Lucky No. Seven: Suggestions For Playing Trains With A 7 Year Old Boy!

Adriatic Posted:

""Good times", thanks for making me think of them. "  

Thanks for sharing the nice memories!  I had a '69 Mach I, but you've had some sweet rides!!!  As to the hot metal cars, as we both know, people would be shocked as to the amount of heat they threw off.  Additionally, I never realized that there are dogs that weighed that much.  I thought our 70 lb. Golden Retriever was BIG!!!

Adriatic Also Posted:

"Kids that had access to toy blocks excelled at math, and building and creating in general; while kids with access to figures as toys excelled in English,  social sciences, and general communication with others."

Sounds like I should make sure the two boys have access to both blocks and figures - and, perhaps dolls - to play with and load on the gondolas and flat cars.    Until you and Langstrains posted, I would not have thought of including dolls for the layout. I'm sure that the boys will have fun loading the cars as in the picture by Langstrains above.

May I offer a few more suggestions? When my boys were that age, we made up a deck of 3x5 cards where we listed things for our engine to do - go someplace, pick up something, take 7-year-old-passengers somewhere, get visited by aliens or dinosaurs, have a breakdown, run an accessory - whatever they wanted. Each would pick a card and do what it said (or discard that card and pick another). We also used put in all sorts of operating accessories - the faves were the #96 coal elevator (the hand crank is great), the #785 MTH coal tower, and the #145 gateman - with a button to activate...

I'll have to look for the cards.. I still have them somewhere. 

Dolls, figures; same thing really. But I admitedly avoided the word doll because of the common association with being them mostly just a feminine toy.

Its the interaction between people imitated and experimented with during play that supposedly helps later in school and of course real life.

Be alert for experimentation pushing social boundries. A comment, or question at those points may be what they are hoping for. You can catch this in my niece by imediate lack of direct eye contact and/or corner of the eye glances as she continues.  I. E. Wanting the yay or nay of approval from a respected elder "buddy". I recognise, call her on it, and make a joke on how silly the comment is and describe why, be it mean, or just plain not correct. I think I often did the same thing in life.

Most dogs that heavy are big from girth. St Bernard, Mastiffs, etc. These MA Shepards (alias Moscow Gaurd dogs) are athletes. Ive seen them hop straight up to near six feet at the feet.  No telling what a running start would get them. Another Eastern Europe / Western Asian dog can hit 220+, the Ovcharka. Dangerous temperment,  I guess you need a sort of CCW licence for having those in Russian cities. There was once a larger athletic breed that was closer to 300lb too. Military dogs, the Germans killed them off 100% when they moved east into Russia during the war. Let loose on German troops,  those things caused nightmares and killed moral enough they were hunted and exterminated completely when the breeding farms got captured.

Rewards: It took years to earn the right to run a first year "Blackjack" GG-1. Im not sure any other Grandkids even got to SEE it run

(its ok, it was "the runner". There was another in an unopened shipper he also bought brand new,  lol)

Doug, The 3X5 cards are an excellent idea.  Operations for the younger set will add significant play value.

This is a great tip from another thread that was posted by Brianel:

"Right now Lionel direct has the Pet Shop and Dinosaur starter sets for $60, which is certainly a well discounted price..."

The track alone has substantial value, and the sets will add significant play value.

I bought both of these sets last week 

Guys,

the sets are interesting - but I hear fastrack is loud.  i would be setting it up on linoleum.  how can the sound be deadened?  other than that, for my daughter, i do not think those sets could be beat for the price!

Go to a carpet store and buy an appropriately-sized remnant. The fasttrack will keep the carpet fuzz out of the mechanism, the carpet will deaden the sound and it will be softer and warmer for the kids.

yeah - no!  not gonna fly with the household management.

any other ideas?  i am willing to do some work.

A "rope throwrug" . They are made from ½-1" rope or tightly woven cloth rope, sewed into a spiral. Very "old school". Clorh is thick and sturdy, yet soft, relatively zero fuzz, take tons of abuse, heavy etc. They flop down with a thunk and dont bunch up. Any track will be just that much more stable on it compared to knap carpet.

My last one was 38" x 6' oval, they had bigger and smaller. (Target or Walmart?)

fastrack and remote control...doesnt matter which your preference. But remote control  with one engine and one accessory

Well, the seven year old came over this evening, and this thread was very helpful. He had a great time running the trains with the handheld, and enjoyed loading and unloading the train with dinosaurs, eggs, some barrels from the barrel loader, some cows, etc.   Over time we added two more gondolas, and started delivering items to various industries on the layout.  Next time' I'll have some 3 x 5 cards as Doug suggested with simple train "orders" that he will be able to read and follow.

Thanks for all of the great ideas, and, I will continue to implement more of them as time goes on.

Sunday Note:  After watching how the 7 year old plays with the trains, I just added several of the items from pages, 140 to 141, of the 2016 Lionel Ready To Run Catalog.  

Some of those should make great loads for the gondolas.  I'm sure MTH would have some fun items, but, the Lionel catalog was handy!

OGR's friendly competitor, CTT, has an excellent article in the January,  2017 issue titled: "A knockout Marx display surfaces after 75 years." In the article, there is a beautiful recreation of a Marx display layout designed for the 1940 Holiday season.  The compact layout in the display would make an excellent "stage" for playing trains with a 7 year old, or, an adult for that matter.  The layout discusses model train "operations" in some detail, down to the required whistle signals by the engineer. Interestingly, my rebuilt layout (deleting duck-unders), which is a modified dog bone, has two end sections that are very similar to this Marx display layout, given the placement of sidings on each end of the layout.

On Saturday, I had a wonderful time playing trains with each of the three boys, ages 7, 5, and 2.7 years.  I used many of the excellent suggestions in the posts in this thread.  The 7 year old was conducting "operations" on the main line, delivering  various items of Micheal's "craft wood" to different industries.   I had created 3 X 5 cards with train "orders" as suggested above, and, reading the cards,  he delivered loads of craft sticks ("lumber"), blocks of wood, spools, balls, etc.  To simplify operations, I had also made up cardboard number signs for the pick-up and delivery points.

The 5 year old played with the new Lionel Dinosaur set for a while, lost interest after about 20 minutes, and occupied himself with the 20 or so new hot wheels cars on the Snow Village, cobblestone roadways.  These roadways are located on the edges of the three sides of the center section of the layout, giving easy access for play. (These Hot Wheels cars replaced my 1/43 scale, 50's era, die-cast autos, including a stunning, gold-colored Tucker.)    

The 2 year old was in his mom's lap, on a padded barstool, loading and unloading dinosaurs and eggs into the Lionel Dinosaur gondola.  With a little guidance, he did quite a nice job operating the train with the remote.  His mom had so much fun watching "her boys" that she managed to snap several excellent photos of the three "rail-fan" sons having a great time.  In this regard, the 5 year old is a HUGE Percy fan (Thomas the Train).  I understand that Mrs. Claus has spoken with Santa, asking him to bring me a Lionel Percy engine for Christmas.  [I also have inside information that Mario's Trains is working directly with Santa to make this wish come true!]   

Thanks for all of the helpful suggestions as they are really making for a great time with the boys, and, delighting their Mom in the process.  I plan to implement more of the suggestions in the future, and have printed this entire thread for future reference.

Dennis,

It sure sounds all had a good day. 20 minutes is a good length of time for the 5 year old on one "toy". Really good you that had the next one right there. (cars).

It's fun to observe how their attention and focus will vary on different train days.

I know that they will be looking forward to more train days.

Your a good friend, Dennis.

Dennis, your last post about playing with the train with your boys and their mom was a pleasure to read. If my prior post was the motivation for you to buy the train set, well that's makes me feel good.

Just a word of caution here. Going by the Lionel parts break downs, the motor on your engine "appears" to be identical to those used in the prior production Industrial Switcher, but it does have a totally different part number, so I'm inclined to think the motor may not have the same specifications.

Those Industrial Switchers (or Vulcan, as Lionel also calls them) are light weight pullers, as is out of the box. On the older issue ones I have, the motor is the same used in many starter set locos including the die-cast 4-4-2 steamer. I remove the circuit board reverse and run them on DC current so I can add weight to the chassis. They'll now pull a 10 car train, which they would not do before. I also then can remove the traction tire so I get less stalling on switch tracks.

According to the Lionel parts break down, there are now 3 added weights to your Dinosaur switcher. Previously, they only had one.

So if you're going to add cars to the train, stick to the lighter weight cars with plastic trucks and fast angle wheels.

Despite some glitches that have been written about, most of the comments and reviews of the new LionChief train sets have been very positive. Let's hope Lionel maintains some quality on these starter sets as they are the business card to the future.

Very nice to read your family experience... that's what it is all about!

I have just ordered that Lionel Dinosaur Diesel LionChief RTR Set for our three-year-old grandson. I am sure it will be a fine starter for him at his home. The cars are like Thomas only have single axle trucks and there is no front and rear trucks on the engine so placing the train on the track will be easy for him. He knows full well how to operate the CW-80 and Thomas on the child side of our layout. We are always looking for plastic toys that will fit into gondola cars but for him if it fits,,,it is a load.

They love buttons and switches and I have plenty on the main side of the layout. It is easy to tell his goal is to master the ZW and control panel. He already has most of it figured out. So my advice is just let them go and don’t have anything on the main lines you don’t want gravity to get.

Make some simple car cards and set up a switching puzzle.    You will have him hooked for life.

brianel_k-lineguy posted:

Dennis, your last post about playing with the train with your boys and their mom was a pleasure to read. If my prior post was the motivation for you to buy the train set, well that's makes me feel good...According to the Lionel parts break down, there are now 3 added weights to your Dinosaur switcher. Previously, they only had one....So if you're going to add cars to the train, stick to the lighter weight cars with plastic trucks and fast angle wheels.

Despite some glitches that have been written about, most of the comments and reviews of the new LionChief train sets have been very positive. Let's hope Lionel maintains some quality on these starter sets as they are the business card to the future.

Very nice to read your family experience... that's what it is all about!

To Brainel:

Thanks for the kind note, brianel!  

Your  post on another thread was definitely the motivation for me to buy the Lionel Dinosaur Set, and, the boys love playing with it..  [ I also threw caution to the wind, and bought the Lionel Pet Shop Set for $60, although I am saving the set for the next visit.   The track alone is likely worth half of that price . ]

I will also follow your direction as to the types of cars to use on this locomotive. I added a couple of the newly released, uncatalogued Lionel gondolas, and was surprised that the little engine pulled the whole consist.

Additionally, I have several of the LionChief+ locos, and love them.  In fact, LC+ is all the seven year old and the five year old use on the layout.  I set the ZW-L to a speed that won't allow the trains to go off the track at full speed, and then let the boys  run the trains, couple and uncouple the  cars, blow the whistle operate the bell, and, initiate the dialog sounds.  They love it!!!  The smaller handheld is perfect for their smaller hands.

In conclusion, thanks again for the thoughtful note, and, for the super helpful "lead" to the two Lionel sets.  I just went on Amazon yesterday and ordered some "Dinosaur Eggs" that will open, and,  some dinosaur figures that are designed to specifically fit into the eggs -- the "hatchlings".   ]

To PRRJIM:

Great idea as to the switching puzzle.  I'll have to find the reference to the classic switching puzzle from the HO world.  I'm sure that the 7 year old will love the idea.

KRM posted:

I have just ordered that Lionel Dinosaur Diesel LionChief RTR Set for our three-year-old grandson. I am sure it will be a fine starter for him at his home. The cars are like Thomas only have single axle trucks and there is no front and rear trucks on the engine so placing the train on the track will be easy for him. He knows full well how to operate the CW-80 and Thomas on the child side of our layout. We are always looking for plastic toys that will fit into gondola cars but for him if it fits,,,it is a load.

They love buttons and switches and I have plenty on the main side of the layout. It is easy to tell his goal is to master the ZW and control panel. He already has most of it figured out. So my advice is just let them go and don’t have anything on the main lines you don’t want gravity to get.

KRM, you are correct, the single axle trucks make placement of the cars and re-railing much easier for the younger children.  As to loads,  as noted above, I just went on Amazon yesterday and ordered some colored plastic Easter Eggs - Dinosaur Eggs - that will open, and,  some dinosaur figures that are designed to specifically fit into the eggs -- the "hatchlings".    (Both the 7 year old and the 5 year old tried to open the colored eggs that came with the Lionel Dinosaur set, since they are both veterans of the annual Easter Egg hunt at a local school, with eggs that open and have candy or a prize inside.)

Good to hear the the three-year old can run the CW-80.  That will be helpful with the Lionel Percy locomotive that  I hear santa may be bringing.  So far, we have only used the LionChief or LionChief + locos with remotes.

Mrs Clause? You must mean Fay.  My Grandpa always talked about how pretty Santa's Fay was to observe in  passenger cars on the layout; but I could never find her (for real, and you KNOW the adults ran with that snipe hunting joke, lol)

High speed derailments teaches physics, and restraint....or regret if your plastic Alco breaks. (Maybe later after some battle scars are there, or on a cheap cast loco, or a $15 MPC special, eh?)

This has been a fun thread. You should keep it going for family posterity on their progressions....and our curiosity

Adriatic posted:

This has been a fun thread. You should keep it going for family posterity on their progressions....and our curiosity

Adriatic,

Thanks for the very thoughtful note!  

I too am having a lot of fun as a result of the posts on this thread.

After watching the boys having so much fun, I'm going to set up a small switching layout by a wall, probably about 2' wide, or so.  I will add Lionel accessories like the milk car, etc. 

Norton posted:

I am surprised only a few hinted at operating accessories. I think a 7 year old is far beyond putting items into cars by hand. How about a gantry crane to do that? Coal and log cars can hold their interest for a while with lumber cars and their accessories being a little easier to clean up after.

 

Pete

Thanks Pete,

I'm going to give some accessories a try as you suggest.  The seven year old  seems very mature in terms of his ability to operate the train items responsibly.

A remote gantry crane says it all, lol. Its the ultimate accessory outside of the #175 rocket launcher. Anything that launches! Rockets, helicopters, on or in cars or stations.

   A simple water tower,.coal bin (even static, but black marbles make good kiddie coal) or diesel gas tanks & pumps, even made from old cars. The kids relate to fuel stops. A passenger car or two would give figures a place to "load into", (with a fast removal to behind the back as they load, lol.)

   For the very young, the newstand with "spot" watering the firehydrant hooked to a #90 is action without a need to load. etc. The luggage stations too. And/or adding a slide switch can provide constant operation, and/or a track switch to trigger it as the train passes. 

Automation isn't as hands on but does make for interesting running.

  Crossing gates are pretty cool to stop traffic at. Might as well start conditioning them to stop at them now The operatiing tower or signalman's shack are neat automatic accessories. #90s fit the bill here too.

  The lumber industry as a whole is the easiest to clean after, use, load, unload ,etc.

    The barrel and culvert pipe loaders are pretty easy to deal with. The culvert unloader is a bit finicky for the younger though.

  My personal favorite for quite night looping just watching the train was the bubbling oil derricks and operating pump soothingly click clacking away like a metronome.

  The automatic stops that are features on some stations are lots of fun too. Use with LC needs to be tought out though.(?)

Adriatic posted:

A remote gantry crane says it all, lol. Its the ultimate accessory outside of the #175 rocket launcher. Anything that launches! Rockets, helicopters, on or in cars or stations....

 

Thanks Adriatic,

Those are very helpful suggestions.  I think the Gantry Crane will be a great starting point, followed by the rocket launcher.  I remember that my "train buddy", oldest son, loved playing with the gantry crane as a child. When I was younger, I loved the Lionel rocket launching box car, and, had perfectly timed exploding a Plasticville building from a  launch point with a moving train.  

The slide switches are also a great idea.

The 7 year old came over for a sleepover last night.  As A Christmas gift to keep at our house, we had purchased the Lionel Polar Express Imagineering Set, the Crayola Set , and sufficient Imagineering Accessories to create either of the layouts pictured on page 9 of the Lionel 2016 Ready To Run Catalog.  We had thought that his 5 year old and 2 year old brothers would have the most fun building floor layouts and playing with these trains, and, that the 7 year old would occasionally join in on the fun.

The seven year old has been here for more than 24 hours, and has not yet asked to run the trains on the 3 rail layout downstairs!!  He has had an absolute blast building different layouts with the Lionel Imagineering track on the floor.  Even though these are "push and pull" sets, that has not deterred him from having a great time simply using his imagination.  He does occasionally need help properly mating two track sections, which can pose difficulty at times.  I'm quite impressed with the sophistication of the "freelanced" layouts that he constructs.  He will certainly have a significant head start on design when he starts building his own 3 rail layouts.

At times, we have had a Thomas The Tank DVD playing on the TV in the corner of the room, and he seems quite content to enjoy the Lionel Imagineering push and pull trains, taking breaks to watch a Thomas DVD.  It will be interesting to see if he makes it through tonight without asking to run the big layout.