Our Children & Trains

Our granddaughter was almost two when this video was taken.  She was exposed to grandpa's trains very early.  We gave her a Thomas locomotive and some old cars to pull around.  She is going on three now and has added Percy and Diesel to her collection.  She is getting to the age where she can put her imagination to work with the trains and other toys.  I agree with the thought that trains are helpful to the development of young children.  It allows their imaginations to develop and promotes problem solving, amongst other things.

Tom

Another GREAT thread Arnold!  It is simular in nature to the other current thread, "Sad tail-model trains vs. video games".  My daughter grew up watching trains in Texas with Dad.  We now live in Germany and even at 54 she still looks back with fondless when we'd go railfanning together when she was six.  My son on the other hand, grew up with his head in the clouds, e.i. loving airplanes. 

I thought he would seek a career in the airline industry but he ended up working in the health care business instead.  With the massive layoffs unfolding within the airline industry today as a result of Corona I believe he made the right choice afterall.

I've even changed my interest from following the railroads in Texas and Colorado to the Northeast.  If I had retained my health, I could see myself having returned to the States and hiring out on the Strasburg Rail Road.  I have fond memories when I switched boxcars for the Cotton Belt and the Santa Fe in the D/FW area as well as my years here in Germany on the Deutsche Bubdesbahn, but in 2020, the Strasburg RR has retained the charm of what railroading in the U.S.A. was like when I was growing up in Texas on my grandparents small patch of land in the country north of Dallas in the 1950s.  Perhaps only mom's apple pie is better?

True, all of the fine tourist railroads, worldwide, offer the same charm in their own way, but I really enjoy watching the Strasburg RR live on YouTube; not only making the passenger runs but interchanging revenue freight with the Norfolk Southern on the former Pennsylvania Railroad interchange at Paradise, PA.  What's really SUPER is when their Diesel switcher is down for repairs and the freight job is performed behind steam instead!  WOW!

Godspeed

Please Pray for World Peace

We owe it to our children and their children's children!

73

Joseph Toth Jr.

A bit of a photo essay...

My dad (and his mom) with his Grandfather’s train:

Me as a kid with the same train (just the engine in this pic)

My son with the same train:

Me as a conductor on a tourist train:

My son enjoying a DVD about trains:

My son enjoying a garden RR show:

My son, my wife, and my wife’s sister’s kids enjoying some trains on Labor Day weekend:

The kids really enjoyed the trains, and I really enjoyed sharing... definitely worth packing a tote with track, transformer, and trains for the trip...

There is definitely a genetic love of trains in my family... from my great grandfather down to me we have all worked for the railroad in one way or another...

My son is definitely interested in trains, I’m hoping that continues...

Yeah, I ended up being a Nuclear power technician in the Navy and then a mechanical engineer post Navy...

Yep, it started with me taking apart my dad's Marx trains and just about anything else to see how it worked.  That about sums it up.

@Richie C. posted:

True enough and sometimes you can even enjoy a meal with the little ones while waiting for the trains to come by !

This converted station near Palmer, MA - https://steamingtender.com/

It's something dad did with me, and something I did with my kids (between 8 and 17) and we still do it to this day.

As a matter of fact, there is a little restored depot where I live that is on the NS main line to Cincinnati, and there's also a fully restored caboose as part of a park / playground. The kids frequently ask if we can go meet grandpa at the train park to eat ice cream and watch trains.

We were just there yesterday!

@Steaming Jon posted:

A bit of a photo essay...

 

My dad (and his mom) with his Grandfather’s train:

Me as a kid with the same train (just the engine in this pic)

My son with the same train:

Me as a conductor on a tourist train:

My son enjoying a DVD about trains:

My son enjoying a garden RR show:

My son, my wife, and my wife’s sister’s kids enjoying some trains on Labor Day weekend:

The kids really enjoyed the trains, and I really enjoyed sharing... definitely worth packing a tote with track, transformer, and trains for the trip...

There is definitely a genetic love of trains in my family... from my great grandfather down to me we have all worked for the railroad in one way or another...

My son is definitely interested in trains, I’m hoping that continues...

Love this!

@Dennis Holler posted:

Yeah, I ended up being a Nuclear power technician in the Navy and then a mechanical engineer post Navy...

Yep, it started with me taking apart my dad's Marx trains and just about anything else to see how it worked.  That about sums it up.

Love this too!

Our grandchildren came to visit to celebrate my birthday,  I bought Dad, son and myself matching PRR t-shirts at the Altoona Railroad Museum a couple of years ago- fortunately I bought his big enough to "grow into"!!

My grandson has and likes his Lionel around-the-tree starter set layout.  So, he loves to come and "run grandpa's trains".   

His sister shows promise, too.

@Mike Wyatt posted:

Our grandchildren came to visit to celebrate my birthday,  I bought Dad, son and myself matching PRR t-shirts at the Altoona Railroad Museum a couple of years ago- fortunately I bought his big enough to "grow into"!!

My grandson has and likes his Lionel around-the-tree starter set layout.  So, he loves to come and "run grandpa's trains".   

His sister shows promise, too.

 

 

 

Wonderful

This is our 14 year old when he was 2-3 years old. This was our layout at the old house.  It had an inner conventional loop and the outer TMCC loop with some action. These were fun times.

Had my two boys into trains when they were young. They got interested in other things as they got older. But, I now have grandchildren, five boys and a girl on the way. I built a layout for the grandsons  and they love it. I put each if their names on a building. Ollie likes M&Ms. He calls them "2Ms". So, I named his building "Oliver's 2Ms", a factory making the product. Callum is only 16 months and can't say what he likes yet. But, he is always smiling. So, I named his building "Callum's Smile Factory".

I'm not sure how long the fun will last. There is a lot of competition for their attention these days. But, we're going to have fun while it lasts. I'm sure they will never forget about grampa and his trains.

Nice to see all the Family pix and quotes. Looking forward to winter and Christmas-themed pix and stories, maybe pretty soon? With all the Covid "stop" signs in our lives and minds, why not just wing it and have lots of fun pulling out old photos or recent ones that are fun to look at and share?