Well I guess you haven't met me then. I did not have anything to do with trains until I was in my early thirties.
I'm with David on this one. I was never really 'into trains' even when I built my first HO layout on a whim at 28. That lasted for 2 years and ended with the divorce. It wasnt again until I was 58...and my 2 boys where off at college...and that T.H.E.Wife said I 'needed a hobby'...that I started really 'getting into trains'. I was Googling something and one of the keywords was in a post here on TB. I bookmarked TB and started reading it everyday. That little spark of 'getting into trains' when I was 28 was renewed and I bought my first N Scale trainset a mere 4 years ago. Now...I admit I dont know squat compared to many 'old timers' in the hobby. But I am learning and enjoying this hobby as a 'newcomer' since age 58. So yeah..I suppose you could say that I was 28 when the first yearnings for "started being in to trains" hit...not exactly a "kid"...LOL
The point to getting them involved early is, the earlier you get a person started, the more time they have to learn, nurture the desire, be involved, and buy stuff. It seems there is a Train Gene, once it is unleashed it usually stays active. My son has it and has been interested since he was 2. I have it but got distracted by RC cars when I was 15-16. I wasn't active in model railroading since I that time until my son's interest rekindled the spark in me. I bet many of the newly entered older modelers, had the gene but didn't have real exposure until later events caused it to come to the surface. I'm not saying everybody is that way but many newly interested older customers that come into the shop comment that they have wanted to do this since being a kid but their parents were not interested in the hobby and this is the first time they have had the time and money to get involved. You won't believe the number of people we see coming through the shop that really have no clue that hobbies even exist. We had one guy that was helping his son with a pinewood derby car that was absolutely baffled when one of the guys told him that he needed to drill a hole in the body to install the weights. His comment was, "How do I drill?" He truely didn't know what a drill bit or dril motor was and he was in his late 30's. How do you go through life not knowing what a basic hand tool is?
Because we now have a couple of generations with us, who are used to instant gratification. Everything being done for them. Too many youths never work a job of any kind, let alone a significant steady chore, until post-high school. Many not until post-college. Too many adults are employed sitting in a chair, shuffling electrons and a few papers. Unfortunately, nowhere in that process do they learn any self-sufficiency, such as basic hand tools as necessary for sustaining even a simple household. Let alone even having some of these items handy for hobby use...
