Toys he’ll keep forever? Not if you actually let him touch them!
Part of why toy-train stuff is made so cheaply is because young boys are pretty much the most destructive force in the universe if you happen to be a toy. The only toys that survived my childhood were things that were too sturdy, too simple or simply too tough to break. Toys that survive the clumsy mishandling of a toddler and the curiosity of the pre-adolescent often fall victim to the adolescent’s love of seeing things set on fire, smashed with baseball bats or blown up with firecrackers.
Model railroad items are NOT made with play durability in mind. They are detailed models, intended for use by adults or at least by older children. Even the so-so mid-range model railroad equipment is not built to tolerate rough grabbing by a child, let alone burial in the back yard, impromptu conversion to Space Rocket X-1, or being used to bash one’s little sister upside the head.
If you got a couple bargain-priced Bachmann locos on eBay, then assume they will be intact until he is dextrous enough to get up there and turn the equisitely detailed steam engine and tender into a pair of highly impractical nunchuks, and enjoy them while they are there. Start an Educational IRA or buy him a savings bond if you want to give him something he’ll use in twenty years.
And, of course, if this is really Dad’s toy, then play with them and let Junior watch and help out in whatever capacity he can. Just stop fooling yourself into thinking this is Junior’s toy, not yours.
I dunno…maybe your child is a perfect angel and not maniacal little hooligans like my brother and I were when we were kids. We both got into trains and modeling because our dad had so much fun with his layout and was eager to share the experience with us when we were old enough. If he was overly dismayed when we painted racing stripes on his favorite passenger engine, or experimented with weathering techniques by dipping boxcars in mud in th