I can honestly say from everything I have heard about situations for teens in the US, it is a very different reality here in Denmark. Two weeks ago my father and I visited the North Zealand Veterantog. Everyone we met was very friendly, and many invited us to come out and start volunteering. A week later and I did some research on the club. I found out that their second location was where steam locomotive repairs occurred and I promptly made plans to go to their Wednesday work session.

Upon arriving, I was openly greeted and accepted. That day was mostly spent being walked around the property by various members as they showed me all of their locomotives, tools, and introduced me to more members working on the premiss. One of the members also remembered me having a conversation with them in the cab on the visit I had made two weeks ago about firing and helped me sign up for a position as a student fireman on the 14th of September at their annual kids train event. (look at link with Google chrome) http://www.veterantoget.dk/arrangemente ... -2014.aspx

I then showed up yesterday for their Saturday work session and was promptly put to work. For the first part of the day I helped a member work on building a new stand for a new lubricator on the locomotive we are restoring. After he left, the project leader came up to me and gave me a project that would be my own to work on. Some member in the past ignored the drawings for the cylinder cocks and made all sorts of unusual piping feeds leading off the valves. My task was to follow the drawings with deviations allowed that I saw fit and make some new pipes. I have not finished, but just to be trusted already to go off on my own has been very encouraging! I spent from 1:50 to 12 at the shop, some members enjoy working late if they are caught up in finishing a project!

To give a better idea of who I am, here is my background

17 years old
went through two years of high school before moving to Denmark
currently enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program at Birkerød Gymnasium
have worked with cad systems on my own
live steamer
home shop machinist skills
Varsity letter man in hurdles for high school track team

My point in all of this is, maybe more kids my age can be persuaded to come into our ranks if they are given a chance. Like my organization did, having a senior club member bring a new kid in on his own project can be a good way to test their abilities and judge where they stand instead of per-judging the individual and pushing them away from an organization. Maybe I have just gotten lucky, but the way the members have treated me suggests that it can happen at other organizations with good results!

Now I can finally join the ranks of people actually doing work instead of being someone on the sidelines doing nothing!

Another factor affecting teen participation in railroading activities is the competition from other interests. For example, I have a nephew in his first years of high school who likes trains and I've taken him on a short Amtrak trip and I've had him out for a couple of days at the Walkersville Southern Railroad (he's actually pretty good with power tools and he helped to restore the interior of a caboose). He is, however, involved in Boy Scouts and after-school sports, so he has missed more train trips that he has ridden, missed all of the train shows that have taken place in this region, etc., and I don't see a break in his schedule before the end of the year that will allow him to do anything else around trains. I don't know if he really likes scouting and sports or if his father has decided the matter for him, but the end result is he's just not able to take advantage of opportunities that come up, and I suspect his situation is by no means unique. When we try to get youngsters interested in railroad activities, we may find they would like to participate but they simply have too many other things taking place in their lives to get involved.

I know that feeling all too well! For the past two years my schedule has also been competing with year round track and soccer plus hanging out with friends! Now that we are here in Denmark, there basically appears to be a party or two every single weekend and I have to decide between leaving early from volunteering, not going to the party, or not going to the work session at all! I go by the logic that if it is something you love and find interesting, you can find ways to make time!

Thanks for all of your feedback. I started volunteering at Wilmington and Western when I was 14. I was eager, young, and strong. I cam down and did anything and everything they asked. Brush cutting, scraping paint, wire-brushing rust, and track work. I was there all day every Saturday and Sunday and one or two evenings in the week. By the time I was 15 was firing No. 98 as a student and a few times when they did not have a fireman went out with an engineer as fireman. In 2014 that sort of thing is not able to happen and I understand this is a different time. I was curious as to what other organizations are doing. Thanks for your feedback.

The Black River Railroad Historic Trust allows 16 year-olds to join as I did back in '09. While I'm not as active as I once was there, I am aware of a fare number of teenagers who volunteer there.