passing it on

[macivor]

i'm thinking of donating my layout to our local senior center in hopes of keeping the history of modeling railroads alive.  any hints on how to make that happen?  plus it will clear up space for me to create another module.

[jbrock27]

Contact the Senior Center.

[dutchbuilder]

Aren't you targeting the wrong demographic group?
Shouldn't you be targeting the Iphone infected group of youngsters?

Ton

[macivor]

the hope is that when the wee ones visit their grandpa at the senior center they will have something to do, and never forget it.

[macivor]

thx jbrock27, lol

[jbrock27]

NP mac!  Luv ur idea

[James in FL]

@dutchbuilder

Aren't you targeting the wrong demographic group?
Shouldn't you be targeting the Iphone infected group of youngsters?

Why is it that you perceive the elderly are the wrong group to donate a layout to?
Many at Senior Centers have no family, or family that does not come to visit them.
Some are put there because their children either can't or won't care for them.
Sad truth is, some are sent there to die.
A layout might give them a bit of time of pleasure just to watch the trains run (as it did for many of us in our youth). It might just bring back some fond memories for them.
For children born in the 30's and 40's it was quite common that if you did not have a train set for yourself you knew of several friends that did.
The majority of youth have their $500 smart phones to keep them occupied, very few are interested in model railroading, and whereas it's a high probability many seniors had a train set in their younger days.
The donation of a layout is an act of goodwill and @macivor should be commended for that.
I believe you missed the boat.

[RBDNHM]

This is a very interesting topic for me as a 57 year old.  My interest in model railroading has 2 bases.  My mother gave my father an American Flyer S set about when I was born, and as I grew up I remember my father occasionally trying to get the transformer, the switches, and the locomotives to work reliably.  I really enjoyed those times and the trains, even if my father did get  frustrated and angry often.  Together with that, I remember seeing an awesome layout at Disneyland at the entrance to Tomorrowland, if I recall correctly.  Although long gone, that layout remains in  my brain as awesome, something to play with, recreate, improve, and customize.  

As I approach retirement age, my plan is to create my own Pasadena Gulf Coast Railroad layout (in the rec room currently occupied by two Xboxes) in hopes that my grandchildren will enjoy it.  

The reason for saying all that is that I think the future of railroading is not necessarily in the iPhone/minecraft generation, but probably more likely in their children.  However you can expose the toddlers or crawlers today to a model train is how I think the future of our hobby will be secured. My granddaughter really loved the Polar Express train I set up last Christmas and I hope she and her cousins appreciate the future plans for Christmas trains.

If the elderly expose the young to trains, that is the place to donate the train.  If there is a better place to expose the 1-8 year olds, that is the place to donate the trains.

[James in FL]

Hopefully you can spend your last few years, days, hours, in your own home.
Many don't have that option.
It's decided by somebody else.

Good luck with that.

[Terry Toenges]

Due to my love of trains and my kids and grand kids growing up with my layouts, last Christmas, my Grandson got a train to go around the Christmas tree for his son's first Christmas. Last year, I also gave my old Big Hauler to my granddaughter for her to put around the tree for her two year old daughter. She likes the choo choos too.  They all enjoyed my Christmas layout.
As long as I'm around they'll be exposed to trains and hopefully it will rub off. I hope they make use of my trains when I'm gone.

[Len]

Even though the LHS that used to be there is gone, I still maintain the layout we built for the shopping cener where it was located. On Thursdays several Senior Living facilities bring their tenants to the adjacent cafeteria for lunch. After lunch, they invariably make their way to the layout to push buttons and see things go.

So I think macivor has a great idea. I would suggest he contact the senior facility directly to see if they are interested in having the layout, and whether thay have a place to put it. If so, they might even help with transporting it.

Len

[Bill Baker]

Great ideas.  Let me throw my two cents in.

Out of my 5 sons I have only one that has been interested in trains and as he has gotten older he has slowly lost interest.  BUT,  I have one grandson that is really crazy about them.  He can't wait to come over to my house to work on my layout.
One of our favorite things is to watch "Trains and Locomotives" together.  The little bugger is so smart he is always asking questions about trains that ,for the most part, I can answer.  But the other day the show was about the
Challenger and Big Boy.  He immediately noticed that the drive wheels were not in sync.  So, he asked why.  After waiting an embarrassing long time, I told him "Kyle, I just don't know".  So if there are some folks out there who could give me an answer, I would certainly appreciate it.  Does it have anything to do with speed or pulling power?

Thanks, Bill

[dutchbuilder]

That's a good question.
Hasn't it something to do with they being articulated locomotives?
Two separately driven systems?
One high and one low pressure.

Ton

[ebtnut]

Articulated locomotives have two separate engines under one boiler.  The back engine is rigid, the front engine is hinged to go around curves.  Early articulateds were compound engines, where the steam was initially sent to the rear cylinders.  Since the steam still has some energy left, the steam was exhausted into the front cylinders, which are larger to compensate for the lower pressure.  Later, with advances in boiler design, articulateds were built "simple" - high pressure steam going to both sets of cylinders which were the same size.  Since the simple engines did not have to depend on the steam from one set of cylinders going to another, they tended to get out of sync more often.  If one engine set was a bit "slippy", the engines would go in and out of sync over time.  You can hear this on some recordings/movies of engines like N&W 1218 or UP 3985. 

[Bill Baker]

Hey thanks guys.  I knew some one on this forum would have the answer.  Now I can tell Kyle the reason.  Boy, he will think I'm really smart.   I just hope he doesn't ask me anything about string theory.