sterile compared to the transition era as depicted in the books I had as a child, or even the decaying artifacts of that era that were still visible trackside during my childhood.

I'm not too young to think about what I might do in retirement.  Maybe I'll volunteer as a docent?  But I wonder whether people who grew up without seeing, or reading about steam locomotives and passenger trains will come to places like Hamburg (RCT&HS) and Strasburg (RR Museum of PA?)  These are the trains I love, and inspire me to model.  But will the younger generations appreciate them!?

I have nine grandchildren and I built a Thomas table for them it's been used by all of them over the years I let them into the "Train" room and give them a box of figures to play with the next day there are figures and seats and all kinds of things all over the layout I only let them run the trains if I'm in the room as it's an end to end layout and the trains have to stop sooner or later but they play in the room and look at things they won't switch on anything unless I'm there it's not a problem I notice the two oldest don't have a lot of interest in trains anymore and find our place boring (No TV or electronic devices in our house) and the computer stays off at least I had them out hiking with me a few weeks ago so that was good. Roo.

Fellas-it's the change in times...You cannot over come it.When we were kids my father liked trains and got the trains out at Christmas- but he did not make a special effort to make us like trains. Here's the rub....we played "outside" (sarcastic punt intended) we played "far" from home OUTSIDE. Which meant we found  RR tracks-walked on them- threw rocks-picked up old RR spikes-watched trains go by-put a nickel on the track then got it back when the train passed. So trains were part of our lifes-we were part of there's... SOOO on a rainy day -Trains - Tonka trucks and hot wheels "WERE" our Tablets and Video games of todays times. Nick

 Oldest Grandson

He's one of those kids that has attached a couple of different behavioral titles.  Our world today tends to do that.   I had not operated my layout for some time, he was able to get it up and running for the younger grand kids.  Today was one of those transportation day, he'll be a senior this fall, summer job, as a lifeguard, at the local YMCA.  He's a member of the swim team.  We talked about college. We talked about his truck, a donation from his other Grandparents.   He has mentioned college, being a chemical engineer.    He left the model trains, some time ago, though he has done some interesting model airplane work, on his own, with RC controllers, and all the servo mechanics.  I'm O.K. with all this.  Sometimes I see myself 60 years ago.   Mike CT.