I think that model railroading and rail-fanning go hand in hand and that a life-long interest in both develops at an young age. When I operate the Plywood Empire Route today I [mostly] see the trains and action I saw and watched as a kid. I couldn't name all the locations up close and personal on railroad property Dad and I haunted when I was a kid. No one thought anything of us watching trains a few feet from the track. Crews were friendly, especially to interested kids. I have an early childhood memory of being in the cab of a Santa Fe F (by myself, Dad handed me up to the crew) and watching the Engineer notching up the throttle (Click...Click...Click) and feeling the floor begin to shake as the 567 just behind the bulkhead loaded and began to rev up. Then we we began to move. We only moved a few feet (I surmise for the train behind to clear the switch at the other end of the siding). THAT Golden Age is long passed and the only experience with trains available to ordinary kids today is a video on YouTube. The every-Summer six to eight thousand mile rail vacation trips of my youth are out of reach for most families today. Rail-fanning has thus become largely an elitist pastime for the monied leisure-class. I think without a base of life-long rail fans the pastime and hobby of model railroading will fade. Just my two cents worth.
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