If you have visited Warley you would know that you would get run over at opening time by youngsters trying to be first to get to the Thomas Tank layout. I think they have 4 controllers on the layout which they give to the children to run the trains. That’s what attracts young people, being able to play with something that’s part of their world. You don’t see too many of them looking at prize winning layouts with perfectly modelled couplings, rivets, landscape, or shades of paint. Those are things that are of interest to serious modellers, perfectionists and oldtimers, not youngsters. But if you had Polar Express, Frozen, My Little Pony, The Railway Children, or Harry Potter you might get killed in the rush. I think that’s where a start is needed – the things youngsters are familiar with - and once the joy of model trains is experienced those youngsters will come back to the hobby in later life and will want something Irish closer to home.
My tuppence worth.
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