It might skip a generation. My dad has no interest in anything technical despite his father being a famous electrical engineer. My children have no interest either but there's nothing to say my grandchildren won't.
(kim)
I moved house a lot in those days. My experience was they did if they had a separate "front room" where they could play with it, but not if they only had a living room and kitchen. Some of my friends were lucky if they had a separate kitchen!
(kim)
You have to get them home first. Tesco seem to be having a few problems with their cut-price petrol :o)
(kim)
The Co-Op tried it a few years ago with N-gauge. It was a disaster. They ended up selling them all off at half price. I think Woolies had the same problem with the Playcraft brand name many years earlier. The brand name is important to parents. It has to be 'Hornby' or it's not a real train set.
(kim)
"kim" wrote
Grandfather > grandchild seems to have more affinity than father > son - at least in my experience and appears to be reinforced by my customers.
My Dad, although an engineer had no interest in anything mechanical and although he was considerate enough to buy me a set c.1954 he never showed any interest in *any* of my toys and that included Meccano.
John.
"John Turner" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.supernews.com:
...
Very similar in my case, dad was an engineer, but his "watchmakers" spaner was nearly 2' long - he worked in hydrolics - motto, "If a big hammer will do the job a bigger one will do it better". He did show some interest in model railways, even built a few models but never once got round to helping me with a perminent layout. Still when I was young he was working 6 days a week and I was lucky to see him at times.
In message , John Turner writes
Q. Why do grandparents and grandchildren get on so well with each other? A. Because they've got a common enemy.
No where near as powerful as the common enemy of father and child - plus its a cold war thats acknowledged only in secret.
cheers, Simon
The Loblaws supermarket chain has issued 11 train sets, starting in 1992, under its "President's Choice" private brand label. See:
I've been desperate for one of my 3 lads to show an interest in my old Meccano or model railways. I guess it will have to wait another generation.
They can, however, paint and weather wargaming figures and models to as good a standard as almost any grown up modeller. I just need to divert their talents.
MBQ
"Chris Wilson" wrote
That sounds familiar. They was so little money around in those days that even skilled workers had to rely on overtime just to get by. It was unheard of for mothers to work so there was just the one wage coming into the house.
I remember my Dad stopping smoking for months so that he could keep his promise to buy me a GBP30 racing bike when I passed my Eleven Plus. My first train set (Hornby Dublo 'Duchess of Montrose') cost him over a week's wages in 1954/5.
John.
"John Turner" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@eclipse.net.uk:
Yes, and it's still happening. I typically work around 10 to 12 hours a day five or six days a week. My children hardly ever see me. Last year I handed back 11 days annual leave I hadn't been able to carry over to the new year (I got to cary 5 over), on top of which I am currently owed 33 days were I've worked a day off (for no money) and I'm owed the day off.
33 + 28 leave from this year + the 5 I carried over ... 66 days leave I'm owed for this year alone (13 working weeks!) ... so far I've managed to get 3 booked! The stuff you sold me at Christmas ... I've got the standard guage laid and only 4 of the narrow guage ... that's how much time I've had.And yet I consider myself lucky, I am well paid, I do own my own home, my wife can afford to stop at home (although she is a childminder - but it's only for pin money) ... my children want for nothing ... except the sight of their father. :-(
If I slow down though ... it all goes to ratshit.
Youre barmy, I used to work minimum 9 hours per day plus some weekends with a 2 hour commute to work. Now do 30-50 hours depending on how busy things are and how i feel with a stroll upstairs to work. Means I can spend up to 30 hours a week with my 6 year old. Youll never have quite the same oppurtunity again - well I wont cos am knackered just watching the little so and so.
Cheers, Simon
. It has to be 'Hornby' or it's not a real train set.
You're right. I was at a local exhibition last week not primarirly model railways. I was sitting there building a complex etched kit and the mummies came in with their childeren and said 'Look there's a man making Hornby trains'.
Alistair W
It's not even that - it's the "brand name becomes generic" thing. A vacuum cleaner is a "hoover". It doesn't matter whether it was actually made by the Hoover company - it's still a "hoover". A personal stereo is either a "walkman", "discman" or "ipod", and the distinction is the type of media they play, not who makes them. And so it is with models. OO gauge is "hornby" no matter who actually made it. Some aren't picky enough to go that far - all model trains of any scale are "hornby", and still more people who haven't grasped the concept that models can exist in other scales, which is even more scary...
James Moody
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