Havoc hits layout and rolling stock

[tehachapifan]

I agree with the cool off period and then a systematic and objective appraisal of the damage. My experience is the damage and loss is less than previously thought.

[Ike the BN Freak]

I too have a two year old...and he loves the choo choos. Got a HCD layout about a month or so ago, its a basic double loop with the inner loop folded over itself. Being unitrak, my two year old loves touching the layout, he's ripped up the track. But being two, he doesn't get he is being "destructive" he thinks he's playing/helping.

I had a train parked for a night, either he or the cat, was playing with the train. Well one of the intermountain covered hoppers ended up on the floor, when that happened, the end railings were smashed and broken off. Looking at it, doubt I'll be able to fix it. Wife was more upset over it than I, I figured, I now have a flatcar load, I'll body mount a dummy coupler one end, and weather and make it look real damaged on the end where it hit the floor.  He has random cars and locos, cheap "junk" cars that are his, he plays with them on the floor, bed, etc.

[casmmr]

I have been there with both ;my own children and with grandchildren.  It is important to start training them as soon as they walk that certain items are off limits.  It is hard and you will have failures, a young child learns by touching and putting the item in the mouth.  Be glad he/she did ;not swallow anything.  Remember, it is only stuff and can be replaced, the child is not stuff and cannot be replaced.
My two sons used to play GI Joes on my club's garden layout, including burying the dead ones.  I would occasionally be handed a GI Joe whenever a replanting of plants or re laying of track occurred.  No one minded it was just something that happened.  On my home layout, N, I would look at all crossings as vehicles would end up there waiting for the train to crash into them.  It was a game could I find the vehicle before the train hit it?  One grandson (10) has NO INTEREST at all in my layout, the other grandson (4) likes to count animals and anything else he can find and tell me about the numbers.  He also likes to move around the deer, cows and horses.  A small price to pay for his company.  Remember, he will decide if you go to a retirement home or stay out of one.  Spend time now, accept a little damage and maybe you will find a lifetime friend in 20-3- years.  Above all, keep calm and let them know that you still love them in spite of what they just did..

[nscaler711]

Ok, welp, this just makes it a further point for me NOT to have kids...
I barely have patience as it is... So yep no kids for me... My trains are all I need... They give me enough fits as it is...

[Blazeman]

I was building a free-standing layout in the basement. My oldest, then only maybe 4 or 5, wanted to see what Dad was doing. Dad had just completed a structure and had it sitting on the layout. Son #1 attempted to climb up to the top to see and in doing so, over came the layout. I was nearby and rescued him; no injuries. But not the same for the structure, which I subsequently repaired. I shooed him upstairs.

Years later, I'm working on a pair of 38-2's and he comes by with a friend. He picks one up to show the friend and somehow it falls out of his hand to the carpeted floor. Parts went in all directions. He and the friend exited and I gathered the parts. Did get a learning experience in reassembling everything. And #1 son has never ventured near or expressed any more interest in trains other than to chide my lack of progress.

I was lucky in so far as being able to fix the damages. Son #1 and I go to football games together; no trains.

[randgust]

I have four nephew boys, including twins.    My wife's sister never had any particular tendency to control them, and rampant destruction tended to follow them wherever they went from a very early age.    If they were coming, the train room was PADLOCKED, not just locked.   Outside was no cover either, they once threw all my porchboxes down over a bank into the nearby creek just to see the big splashes.

Now they are all junior high school and high school age, and have turned out to be pretty darn good kids, good students too.   I finally took them in the train room for extended periods.    One of the youngest said it best.   "Uncle, I never knew this was in here.    I'm glad you never told us though.    Yeah, we would have probably wrecked it!".

So I feel a little less guilty.   I never had too many problems with my own kids, they had their own interests, primarily Legos by the thousand.  My biggest problem became them 'borrowing' tools and materials from the train room, with me then searching their rooms for my stuff.   "$$#!! Who's got my soldering iron!??" is still a running gag at holidays with my now-adult sons. 

Historically, I've always had 'sacrificial' material handy to stick in small hands even when supervised children are present that just have to touch something.  Those High Speed Readers Digest trains and some sectional track are just about perfect most of the time.

[SP-Wolf]

I think, this may be the perfect solution for that Readers Digest SP locomotive and cars. They are pretty stout. He can play with and handle those. And, he can feel included.

Just a thought,
Wolf

[Hamaker]

As a kid, I was constantly told two things:  "You look with your eyes....not your hands"...and...."If it isn't yours, don't touch it".   Make that three things !....."If you break it, you'll not get another one".  Through the years I've constantly thanked my parents for my strict upbringing.

[tehachapifan]

I've had adult visitors fist grab fully-detailed locos right off the layout for a closer look, as if they were shopping for apples. Another adult visitor started randomly throwing turnouts just to see what would happen.

[jpwisc]

My girls are 6 and 8 and I'm happy to report they have never damaged anything. I'm my own worst enemy. Sometimes I just need to take a deep breath and leave everything for a week. I quickly repair the damage that I can and move on.

[basementcalling]

Several times as a six to 9 year old Dad bought me a kit for the railroad we had in the basement,  6x8 with corners cut off to get into the  new basement when we moved. I watched him build a couple of my birthday and Christmas presents. I sometimes got to sprinkle the sawdust on the Elmers he painted on when we did scenery. I could touch the trains to get then out of the tunnel. Beyond that, if anything happened when I snuck a run on then when he was at work I blamed my younger brother. Successfully too.

[SandyEggoJake]

It gets better... 

I got back into MRR in part from the constant interest of my boy, and encouragement from my wife.  Now both think I've gone off the deep end... and they're totally right. 

To give us something to do together (he's now 3.5) we got him a B'mann trainset (the Silverton & Durango with EZ track) which is actually fairly well modeled (ignoring the narrow gauge, of course) and runs like a trooper.  He loves building the track (I got a bunch more used ) and he "ALMOST loves the Yellow Cars".  But he really likes it when he get a few visitors from Daddy's collection.   Of course, the set he REALLY wanted is the out of production Athearn N Scale Steam John Deere trainset... he's still PO'd at Santa who couldn't find one for him last year and instead got him the "wrong" "Yellow train".  (If you got a John Deere Steam N set for sale, please let me know ... perhaps getting such would help get me out of the doghouse with both him and the Mrs!  Worth a try anyway!)

Our new real layout is still in early development, but I never keep rolling stock, etc on it (for this very reason). 

[sirenwerks]

I just got married in March and became a step-father to a two year old girl.  She wants to see everything Dad is doing but I am not convinced it is for bonding reasons.  She's a clepto.   

That being said, I am an apartment dweller now and the trains all went into storage to give her a bedroom.  That is except for stuff I have in the office that is slated for sale.  I keep finding it rearranged despite trying to block the office from her entry (the office is my cats' haven from her too).  Needless to say, my wife and I have discussed the investment I've made in the trains and the fact that they allow me escape and sanity, and we've agreed that when the house with trainroom comes a deadbolted man cave will be acceptable, provided I appear when expected and necessary.  And the layout will be eye level for me (probably even above my wife's head) with no step ladders in reach.

My daughter likes planes, so I plan on taking her to see the real trains soon to see if we can do a bit of bonding over choo-choos, as soon as I can trust she won't wander aimlessly towards the tracks.

[JMaurer1]

When my son was that age, I gave him some (junk and/or low quality) trains that were his. He LOVED those cars (along with his Thomas the tank engine die casts). If he touched mine, then his disappeared for a few days. He learned, don't touch daddy's trains.

It's always going to be something. If you protect everything from kids and pets, then it will be a leak in the roof or a broken window in a storm. I had some of my trains stored in a closet for awhile where they should have been perfectly safe and sound. When I went to move them, a limited run O scale car for my railroad that I bought just to display had melted in the box. This was an INDOOR closet in a climate controlled house. I have NO IDEA how it could have gotten hot enough to melt this car (and didn't damage others...my theory involves angry pyromaniac squirrels who never had trains when they were squirrelettes). Then there's earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, etc. It will always be something...

[John]

there is a thomas thing at B&O at the end of the month