Just a thought
Being twelve, I feel like I am getting a strange look from vet railroaders
(not to be stereotypical, I know some vets who have become some of my best friends-AND IM 12-haha)
Do the vets look down on us young modelers as if we are not serious about this hobby?
Teens: due you ever get this feeling?
Vets:What really is the deal about how we are looked at?
I hope I havent offended anyone, and im sorry if I did
Siddharth Agrawal
Hey railroadyoshi! As one of those old guys that has been in the hobby for close to 30 years and as a retired teacher, one of the things I really enjoy is sharing my layout with kids. I also like to help them out with ideas and info whenever possible. Us old guys are really no different than you younger modelers. We come in all shapes, sizes, and (Yep!) attitudes just like teens do. When I was your age my Mom once told me that as you get older you will find that your friends will be of all ages. I think that has been true for me. I have friends that are from your age up to over 90 years of age. Find and seek out those people that share your interests and will treat you with respect. Sounds like you are allready doing that. Good luck and enjoy your trains! [:D]
RailroadYoshi,
You’re young, and that’s unusual in this hobby. So others aren’t really going to have any experience in dealing with you. Give them time, listen a lot, and show that you aren’t going to break their $300 locomotives (generally by knowing not to touch them).
They’ll come around eventually. Basically you are going to have to earn a level of trust that most of us have gotten simply by living as long as we have.
And it isn’t limited to model railroading either.
I do not think so. I think they are happy there is young blood in the hobby. By the way I am 15. Feel free to IM me if you want to talk.
I agree with the earning the trust and how young people are unusual in this hobby.
I am glad to know though that there are lots of people very open to us teens.
Everyone is different.
Regards to evryone
Siddharth
My best guess is that the strange look you are getting is envy. You youngsters have your entire life ahead of you. For the people my age most of lifes big decisions have already been made. Your life is a blank book, ours have most of the pages written.
We also know, from having been there, that in a few years your intrests in model railroading will wane, you will become to busy writing those pages into the book of your lives. After a few decades some of you no longer young people will take back up the hobby and the youngesters of 2030 will be wondering why you are looking at them that way.
Don’t think that when I said envy I ment we wanted the chance to live our lives over again. I can only speak for myself but I have to say that I would not even change the mistakes I made getting here if it ment I ended up somewhere else.
I don’t want to offend you but I have to admit that sometimes people my age are a little amused remembering all the mistakes, screwups and awkward situations that we survived and that people your age are about to walk into head first like a closed patio door. Get back to me in 2030 and let me know if it is’t true.
Good luck. Enjoy the ride and as that great philosopher Red Green says “We are pulling for you cause we are all in this together”
No railroadyoshi. I personally don’t look down on younger model railroaders-as long as they’re serious and into the hobby, I’ll go out of my way to do everything I can to help them along. I think you’ll find that same answer in just about everyone you ask this question.
Best of luck to you.
trainluver1
Heck, those old farts out there think they may know it all, but some haven’t
climbed the grade yet.
I flunked MR #102.
Im glad to hear that so many are supportive of us as we are what will keep the hobby going
Bukwrm, im not offended at all
You have good points there
We encourage family memberships in our HO club, and have had members as young as 8 who are just as knowledgeable, if not more so, than the oldsters when it comes to both modeling and prototype railroads.
I remember being a teenage modeler (~1970’s), most people found my “excess enthusiasm” amusing, but of course there were one or two who looked down their noses at me. Much of that may have been ‘personal chemstry’ as the psychologists say, but the friendly ones greatly outnumbered the ‘grumps’ so I just shrugged them off and enjoyed the hobby.
BTW I still look back at those teen modeling days as some of the happiest I ever had, and I had a lot less trains and NO LAYOUT at all, go figure…?[:)]
I feel justified and validated
Good to hear the support
KID POWER!
I wont get cocky
(also kinda amazed so many people responded-woohoo!)
i am 14 and i do not get weird evil looks, heck i have some good old freinds that let me drive $13,000 locomotives(#4004 4-8-8-4 big boy G scale only 25 made in the hole world) and they enjoy having me around.
I’m 17 and I never feel like I’m looked down upon. Just hope I can get trains running on the layout by this time next year! ( Graduating Highschool)
Most of the trains on my tracks are from the layout I had when I was your age. They’ve been in boxes for most of my adult years, but now they are slowly being pulled out, upgraded to Kadee couplers, lubricated and put back in service. So, I know exactly where you are, and all I can say is, “Welcome aboard!”
You couldn’t have chosen a better hobby. Model Railroading teaches us about mechanical engineering and electrical engineering, mostly, but you’ll get a touch of chemistry when you’re painting an glueing, and probably some computer science as the hobby goes more and more digital. After spending my middle school and high school years workin’ on the railroad, I was ready for an engineering career starting at MIT, for which I give my experience with Atlas, Athearn and the others a great deal of credit. Without it, I would never have had the practical experience that came from my railroad. And now, I’m back in the cab, and I find that I’m really enjoying the artistic side of the hobby. Hydrocal castings are a blast, and getting just the right combination of paints to give me the color and texture I want is more satisfying than I could have imagined.
Shoot I am 34 and feel looked down at the LHS. I had to return a curved turnout that I miscalculated the radius required and I got that “did you pick the wrong code” statement.
Oh well
I take my kids with me sometimes to the model railroad club. Not long after i joined word got back to me that someone had said it wasn’t a kids club. I still take my kids with me, and they always behave(so far). I also always tell them to remember where they are and ask before they touch. Even though we are members i tell them to act as if they are guests. They both know at the ages of 8 and 10 that they have to earn some respect from the elder members before they get a lot of freedom. So far they are doing great, and making me proud. I know eventually they will make a mistake, on my part i hope it’s not too serious. I’ll pay for the damages and so will they with extra chores etc. It’s all part of growing up and we all do it. Sometimes we just forget where we came from.
When I first got into MR. I was much younger then you! And YES I did get very strange looks sometimes. Now that I’m much older I understand why people would give me those looks. People sometimes get nervous when they see young kids around and/or running trains. Most of the time its because they think you will break something or run a train at insane speeds or break their engine. Once they see you a few times, It will go away. They will see that you are mature and you will earn their trust. Don’t worry about it. Have fun with your trains! [:D]
All us geezers have to do is remember what it was like a hundred years ago being a teeny-bopper–some adults couldn’t care less, others were complete bully jerks, just like in real life, just respect yourself, you’ll be O.K.
i’m 13 and alot of people on this forum (like my friend Ken Larsen) appreciate my comments. I am in no way looked down upon.