I want to chime in, because I wrote an email to EDTCA some time ago asking for a rule change to allow single width strollers and I believe this may have been the impetus for the rule change. I understand others may differ, but it is not my intention to argue with people on the internet but simply to set forth why I asked for the rule change.
First, I enjoy O gauge trains, my wife supports the hobby, and we have two boys (4 and 6) who also really enjoy trains. My wife and I are of the view that children must be well behaved and must understand that they cannot just grab things that aren't theirs. Moreover, while we think our kids are cute, I don't expect you to think they are cute. So we aren't raising brats. That being said, I've gone to York for a long time, and we like to make it a family event. So how does one do a family meet at York with little kids without a stroller? We can't stay together in the halls (wife watches kids, kids don't go, etc) or we have to keep them under control in the halls. With a single width stroller (we use a dual stroller that is no wider than a single width stroller), you can keep the kids in the stroller, under control. They can see the trains, we can keep them in check and out of people's way. In this manner, strollers are certainly no worse than the power chairs that have become quite common and in many instances, are far less of an obstacle than the chairs.
Second, the demographic of the hobby is aging. We have many conversations here about attracting the young people into the hobby. We also talk about this being a great family hobby. And yet we had a rule that makes it pretty clear that families and children don't belong at York I accept that York isn't the penultimate train show for kids -- an operating show would be better -- but it is something I attended as a kid and that probably led me to stay with the hobby because it is such a train spectacle. It still blows my mind today after so many years. My boys really love going as well. Point is that if you want to talk about bringing young people into the hobby and into TCA, and if you want to talk about trains being a family hobby, there is at least some inconsistency in having a rule that makes it impracticable for young families to attend. Moreover, by effectively excluding kids, you are excluding their 30-40 year old parents as well -- again, driving people away who I would think you would want to try to involve in TCA and the hobby generally.
Finally, I hear the complaints about stroller width, ankles, etc. I understand the concern. But the problem with these issues, with all respect, isn't strollers per se but it is inconsiderate people. I've run into people at York who go down the aisles the wrong way, people in power chairs who block the aisles completely, people driving too fast in the lots, etc. I also run into jerks in jogging strollers that are the width of a Smart car. I get it. From the perspective of stopping rude behavior, however, the answer there is to have the hall personnel rectify these situations, not just exclude whole classes of people. That is not the way to grow the show, the TCA, or the hobby generally. I understand that there may be a segment of TCA, perhaps older and either with grown kids or perhaps without kids, who simply don't want to be bothered, but with all respect if TCA doesn't branch out and get younger people involved in the show, the organization, and the hobby, TCA is going to die out in the next 10-20 years. Accepting strollers at York is a small but meaningful commonsense measure that will encourage families and children to attend the show.
