I had a small collection of Postwar/MPC trains and a modest Hi-Rail layout before we had children. Our daughter never showed any interest in the trains (other than ratting me out when I bought a new car of locomotive) Our son enjoyed watching them run when he was little, but never caught the bug. It didn't take long after the kids got involved with sports and other activities that I, too, lost interest in the trains. There was about a two year period that I never even walked into the train room. I had several years of CTT magazines that I had never looked at. After several years of helping coach Little League and Pony League Baseball I was ready to get back into the hobby again. I now have 3R O scale equipment, but I packed all of the old stuff away. Both kids are now college graduates. Our daughter just recently got married. I have had both of them ask if their kids will get trains someday. You bet they will. The ones they ran when they were kids.
Dismantle the layout. Keep the trains. This hobby is a non curable disease. The itch will return in a few years, and it will return with a vengeance.
Tom
