Senior Citizens

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

As a fully qualified Senior Citizen, here's my two cents worth.  Kids  are 
still interested in trains, but do not have the access my generation  did.  So 
it's up to grandparents (which I am)and parents (which I was) to  find ways 
that fit the times.  My grandkids enjoy (1) Thomas,
(2) the G scale Blue Comet in their basement (3) the live steam Wabash,  
Frisco, and Pacific
which operates a few months a year west of St. Louis.  When they are a  
little older, we'll take them on the dinner train at St. L. Union Station. Maybe  
it's passed thru the genes !
 
But kids ARE still curious about the world they live in.  When we  visit the 
W,F, & P, the parking lot is filled as parents and kids show up to  watch and 
ride.  When I 'crew' for friends during the model RR open houses  in the fall, 
we teach kids how to use the command control throttle and run the  railroad.  
And I remember, with a tear in my eye, the 80's, when 611 and  1218 stormed 
across Virginia.  On those weekends, my RR buddy was my  daughter; one of us on 
the movie cam and one with the 35 mm.
 
As to the NMRA; yes, the organization became stagnant.  The X2f  coupler is a 
symbol of frozen thinking; when it was adopted 46 years ago it was  a good 
and necessary step.  The failure to abandon it when better ideas and  better 
'stuff' came along - who knows why ?  Be grateful that NMRA did  not adopt brass 
rail and rheostats as permanent standards.
 
Jerry Crosson
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