Morning All !
Yesterday was a big Success Only one minor problem
A piece of Ballast that kept a turnout from closing but that was a quick fix
Then the layout ran for 5 hours flawlessly
There were 7 kids that accompanied their parents and I let them
all run trains.
At one point there were 5 kids sharing 3 throttles and they made up their own impromptu operating session running passenger trains and stopping
them at various points to let passengers on and off
I was very please to see them having such fun. They ran trains for over an Hour
None of them wanted to leave.
I’m glad to hear the open house was a success! I told you I’d keep Mr. Murphy away; I managed to have him break a point rail out of a turnout, rendering my entire layout to severly restricted traffic flow until a replacement can be found…[banghead]
As long as big things fascinate small children, I’m pretty sure the hobby is safe. Thomas and Friends have done quite a bit to make my six and four year olds find the trip to the ‘train store’ an exciting adventure every time.
My brother took my nephew to a train show locally to them and his son played with that small switching setup and talked about it for hours. Unfortunately it was not enough to get my Dad to drag his collection out and start working on it. He always promised us when he retired he get them out. Has a HO collection that has engines & rolling stock purchased from the 60s to the late 80s. First time I had a job as a teenager I got him the Big Boy that he always drooled over at our LHS while I was growing up. Have yet to see that run