My Mom has been teaching nursery school since 1947 (and hasn't retired yet!). Her experience is that of a class of 30 kids, 2 or 3 will be fascinated by trains. These statistics have been unchanged since she started teaching, despite the tremendous decrease in the railroads' visible presence in daily life. So the raw material is there. Its up to us to help them get involved and stay involved. I agree with other writers' comments - offer a good program with good people, and let them have as much responsibility as they can safely handle.


doug.w.debs@lmco.com

It's good to see this topic come up, I think it deserves some thought and discussion. I am 20 years old and have been a railfan my whole life. I'm not sure how I got into it, no one in my family is really into the hobby, I suppose living four blocks from Conrail's busy Chicago line in northern IN had something to do with it. Railfans of my age group have a few things going against them that the old hats didn't have to worry about:
1. Simply put, it IS NOT COOL to be a railfan in your teens. Unless you're lucky, you don't have any peers to discuss your passion with.
2. The older railfans, for the most part, don't think we know anything about trains and therefore, have no business calling ourselves railfans. For example, I tried to strike up a conversation with a member from the Monon Hist. Society, he avoided the discussion. I'm sorry if I didn't fire a steamer on the Hoosier line, but I still have some ideas. Besides, how else am I supposed to learn? I've also run into this bias at local museums. It's not that I don't want to help, the problem is that some old timers don't want the help. They want to keep their exclusive club until they die.
3. There isn't a common cause to organize the teens and 20's. The steamers are gone, the diesels are boring and we have 6 or 7 class 1's to photograph.
4. Back to the bias, if I were a "normal" young man, I would ride up to the railroad museum on a skate board while wearing baggy pants, nose rings, backwards hat, colored hair and listening to rap! I would be a jerk with no respect for elders and I would probably vandalize something.
Older railfans probably said the samething about the hippie generation, they turned out fine, didn't they?
5. We know differently, but the American public tells us that railraods are a dying industry that is nothing but a pain in the butt.
Now this sounds bad for our generation, but for every grumpy old man I've run into, I have befriended 20 decent railfans. I still run into train crews that offer cab rides and are thrilled to see some young people involved in railroading. The secret is, don't get turned off to the hobby because of one selfish, grumby, old man. To the older guys, be patient, teach us what you know, this is a hobby that relies on the sharing of knowledge.

Mike Stickel
Bloomington, IN

masticke@indiana.edu

On of the joys of this avocation is the ability to be in contact with younger people starting out and seeing railroading preservation and restoration through a younger set of eyes.

This hobby gave me added years with my children, a stong and uncommon bond with an interest focus outside of normal family activity. Their freinds became my friends and on more than one day the hobby became a saving grace because of them.

Don't look down on youth. They are better educated then we were, and have had the benefit of infinitly more RR source literature than those of us who grew up in the 40's and 50's with only TRAINS and RAILROAD, BEEBE, & HARRINGTON. They are far more knowledgable then we were and have much more to offer as the result of their intellect and courosity as well as the flood of media available to them.They have given all of us the numbers,energy,and skills to do what we enjoy!

Mike,
Iffen ya have any interest in narrah gauge Raylroadin, jes drawp by the Dead Goat Saloon fer a lemonayde. We gawt a cuppla yung fellers ovur thur who culd shore uze th cumpany.
(No I'm not an illiterate redneck, its just an act, part of the "atmosphere" over there. The young guys do get teased a bit, especially for exhuberent "foaming", but they also get listened to.)

Narrow Gauge Dead Goat Saloon

I would most definitely agree with the general concept that it is important, if not vital, to start children out at a young age. My father went to the extreme in this regard by taking my mother to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania when she was pregnant with me! While this may be excessive (although it seems to have worked), I think that there ought to be more of an emphasis on young people than there is. In terms of general public perception, Thomas the Tank Engine is the best thing to happen to railway preservation in years. Traditional railway museums simply aren't in the public's mind, and don't have enough money to have a particularly good chance to enter it.
Another issue is the relationship between the "old-timers" and the younger ones in the railway preservation movement. I have been working at a railway museum since before I can remember, and have always been welcomed there. Most, if not all, of the older volunteers realize that it's up to younger folks like myself to carry on the torch in the years ahead. However, I know this isn't always the case; I have heard grim stories about older types trying to keep railway museums out of the hands of newer members as their own private 12":1' model railroad.
The solution? Well, there really isn't an easy one. Some of the things that might produce more of an interest with younger children might be seen as childish pandering to the more die-hard railway preservationists. So it is with Thomas; there were distinct reservations when our museum decided to host that program, most of them due to concern over its historical value. Well, sometimes the ends justify the means. If it's the best way to produce a generation of railfans that will be responsible for the continued existence of our museums, then I'm all for it.

I joined a relatively small museum when I was 13 years old. I can only recall two people in a core group of 25-30 volunteers that gave me any hassle about being a "punk kid." I used those perceptions as incentive to work harder, achieve more, and change perceptions. Those 2 individuals now respect me and I'd like to think I have a high level of respect in the organization. I must since I am chair of the Planning Committee and soon to be named museum secretary. I always believed in turning negative situations into positives, I like to be challenged. College studies have also taught me a lot on how to manage and motivate volunteer labor. One of the keys there I learned is that you need to find out what the individual's goals are and guide them in the proper direction so that they achieve the museums goals while attaining their own. Many museums just seem involved with attaining the organizations goals and fail to realize the need to help individual's achieve their own goals.

Michigan Transit Museum
sutterd@hotmail.com

> I would most definitely agree with the
> general concept that it is important, if not
> vital, to start children out at a young age.
> My father went to the extreme in this regard
> by taking my mother to the Railroad Museum
> of Pennsylvania when she was pregnant with
> me! While this may be excessive (although it
> seems to have worked), I think that there
> ought to be more of an emphasis on young
> people than there is. In terms of general
> public perception, Thomas the Tank Engine is
> the best thing to happen to railway
> preservation in years. Traditional railway
> museums simply aren't in the public's mind,
> and don't have enough money to have a
> particularly good chance to enter it.
> Another issue is the relationship between
> the "old-timers" and the younger
> ones in the railway preservation movement. I
> have been working at a railway museum since
> before I can remember, and have always been
> welcomed there. Most, if not all, of the
> older volunteers realize that it's up to
> younger folks like myself to carry on the
> torch in the years ahead. However, I know
> this isn't always the case; I have heard
> grim stories about older types trying to
> keep railway museums out of the hands of
> newer members as their own private
> 12":1' model railroad.
> The solution? Well, there really isn't an
> easy one. Some of the things that might
> produce more of an interest with younger
> children might be seen as childish pandering
> to the more die-hard railway
> preservationists. So it is with Thomas;
> there were distinct reservations when our
> museum decided to host that program, most of
> them due to concern over its historical
> value. Well, sometimes the ends justify the
> means. If it's the best way to produce a
> generation of railfans that will be
> responsible for the continued existence of
> our museums, then I'm all for it.

Frank is correct--there was much moaning and carping among some of our members when we decided to do Thomas. One member wrote me a letter stating that he would NEVER return to IRM if we hosted that dastardly blue monster (yes, he did return). And I'll admit that I wasn't one of the greatest fans of the idea at the start. BUT...all the comments about making new railfans in this thread are true, True, TRUE, and I'll second Frank's comment that Thomas is the greatest boon to rail preservation in recent memory. Bless that little blue beast!


Kevinmccabe@avenew.com

> I would most definitely agree with the
> general concept that it is important, if not
> vital, to start children out at a young age.
> My father went to the extreme in this regard
> by taking my mother to the Railroad Museum
> of Pennsylvania when she was pregnant with
> me! While this may be excessive (although it
> seems to have worked), I think that there
> ought to be more of an emphasis on young
> people than there is.

Incidentally, there can be no doubt that the method Frank mentions really works. My parents went to the Railroad Fair in Chicago a couple of months before I was born, not because either was ever particularly interested in railroads, but because "it was cheap entertainment". And I've been a railfan ever since I can remember. If anyone is worried about the next generation, this is the answer.

It worked for me, it'll work for you.

P.S. According to your spell checker, Hume, "I've been a Brazilian ever since I can remember"! Ole!

> The second person in getting me hooked on
> trains is a now deceased CB&Q engineer
> who lived several blocks away. My dad and I
> would go to his house. I can remember quite
> fondly of being completely enthralled with
> his many stories.

Rick,

Garald has got it! I'm 28 and I started with my Dad as he helped restore a few locomotives when I was young.
Now I manage a steam railroad after years of work, learning and not very many weekends missed they put me in charge.

What we have to do is talk to the youngsters I make it a point to talk to as many as I can... they remember your name and come back time after time. Because of my age I have just started to see the affects of this, many of the children are "coming of age" and are showing signs that they will help out and "scrape rust".

Today it's not enough to just take them for a ride, let them be in the action, kids today are hands on. Put your gloves on them and let them help you oil the locomotive (the parents think it makes a good photo too)...they will go away with quite an experience. I've even had a few ask me for my autograph.

Remember that you are the perception they have of an engineer and you have to live up to it.

It's all marketing...I say that a lot.

Hope this helps.
Ted Rita

http://www.hesston.org
trita3361@yahoo.com