Young Railroaders

I agree completely with just about everything said here. Probably the best remark was about the 'old timers' not wanting new faces and who will run their railroads in 10 years. I'll rephrase that; "Who is going to keep railroading alive when the older generation dies off". Sorry to put it bluntly, but its completely true. The old sticks-in-the-mud that base their lives around Walter Matthau in "Grumpy Old Men" need to realize this and welcome and support new faces. If a negative attitute is pursued, then people lose interest.
Though I have not been active with a railroad organization on the East Coast, I have noticed and talked to many people that in general, there is major discrimination and mistreatment towards younger members. Over in California at the Swanton Pacific...I wasn't an active volunteer. However, I got their newsletters, went there every now and then, and went to a workday or two. You've got people of all ages; and even the 10-11 year olds are down there doing the major work and some (given a little older) are on the train crews. One newsletter even talked about a group of 10-12 year olds on the line (this was years ago) starting their own little group for special projects, such as a caboose. This is the kind of attitude needed. The California State Railroad Museum, at least when I was a member, REALLY promoted something they called the "Caboose Club". This was a strictly under-12 I believe membership club to get the youngins' interested in the museum. It's been around since the late 80s/early 90s I believe. They hold events throughout the year, including parties for members on a caboose train on their "Sacramento Southern". They promote the club with a mascot, ie a smiling caboose.
Over on the East Coast, still after the "Caboose Club" in Sacramento, the "Day Out with Thomas" thing had started with the rebuilt BEDT 0-6-0T which Strasburg created. It officially hit the west coast in 99 at Railfair, when the hideous Thomas 'deezul' (now retired I hear) made its first appearance out west. Now, a handfull of "Thomas" replicas are used in events across the country, but I'm sure nothing captures it like that coal-fired blue beast that tours east coast lines. The smallest I've seen was at a farm in Canada, where the crudest-looking little Thomas was built from a speeder or something, for their events.
The Thomas idea is good...but the problem is...WHERE DID SHINING TIME STATION GO? Without Thomas on television, its eventually going to lose popularity...though from what we've seen it hasn't yet. The blue guy is vital to keeping the younger generations interested. I'm sure they still sell the videos and books in stores, etc. Ask 3 out of 5 four-year-olds and they'll probably still know who Thomas is.
So basically what I'm saying here is; sure BEDT fans are going to be p*ssed off when one of their engines was turned into Thomas. But at least it wasn't scrapped, and its a small price to pay to keep the younger generation interested in the hobby. Museums and tourist railroads need to be open to younger members and get as many as they can interested; it seems to be a fading number; and promote clubs/events for the 'kiddies' such as the CSRM has done for 10+ years. Sure the 'youngins start out as foamers in the striped Osh Kosh overalls and caps...but the community as a whole needs to make sure that at least a good number of these little guys (and girls too...) turn into full-fledged railroaders to preserve the machines of iron we love so much.
-Ed Kelley