Electric Train Do's and Don'ts For Parents

Do Share in Electric Train Activities with Your Child

Electric trains are designed to use SELV power systems for safety. But they are sophisticated toys. A parent can help their child through the more complex issues, just as my articles for parents are intended to help you through them.

Don't Buy "Traditional" or "Best Selling" Just "Because"

Lionel O scale trains are an American tradition. HO scale trains are the best selling model railroad trains in the world. Neither of these are good reasons to select HO or O scale for your child. A child's interest is maintained when they can lay their track out a lot of different ways. Smaller trains will allow them to explore more options in a smaller available space. Always remember, space is your primary concern when buying trains.

Do Read About and Understand Model Train Scales

"Scale" is the size of a model train in relation to the real-life train that it is a model of. Model trains come in various scales. I've written an overview of model railroading scales and gauges. I've also posted an article examining scales for children. The smaller the scale, the more railroad your child can fit in their available space.

Don't Limit Your Child to an Oval Track

When I was a kid, my parents thought that an oval of track was all I needed to run my electric train. This led to a loss of interest in my first model train set. I know that I'm not the only person who had this experience. If you limit your child to the oval of track that came with his or her train set, you limit their horizons. Growth is about expanding your horizons.

Do Buy Your Child More Track

When your child asks for additional track for their train set, you need buy them some. It doesn't have to be expensive. The high-priced items in model railroad track are the turnouts, and you shouldn't be giving them to a younger child anyway. You don't have to buy it all at once; a few new track pieces now and then will make their train set always new.

Don't Buy Track Without a Plan

When you buy more track, you should know one or more specific layouts that your child can make with the additional pieces. You shouldn't necessarily make them follow the track plans, let them explore their own options and see what they can come up with. But if they get stuck, you'll look really smart if you can make the pieces fit into an interesting working layout.

Do Let Your Child Set Up Their Own Track

For most children, setting up the track is as much fun as running the train... maybe even more fun. Many parent's, particularly fathers, buy a train set for a child because they want one. This isn't fair to the child. If you want a train set, get your own and leave theirs to them. I read somewhere that Lionel marketed "Father and Son" train sets back in the early 60s; O scale for Fathers and HO for Sons. Not a bad idea in my opinion.

Do Not Build Your Chid a Landscaped Layout

The minute you glue track down and start adding landscape, you've taken away the child's option of trying different layouts. This doesn't promote experimentation and learning. When your child gets to be around eight years old, you can get them into a club or organization where they can learn to landscape by building a module. Before that, a few buildings and a molded plastic mountain/tunnel that they can move around should be fine.

Do Remember The Educational Aspects

Sit down with your child as they build run their trains and give them tasks to perform. The older they are, the more complex the tasks you can give them. Complex tasks for older children involving orchestrating the movements of two or more trains will require that you invest in DCC. This is a worthwhile investment.

What Advice You Should Listen To

Experienced model railroaders talk to you about the reliability of one brand of train versus another, pay attention. You want to buy quality products that will last.

What Advice You Should Ignore

An experienced model railroader may tell you that track without an integrated roadbed is better. Maybe for them, but not for your child. Yes, their track looks more realistic. But it's harder to put together and take apart.

You might also hear that you should never use a curve with a radius under 18 inches. Experienced modelers want their layout to look realistic. Your child simply wants to put their track together in layouts that are interesting to them. And unless you live in a mansion, you want to be sure they do it in the smallest space possible. So when buying model train track, you want the smallest radii curves your child's trains will run on, regardless of what an adult model railroader thinks you should want.