# THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD



## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

Wednesday, July 6th, 2016. Here is what gives me such joy in this wonderful hobby.
6:15 in the morning, standing in our basement, The little guy in his pajamas and trains are rolling! Most days begin this way for me. I'd like to share with you this little world as seen through his eyes.


































































I hope you all are having at least half as much fun as we are,
Model trains should be happy things


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## alaska railroad (Oct 20, 2015)

That's sweet to hear time warp. Be sure to charish those moments in his life. I wish I had a son or daughter to share life with. It is a great hobby.


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## jlc41 (Feb 16, 2016)

What better way to start the day, good on ya friend.


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## paulrail (May 22, 2016)

That's great. I don't have children but I have 3 nieces with whom 
I can share the happiness of the hobby. 

I spare them the frustration and swearing &#55357;&#56832;


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

Thanks for the comments. I hope many of you have had similar experiences over the years.
Some of the pictures were taken by my son, others I gave him a little help with.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

it's very rewarding to see the smile on a child's face when they play 'trains'
as far as i'm concerned .. perfect


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Isn't that a great thing? Even though only one of my sons has the "bug", it's great father / son bonding time!

I also know that I get a great feeling when I teach the Railroading merit badge to a group of boy scouts. Sure, many of them just want to earn the badge and move on, but in every group, there are one or two scouts that just really light up!


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

CTValleyRR said:


> Isn't that a great thing? Even though only one of my sons has the "bug", it's great father / son bonding time!
> 
> I also know that I get a great feeling when I teach the Railroading merit badge to a group of boy scouts. Sure, many of them just want to earn the badge and move on, but in every group, there are one or two scouts that just really light up!


 Sure gives you a good feeling!
I've had my time, it doesn't bother me at all stepping back a little for him.


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

Lovin It!!!

When I see threads/posts about kids enjoying model trains I think of my three 7 year old Grandsons and it makes me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside.


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

No denying that our scenery isn't going to win an award, but my emphasis has been on the trackwork and controls. I'm usually only home on weekends so Ive tried to engineer things so trains will run fairly trouble free for him in my absence.
Maybe I'll post some of those control elements in the future. He can run any one of 6 trains as he wishes, without taking them on and off the track.


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## Overkast (Jan 16, 2015)

time warp said:


> No denying that our scenery isn't going to win an award, but my emphasis has been on the trackwork and controls. I'm usually only home on weekends so Ive tried to engineer things so trains will run fairly trouble free for him in my absence.
> Maybe I'll post some of those control elements in the future. He can run any one of 6 trains as he wishes, without taking them on and off the track.


It's all good time warp - each layout is unique in it's own way and that's the beauty of this hobby. You have a lot of great action in there and being able to run 6 trains just from power-up is an awesome achievement in itself. I likely won't have the ability to do that with my layout... I'll probably only be able to have 4 train different varieties on my layout at once max.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Overkast said:


> It's all good time warp - each layout is unique in it's own way and that's the beauty of this hobby. You have a lot of great action in there and being able to run 6 trains just from power-up is an awesome achievement in itself. I likely won't have the ability to do that with my layout... I'll probably only be able to have 4 train different varieties on my layout at once max.


Exactly. Everyone gets something different out of the hobby. I don't have the patience for delving deeply into the niggling details of DCC that some do, but I can spend hours upon hours working on scenery to get something just right.

It takes all types, and as long as you're enjoying it, that's all that matters.


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

Nice pics, T.W. You can sorta see what they see, although I believe we lose the imagination factor somewhere.

When my grandsons visited a year ago, I brought out the G gauge. (I hadn't started working on my layout at this point)
There was instant pandemonium. They scrambled to see, feel, listen to the engine and cars.

I set it up. Again, raised voices of delight, as the train moved around the oval.
(It's the Bachmann Red Comet)

Unfortunately, there was a turn of events where now Jacob may play with any train I have.
Max cannot touch them. Period.


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## alaska railroad (Oct 20, 2015)

CTValleyRR said:


> Exactly. Everyone gets something different out of the hobby. I don't have the patience for delving deeply into the niggling details of DCC that some do, but I can spend hours upon hours working on scenery to get something just right.
> 
> It takes all types, and as long as you're enjoying it, that's all that matters.


Exactly what I say CTValleyRR.. as long as you are having fun, that's all that matters. 

I don't have a layout right now, because I live in an apartment. However I get just as much fun watching my trains expecially my ENGINES run around my tracks. I'm a freak for engines, I actually collect them, Lol...

Anyway everyone enjoy our hobby, and do not feel ashamed of what you have, or don't have. For me I just love seeing trains. 

Happy railing everyone, and God bless..


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

alaska railroad said:


> Exactly what I say CTValleyRR.. as long as you are having fun, that's all that matters.
> 
> I don't have a layout right now, because I live in an apartment. However I get just as much fun watching my trains expecially my ENGINES run around my tracks. I'm a freak for engines, I actually collect them, Lol...
> 
> ...


I live in an apartment and built a small layout for myself after 3 of my Grandsons all wanted and got small layouts last Christmas which I helped them with.

Even though my train just runs on a small oval mainline I still enjoy watching and hearing my train run.


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## alaska railroad (Oct 20, 2015)

NAJ said:


> I live in an apartment and built a small layout for myself after 3 of my Grandsons all wanted and got small layouts last Christmas which I helped them with.
> 
> Even though my train just runs on a small oval mainline I still enjoy watching and hearing my train run.


Hi naj. That's cool you share the hobby with the little ones. I have a nephew age 12, that comes over to watch mine. Sometimes he brings his locos over and runs them. Its always more enjoyable when you share the hobby with others.

I do plan on building a layout some day when I get a house. I desperately, and I mean desperately want a layout based on , you guessed it, the Alaska Railroad. But you now even though I don't have it now, it's something to look forward too.

Take care and have a great evening..


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## bluenavigator (Aug 30, 2015)

I have grandson who actually cries when he has to leave my train room. He is only 2 years old. So I got him Thomas the train set. He is more than happy to play with them. He already picked up to put the tracks together on the table!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Nice layout.
One can never have too many signs. :thumbsup:
But, a cattle crossing at the RR station? 

The lady with the kid on the roof, what is she carrying?
Milk?

In the second picture, is the roadbed on the left ballasted, or is that just the cork roadbed? Sort of looks ballasted compared to the one on the right.
Are you planning on adding ballast to the whole thing one day?
Looking good.:smilie_daumenpos:


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

Little man does all the decorating! I don't understand a lot of it but I guess I don't need to.
No Ballast and no plans to add any really it's mostly for fun.
As he gets older things will change.


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

time warp said:


> Little man does all the decorating! I don't understand a lot of it but I guess I don't need to.


That is absolutely correct.
I was already told by one of my 7 year old Grandson's(he was 6 when he told me this) in no uncertain terms that I cannot tell him what to do or how to do it, it is his platform and he can do whatever he likes even if it is not to scale or related to the railroad in any way or does not go there in real life.
He also told me he can run his train as fast as he wants to regardless of what I say.
So even at 6 and 7 the old saying you guy's told me about still applies...
"Your Railroad, Your Rules".


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

I got a phone call from my son today, He wanted to add some search lights to the roof of the police station.
He had already found the cordless drill and had a plan figured out. So 20 minutes or so later I get another call and He's all excited and emailing me pictures of his accomplishment.











He got the wires fed through the drilled holes and the lights are where He wants them, But He wants to wait till Dad gets home so we can wire them in together. Perfect.


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## alaska railroad (Oct 20, 2015)

time warp said:


> I got a phone call from my son today, He wanted to add some search lights to the roof of the police station.
> He had already found the cordless drill and had a plan figured out. So 20 minutes or so later I get another call and He's all excited and emailing me pictures of his accomplishment.
> 
> 
> ...


How sweet time warp. It's awsome you and your son have that relationship together.charish those moments, god bless you both.


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

Thank you, friend. I smile every time I look at that picture.


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

Everytime we talk about kids and hearing how excited your Son is about this I think of my Grandchildren and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Kids are GREAT!!! :smilie_daumenpos:


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

Saturday morning, trains are running before daybreak. That boy loves his lights!


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

That is Great!!!

Sounds like me, first thing I do when I get home is get the train rolling and listen to it go around while I am on the computer and watching TV.

Layout looks amazing, do you have a full panoramic view?


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

This is the most recent photo, it's busy for sure! Picture taken by the little man.


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## 3.8TransAM (Jan 13, 2016)

That's pretty cool man!


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

time warp said:


> This is the most recent photo, it's busy for sure! Picture taken by the little man.
> 
> 
> View attachment 221138



Looks Good.

Looks like any Busy City, USA. :smilie_daumenpos:


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

Thanks, guys. I keep hearing "can we put this on the layout, Dad?"


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

That boy keeps surprising me! I had picked up one of those irritating Bachmann oil tanks with the " Diesel horn" inside. Ugh! So I was showing it to little man today as I was going through stuff.
Did he perk up! "We need to hook this up, Dad". Hook it up we did. 
He breaks out the cordless after a spot was chosen, drills a wire hole and after extending the wiring with twisted pair( he helped) it was working.
So I'm thinking the worst, irritating, constant tinny pointless noise. Oh, no. Now he's sounding at the grade crossing! "Sounds like a real train, Dad!" He tells me.
I tell him a little about whistle signals, so all evening the trains are not allowed to move unless proper whistle signals are given. His rules.
Perfect!


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## jlc41 (Feb 16, 2016)

Ah yes the joy's of innocence, and the total trust of a child in what his dad tells him, priceless.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

Nice! What could have turned out to be an annoyance, turns out to be a great learning and fun secession


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

We shifted a couple of things around to make a space for the horn tank, and now we have managed to also open up a space for a much needed slaughter house pen. There are cattle literally all over the railroad!
The area to the right of the tank will be an offloading point for the processing plant, and will give us a place to congregate the cows. more later.


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

:thumbsup:


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## Chip (Feb 11, 2016)

SWEET! Now THATS a "living" layout! WELL DONE!


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

We hare having a lot of fun with it. Thanks guys!


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

a couple of days ago, I changed internet providers, and the tech that came said his son was just getting into HO, so I gave him a Chicklet boxcar to pass on ..figured it was the right thing to do ..


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

No telling what kind of impact giving that car can have but it could mean the world to that kid:appl:


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## Mr.Buchholz (Dec 30, 2011)

From the amount of search lights the police station has, there will be no crime whatsoever in that town! 

Layout looks amazing.....keep up the good work guys!

-J.


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

The smallest things can mean so much to the little guys. And for me, I can never predict what things will get his attention. He got the floodlight idea from the Andy Griffith show!


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

time warp said:


> The smallest things can mean so much to the little guys. And for me, I can never predict what things will get his attention. He got the floodlight idea from the Andy Griffith show!


That's funny, I booted Comcast to the curb awhile back(except internet, they have a monopoly) and now use an indoor digital antenna so when there is nothing on network TV I watch Andy Griffith from 8-9 PM.


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

The searchlight idea came from the "Fugitive" episode where Big Marge was one of three escapees from women's prison, they holed up in a cabin with Barney and Floyd as hostages. Side splitter! 
He watches those quite often.


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

The plan for the Cattle pen changed a little because there wasn't quite enough space in the original spot. I ended up finding a beat up old building that we shortened up to use as a slaughterhouse, and cut down a Life-Like cattle pen kit to better fit the rest of the space.









Its all just roughed in at this point. The building needs work and also to have a door added to access the pens but you can see the idea. Cattle in, Hamburgers out. gives us a place to use our stock cars and reefers too.The unloading platform will have to be changed to fit the angle of the trackwork.









Its tight around this area and the plan is to make the pavement level with the track here. That will allow truck access around these buildings.









I've got to figure out what this factory is for, clueless right now but I really like it. Great for tank cars.


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

Good progress last week. The railroad has been on wobbly saw horses since the beginning, and as worked progressed we just never took time to get legs built for it.
I had become increasingly concerned that the whole thing might fall onto my lttle boy when I was away ,So I built solidly constructed legs of 1×3 lumber with heavy cross bracing.
I glued all the joints and drilled pilot holes before screwing everything together, and once it was up on all fours I leveled it up with wood shims. Solid as can be now, plus the legs bolt to the frame so they can be removed if we ever have to move it.


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

Santa Claus brought the little man a Golden Eagle for Christmas. Looks good with its Daddy installed handrails. Very shiny as it goes around the Tree with lights reflecting off of it and it runs whisper quiet too! Nice.


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