I waffled on posting this because it involved me, but darn it, this volunteer really had her act together. This kind of thing might happen at your rail venue.

Husband and son overheated at the local pow-wow and took off for shade and soda vendors. I followed at, shall we kindly say, less than warp speed, towing my folded mobility chair and the camp stools I carry on it, while watching them to make sure neither fell and the issue really was only heat and minor dehydration.

Out of nowhere, a woman charged up screaming something about “honey you have to lock your wheels so I can push you.” She grabbed at the brakes on the walker and kicked at the front wheel all in the same motion. I went halfway to a knee, came up with a fist cocked and palm out, but in the half-second that took (we later timed it by re-enactment) she wasn’t there. An alert young veteran warrior at the entrance table five feet away had spotted the woman staring at me and grabbed her, shouting “Don’t touch the elders!”

Mobility aids are, effectively, body parts that should not be touched without permission. I use the UpWalker when an event calls for extensive standing or when I can walk the distance, but will need to sit. Some who use these products are frail, must have them for full support and would have fallen and been injured. Let your docents, etc., know it’s okay to get loud when guests misbehave in a dangerous way.

Also, Age of Steam always gets this right. On our first visit, one of the crew (I think it was Joe, can’t be sure) came over and quietly asked whether I needed my wheels for full support, because the gravel might be hard to navigate and he’d think of a way to get me across. Polite, to the point, and welcoming—just right.

That’s a good reminder and a great point. My father uses a fancy wheeled walker (96 with balance issues) when out in public. I watch out of the corner of my eye for those overly helpful, grabby people that think they know how to use a walker better than the one using it. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen often. It’s OK to ask if they’d like some help, they’ll likely so “no thanks”. Just don’t touch. Don’t.

And, there may be liability issues if you accidentally knock someone over, no matter how well intentioned.

One thing I learned in the military was that you never introduce unnecessary chaos to someone other than your enemy.
In short, you don't do something (and unexpected) quickly to an older person. Rarely does anything good come from it.
Recently, my wife and I were exiting a restaurant and an older lady had tripped over the curb and landed on her backside. I ran over, sat her up slowly after asking if she'd want that and my wife and I then moved her to the sidewalk only once we confirmed she hadn't broken anything and was okay with doing so.
Yes, we paused in several places, but better to do that than act quickly without stopping to think and causing more harm. In the end, she'd only skinned an elbow but we could have easily caused more harm by "doing something" right away, without her being aware or ready for it.
Just like moving railroad equipment around, you always want to pause for a moment, think about what you're about to do and how it might affect others, and only then, act.

All of this reminds me an incident that occurred some number of years ago.

Orange Empire (as then named) was operating up to the Depot in town for this event and was supervising the loading and unloading of the trains to and from the museum. I turned and saw one of my loaders and one of the car attendants at the base of a vestibule with their arms stretched into the stairwell.

i went down there and looked over their shoulders into the vestibule. In the vestibule was a woman using two forearm crutches. The guys were trying to help her. I said to them, "Take your direction from her. She probably has more experience at this than you do."

Having spoken, I then turned and walked up the platform.