I'm currently planning a setup in HO scale, and while it is mostly to satisfy the need to give my modeling "purpose" (I have until now only built models for the modeling sake), I'd like to make it
a fun addition to the whole family with kids included. My main concern is how to deal with those young enough to enjoy it, but not old enough to realize the sensitivity of it all. It will be
impossible to restrict access to the setup, and I don't want to do that either. Therefore, I'm curious if anyone have some ingenious ideas on how to make a setup less vulnerable to eager kids?
There are a couple of approaches that come to mind. Play with the kids. You'll only get this one chance, and they will learn respect for the layout by seeing your respect for the layout and models.
Designed as a point-to-point, but also built in a way so that the kids could run the trains on a continuous run loop. Not to by expensive locomotives. The other thing that comes to mind is that they
are as much interested in running matchbox cars along the model roads as they are in the trains; the train sometimes is just a backdrop.
Define a kid area.
Make the front 16" easy to reach. Keep it clear of telegraph poles, permanent trees, etc. Anything an elbow or forearm can brush into will get broken off. Put your better (as in more fragile)
structures toward the back of the layout. Unless you have an island layout or a walk around table type, the children won't be able to reach these structures.
Put houses, fence sections, woodpiles, carts, etc in the kid zone. Glue down nothing. Have enough pieces for this area that a third of it is always on a nearby shelf.
Light a couple buildings up front, but put enough wire in them that they can get knocked over, repositioned an inch or so, etc.
Be sure to have at least 2 switches in front, close enough to the edge that the kids can really get to them. If they can see a couple up close, they'll leave the others alone. They want to learn
about them, and they won't break them very often.
Get lots of people and animals for the front area, plastic only, of course. Try to always keep half or more of them off the layout, on the shelf with the extra buildings and scenery items. Avoid
metal! No metal people or animals anywhere on the layout (they'll want the one guy they can't have), no metal scenery items in the kid zone.
Put a road on the outside edge in the kid zones. That gives them a nice smooth surface to put elbows, toddler friends' fingers, etc. It becomes the shelf and staging area for the various pieces they
want to set up on the layout.
Give each kid their own personal locomotive or car with their names emblazoned on the tender and their birth dates as the loco's number with a pink stack and trimmed tender for the girls and a blue
for the boys. Yes, these will not work for the high prototype railroad in your dreams but the kids will not know and have pride in theirsJ
Buy some "dummy" engines. Setting these up on the outer track lets five and three year olds to push their train. Give them some boxcars a tank car and caboose and let them go.
A couple of rules to remember when you involve the kids:
1. If you don't want it broken, don't put it on the railroad.
2. Have the children help decide what (with your approval) to buy.
3. Don't put the delicate parts on the model.
4. Define the "Kidspace".
5. Leave plenty of rolling room along the edge for toy autos.
6. Don't yell if they break something. Show them what you have to do to fix it.
7. Let them build "Snap Tite" models to put on the railroad.
8. Buy an Athearn engine. Its top speed is usually low enough that full throttle won't derail it on curves.
9. Buy the children Brio, so they can make their own layouts on the floor.
10. Expect damage. It is a fact of life.
11. Make sure that they understand that if you are not in the room, they cannot run the trains.
12. If they start to experiment with putting the transformer plug in to the socket, make sure to show them the correct way to NOT electrocute themselves. (While telling them that you have to be in
the area to supervise.)
13. Keep a sense of humor. If the kids do something unusual, try to make positive comments about what they did.
14. Let them experiment with putting some pieces of track together. Let them make some screw connections of the wire from the power pack to the track. (If they don't get it right, show them gently
how to do it.)
15. If they have trouble starting something, start it for them, but let them finish it. You check it out, and make sure to give them a compliment on the job they did. (Then sit back and watch them
beam).
16. DON'T CRITIZE THEM FOR MISTAKES. You want this to be a life long hobby for them. If it isn't fun, and they don't feel good about it, they will turn away from it.
17. If they want to do something that you know won't work, (as long as there will be no lasting damage) let them try it. (For example, they want to make a 5-inch radius turn. You know that nothing
you have will be able to run on it. Let them tack down a piece of flex in the radius they want, wire it up and try to run an engine on it. You can show them some of the dynamics of the locomotive,
and why particular wheelbases need the radius that they do.
18. If the kids build a model and are happy with the way it looks put it in the kid zone to show it off.
19. Have a speed limiting system on the system. A piece of yellow tape on the transformers which marks their top speed will work
20. If you are using snap switches, use a capacitor discharge system.
21. Do not ignore the rivet counters when they say that something looks like a little kid made. Stand up and say sure enough my little one made that and doesn't it look good? If the kids are within
earshot, they will be proud that you think their stuff is goodJ
22. Every now and then there will be locomotive race, and if you are good you will even win some of the races.