• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

2 year old obsessed with Trains... where to go?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Manager

New Member
Joined
16 Dec 2010
Messages
3
First post here but looking for advice.

I have a 2 and a half year old son who is obsessed with trains and was just wondering if there are certain places to go where we will get to see some older trains or somewhere where he can see all sorts.

I work for Southern so ideally on their network, or if not I live in around Kingston so maybe on the SWT network

Ideally it will need to be free or cheap

Thanks
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

jones_bangor

Member
Joined
11 Mar 2011
Messages
856
First post here but looking for advice.

I have a 2 and a half year old son who is obsessed with trains and was just wondering if there are certain places to go where we will get to see some older trains or somewhere where he can see all sorts.

I work for Southern so ideally on their network, or if not I live in around Kingston so maybe on the SWT network

Ideally it will need to be free or cheap

Thanks

A family holiday in North Wales!! Ffestiniog, Llangollen, WHR, Tal-y-Llyn, Vale of Rheidol................
 

VTPreston_Tez

Member
Joined
26 Jan 2012
Messages
1,159
Location
Preston
Take him to Clapham Junction and as a warmup to the trainmental thrills, London Bridge. It's local and he'll love it!
 

wintonian

Established Member
Joined
15 Jan 2010
Messages
4,889
Location
Hampshire
Take him to Clapham Junction and as a warmup to the trainmental thrills, London Bridge. It's local and he'll love it!

I was thinking Clapham but I would avoid rush hour.

Get a travelcard and Londons network is your (or not) oyster as they say :lol:, with that you could do both and a trip on Thames link to St Pancreas and the redone Kings Cross.
 

richw

Veteran Member
Joined
10 Jun 2010
Messages
11,213
Location
Liskeard
My 21 month old daughter has a fascination for hst and voyagers, you can see a viaduct from our window, and she gets excited everytime a hst or voyager passes, but isn't interested in.150s and 153s,

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk
 

wintonian

Established Member
Joined
15 Jan 2010
Messages
4,889
Location
Hampshire
My 21 month old daughter has a fascination for hst and voyagers, you can see a viaduct from our window, and she gets excited everytime a hst or voyager passes, but isn't interested in.150s and 153s,

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

You have some work to do there I fear. :p
 

tsr

Established Member
Joined
15 Nov 2011
Messages
7,400
Location
Between the parallel lines
I was thinking Clapham but I would avoid rush hour.

Nah, apart from when there's severe disruption (for example, this evening you might have had problems!), you'll probably find a reasonably quiet spot at the end of a platform somewhere! You're unlikely to get much in the way of steam or older trains other than a bit of freight on the WLL and the VSOE, which you can look up, should you have access to freight timetables and headcodes.

On a sunny day, the Westbound London Overground platform at Willesden Junction could be a good place for a brief look at some older carriage stock rusting away, with the main attraction being the Western end of the platform, where a wide range of trains can be seen heading North and South. Unfortunately, there is an understandably solid and quite high barrier, so you may need to give your child a piggyback!

:)
 

Ivo

Established Member
Joined
8 Jan 2010
Messages
7,307
Location
Bath (or Southend)
The Spa Valley Railway is on the Southern Network at Eridge

This would be a good start.

Otherwise, if you want variety, South Croydon would be a good choice. It's failry quiet, well served as has a lot of different trains passing through. From tehre you could then head north to East Croydon, and then travel on a 442 to Brighton for some more family fun.
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,820
Location
Yorks
If they have one, your local depot open day. I can still remember my first one at Chart Leacon when I was knee high to a grasshopper (can't remember when exactly) but it was fascinating. By the time it came to the next one in 1992 I was hooked.

They do still have them - went to the Neville Hill one a year or two ago and that was superb.
 

tsr

Established Member
Joined
15 Nov 2011
Messages
7,400
Location
Between the parallel lines
...and then travel on a 442 to Brighton for some more family fun.

Or, rather, a bouncy carriage floor, a cramped table seat and a major electrical failure near Gatwick Airport. You may also be amongst the lucky customers experiencing the doors falling off at one station or another.
 

34D

Established Member
Joined
9 Feb 2011
Messages
6,042
Location
Yorkshire
First post here but looking for advice.

I have a 2 and a half year old son who is obsessed with trains and was just wondering if there are certain places to go where we will get to see some older trains or somewhere where he can see all sorts.

I work for Southern so ideally on their network, or if not I live in around Kingston so maybe on the SWT network

Ideally it will need to be free or cheap

Thanks

Mine is much the same age. To be honest, a walk to our local station (2 platforms, 2 trains per hour each way and another few non-stop) is all he needs. A ride to our nearest big station is something he loves too.

If you ever want him to be quiet and still for 20 mins then look for choo choo videos on youtube!
 

Ivo

Established Member
Joined
8 Jan 2010
Messages
7,307
Location
Bath (or Southend)
My niece is 4 and loves travelling by train too. Every time I go home she insists on me taking her out a few times, including on the train at some point. She also loves the Dark Train [LUL] and is waiting for me to take her on it too - but her mother [my sister obviously] and I don't think she is old enough for her to go that far from home without either Mummy or Nanny around yet.

She also loves escalators, which works well with the Dark Train.
 

yorkie

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
6 Jun 2005
Messages
67,439
Location
Yorkshire
The best place to go for frequency on the Southern/SWT networks would have to be Clapham Junction (west end of the station to get a view of all lines, you often see 'spotters' here). Wouldn't interest me but if it's just a requirement to see almost-silent EMUs then it could fit the bill!

I have to agree with the North Wales suggestion if you can ever go there on holiday. I found the cheapest way to do it was to join the Ffestiniog Railway as a member, and this gave discounts on the others (such as the Talyllyn Railway and the WHR).

If you ever want him to be quiet and still for 20 mins then look for choo choo videos on youtube!
If you have a powerful sound system, see what he thinks of this (shame it's not HD but still sounds good!), the only problem is he may be disappointed when he sees them in real life and they now sound like boring trucks!

[youtube]C1ICcOu0NkM[/youtube]

Also try the Mega Thrash videos by cbreezer15.
 

philcfc1905

Member
Joined
3 Feb 2010
Messages
36
Location
Surrey
You could try Didcot Parkway, attached to the station is the Didcot Railway Centre. The best of both worlds and a great day out.
 

GNER 373

Member
Joined
28 Apr 2010
Messages
510
Location
Gateshead
It's far away from you but I always loved going to York for the NRM when I was young. York Station is just across the way too so you get a great mixture of old and new!
 

Ivo

Established Member
Joined
8 Jan 2010
Messages
7,307
Location
Bath (or Southend)
It's far away from you but I always loved going to York for the NRM when I was young. York Station is just across the way too so you get a great mixture of old and new!

Better than that, you can watch York station from the observation area in the NRM! You can watch the new whilst surrounded by the old...
 

Crossover

Established Member
Joined
4 Jun 2009
Messages
9,247
Location
Yorkshire
Better than that, you can watch York station from the observation area in the NRM! You can watch the new whilst surrounded by the old...

I loved the signalling centre last time I went!

Talking of York station, when I was last there a month or so back, there was a railtour sat in platform 11 which was attracting a lot of attention (47 hauled)
There were quite a few people with cameras, one "group" of whom was a guy with his young (I wouldn't guess more than 4 years old possibly) son.
Daddy had grown up camera (SLR IIRC) whilst he was getting his son to take photos on his compact digital. I thought it was kind of cute...may as well start them young!
 

tsr

Established Member
Joined
15 Nov 2011
Messages
7,400
Location
Between the parallel lines
Better than that, you can watch York station from the observation area in the NRM! You can watch the new whilst surrounded by the old...

When I was about 11 years old, which is quite a long time ago, my family and I were on holiday in Yorkshire. We'd had a great time in the NRM, and either walked into the station or the observation area at some point. To suddenly stumble upon 4472 preparing to depart was somehow magical, because we'd just moved from being surrounded by heritage locomotives and other exhibits... straight to what the general public considers to be the pinnacle of steam.
 

221129

Established Member
Joined
21 Mar 2011
Messages
6,520
Location
Sunny Scotland
When i was at Exeter St Davids 2 weeks ago there was a kid about 6 or 7 with a lil tripod and camera Waiting for Tornado to come through.
It was one of the Best things ive seen.

Also this My Little brother and i were at EXD again and i was taking pics and he asked to have his taken next to a train;



And then at Plymouth Opertunity to 'Drive' a train :)
 

Attachments

  • 6800421097_774545d1ed_b.jpg
    6800421097_774545d1ed_b.jpg
    397.2 KB · Views: 55
  • 6550152559_2c34562d2c_b.jpg
    6550152559_2c34562d2c_b.jpg
    417.8 KB · Views: 56

ChiefPlanner

Established Member
Joined
6 Sep 2011
Messages
7,768
Location
Herts
Encourage them early , though they will find other interests down line.

How about the Mid Hants for a day out .....
 

43021HST

Established Member
Joined
11 Sep 2008
Messages
1,564
Location
Aldershot, Hampshire
Take him to Clapham Junction and as a warmup to the trainmental thrills, London Bridge. It's local and he'll love it!

You don't want to put the kid off trains!

I think how I was bitten buy the railway bug was the screaming Valenta engines at Reading, that made such a big impression for such a small boy. I also had healthy doses of First gen Diesels and steam at preserved, that's probably why I'm not a unit fan, I was brought up with much better at such a young age!

If I'd lived in an area that was strictly EMUs I don't think I'd have the fascination for railways like I do.
 

calc7

Established Member
Joined
8 Aug 2011
Messages
2,097
You don't want to put the kid off trains!

I think how I was bitten buy the railway bug was the screaming Valenta engines at Reading, that made such a big impression for such a small boy. I also had healthy doses of First gen Diesels and steam at preserved, that's probably why I'm not a unit fan, I was brought up with much better at such a young age!

If I'd lived in an area that was strictly EMUs I don't think I'd have the fascination for railways like I do.

Agreed that Reading would be a really good idea.

On the EMU topic, I really like the 350s' whirr as they leave/stop at a station!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top