Hi everyone,
I would like to know any successes your train group has made in getting youth active in
railroading. I don’t see alot of youth at train shows anymore. I believe the hobby is losing out
to RC planes, RC cars, X-Box, and WI. We need to do something about this.
Thanks,
Chris
Take some kids down to the tracks to watch a train go by up close. The ones that go “Ooooooo!” are hooked. Trains used to go down the center of every town so most every kid saw them growing up. Bet you could chart interest in the hobby just on how many kids got to see trains.
WHY?
I think it is loosing ou
Pick a hobby, any hobby, and go to a message board for it. Find the thread about “the kids they don’t do this!”
Well turns out young people, by and large, have different interests than people in the workforce. Not particularly surprising. For instance, Reflector, the Astronomical League’s magazine, recently had a cover piece on, you guessed it, young people and not being amateur astronomers.
Really? A hobby that requires absolute control of your schedule, ability to be out really late at night, and invest a small fortune in equipment doesn’t attract young people? Color me not surprised.
I see a completely different issue with the young (and I mean not teenagers but toy playing years) eschewing toys that secretly train them to be engineers and problem solvers.
And the last of these scattered, rambling thoughts…it is possible to have more than one hobby. Instead of demonizing other hobbies, try to coexist with them. Is model railroading my primary hobby? As far as lifetime expenditure probably. But I also love my xbox, am anxiously waiting for the weather to improve so I can waste so many hours at the local driving range (they have a full restaurant and full bar and they bring the food RIGHT TO YOU its amazing), slowly putting together a full set of equipment so I can play hockey, would indulge my amateur astronomy more if I didn’t live in a major city, and am thinking about adding curling to the mix.
I went to a show yesterdayand there were quite a few young folks there, teenage and under. Even noticed that one dealer gave a young person a very good deal on a few items, I think, hoping to keep him hooked on the hobby. One woman asked me a question as we looked at the vegetable garden in front of us. I gave her a simple reply on how to make the kind of road that was in front of us. She thanked me and said I’d just made her 8 year old son happy. He and his slightly older sister were staring at the trains and dad seemed happy that it was a reasonably priced option. Got the idea that mom and son may be the active modelers, but the other two seemed to be enjoying too.
Overall the show was the most crowded I have seen it in over 10 years of attending. I do agree, there are a lot of distractions for young folks, there were for me, but the seeds were planted young and I made it back. Wish I had had better luck with my children and grandchildred, but there is still time.
Have fun,
Richard
Relax, Chris. There’s a lot of competition out there for kids’s attention, but the trains are more than holding their own. The diversity of products, quality of craftsmanship, and gallimaufry of people partaking are higher than I’ve seen it in 30 years. Our hobby is not going away.
For piqueing a kid’s interest, consider John Allen’s Timesaver:
http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/sw-timesaver.html
Yes, yes, I can hear the veterans groaning already, but the Timesaver is simple, fun, and addictive. Just the thing to get the Wiibox or Ploystation shoved aside for a while.
Stu
nobodies missing out, I’m subbed to a pair of gentlemen younger than myself on youtube, even my coworkers (some who are in their 20’s) are interested. Why not have more than one thing one likes to do, I like my xbox, Ipod, and my Playstation portable. But my trains (even though I’m still new to this) are higher on the pecking order, as long as locos, buildings, rolling stock, and other things one needs to have a model railroad are still being made we’re fine.
I just got home from a train show. We have nothing to worry about as far as I am concerned. I engaged many kids, teens and their Mom’s in conversation. I sense our hobby needs to be rediscovered by some of the “parents” that had been dragged by their kids to the show rather than the kids themselves.
Hey guys,
Thank you for your replies advising that the sky will indeed remain suspended above us. I grow weary of doomsday prophets and your replies a like fresh air.
Keeps your sticks on the ice.
Dwayne A
Well let’s take a cue fr
My grandson likes his WII, his Legos, etc. He has also enjoyed our mutual effort in trains, driven much by my enthusiasm, starting with a Thomas setup (on my much better frame), then a 4’ x 6’ HO layout based on a Bachmann set. We’ve enjoyed enhancing that together, which required me in the hobby, not just him (he’s now 11). We also had a blast chasing the UP 4-8-4 #844 through Texas a couple of times. I can’t worry about where things trend over time, but the hobby is a great opportunity for now and the youth will ultimately make their choices.
I can comment that my experience long ago included being the junior member of an adult RR club in HS years. But I had first gotten into the hobby on my own, probably an extension of our family Christmas Lionel setup. I do think train shows are an important contirbution to the community. I can also say I’ve noticed one neat bridge from the old to the new…the Lego trains that we have seen at shows are most impressive and enthrall the young kids (and me). I could get hooked on that.
Another angle, as I’ve gotten back to the hobby recently with my grandson’s layout and my own (started last year) I might say I’m impressed with the current state of many things. MR is still a solid magazine (apparently not going the way of many, at least soon), the hobby has many of the old standby items still available (Atlas track & controllers, etc) plus many improvements…DCC, a solid Walthers catalog, good internet vendors like modeltrainstuff.com, this Forum, etc.
An interesting thread, I agree that our personal love of the hobby should cause us to ask (as the OP) what will help younger folks exposure to it…they will decide what their hobbies will be. Time will tell, but fun in the meantime.
I stongly feel that the best way to reach youth(s) is to go to them. School presentations, donations of back issues to school libraries (even if just as prizes for good behavior or those who show an interest), scouting, etc.
It’s also relatively easy for hobby shops to hold or at least offer a class on how to get started. After school or early evening club running, loco testing on their test track, buying and building as a seminar/clinic, something like Woodland Scenic’s layout kits (although they often have very steep grades) as part of a package price.
Taking kids to see real trains first and VERY shortly after, exposing them to the possibility that they could model something representative of that.
In the old days, when school field trips were more common and affordable, clubs who round robin, could have a tour of area layouts using school buses and see real trains in one day. It could be tied into the curriculum in many different ways (physics of motion, acoustics (doppler effect), art, music, writing skills, etc. etc.
If that can no longer occur, bringing a Time Saver Puzzle around for one “announced” day after school (with refreshments-pizza always works) can get a few kids started who will tell other kids for the next time.
I was a school teacher for many years and I have done a bit of all of the above with some success stories resulting. (Kids who came back to MRing later in life). KIds won’t get interested in anything they can’t see, touch or at least get exposed to.
These days, tying in Train Simulation/Driving programs/games can be the lst attraction and as long as a modeling component/make and take is included you CAN get kids interested and even have some become lifelong (or at least returning) model railroaders.
Jim
My youngest is 19-year-old daughter. As I was putting my first (any only) layout together, she showed a polite interest, “That’s nice, Dad.” Then I let her run the train, using the turnouts (all Kato remote switches) and she was genuinely interested. When she has friends over, she knows says, “Hey Dad, show them your trains!” Bottom line, I think experiencing the hobby is the first step. Just watching isn’t enough, especially in today’s world.
As a youth with an HO 4x8, I can ass
As many have said above, it’s all about the active participation.
Yeah, but that’s true of virtual every hobby. Your upfront costs are often enormous. I spent a good $800 just to get enough gear together for stick and puck, not even full blown hockey. Probably another $500 to get the rest of the gear, then its time to pay for ice time and all that. I’ll admit that cost is why I was 30 before I made the move from street hockey in my teens to ice hockey…
Of course, that’s without getting to hobbies like…being a private pilot and dropping $230,000 on a Cessna 182.
Are there cheaper hobbies too? Well yeah, obviously. But the other day I went out and got Forza Horizon for my xbox. Spent as much as one of those nice Exactrail TTX boxcars I like. So model railroading isn’t REALLY that far out of the range of a lot of mainstream hobbies. And your $300 matches the original launch cost of an xbox 360.
I, too, can’t wait until I am old enough to have both. (I turn 53 on Tuesday.) [;)]
Time, money, or space. Seems like we always have to pick 2.
I’m just getting back into the hobby after a long absence (but I did buy a PS3 and other toys in that time). It does help to have the extra disposable income to immediately plunk down serious change for something you really want. Still no space for a real layout yet, but currently building up the fleet.
Actually, I wouldn’t say that “railroads have all but dropped from the public eye.” In fact, there are more of them today that there were 25 years ago. Yes many freight railroads have merged or been absorbed over the last quarter century,but trains as a whole are running more often than they used to.
The biggest change are commuter rail operations - nearly every large metropolitan area has a commuter rail system or is planning one. Commuter rail systems are the new passenger roads. Thousands of people ride them every day to and from work. They are VERY visible in the public eye.
In many corridors, Amtrak has seen a rise in ridership, particularly in the east and west coasts.
In other corridors, high speed rail is a current topic. Also, many cities boast light rail, heavy rail and/or streetcar operations, and more are being built. Not too many of them were around 25 years ago.
And though there are only four major railroads in the US, international trade has brought on an increase of freight traffic, especially intermodal traffic.
One thing I’ve noticed both attending shows and being in a train club (before moving and poor health prevented me from joining another one) is how unfriendly and unapproachable many modelers seem. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen somebody interested at a show ask a question and get frowned out. When a kid asks a man old enough to be his grandfather something and gets a frown and the body language of “you’re bothering me” that doesn’t help anybody.