No other activity bonds parents, grandparents, and children like model railroading. RailKing trains combine durability and play value for kids with realistic detail for adult hobbyists. This combination of action and realism means the whole family will enjoy building and running the railroad, creating priceless togetherness and memories.

Being a kid means hearing no a lot. Adults are always telling kids what to do, and the one thing young people want most is a chance to make their own choices. A model railroad puts kids in charge of powerful locomotives, important freight, and swift passenger trains. The trains run when kids want and the track plan, scenery, and buildings are the ones they choose. Your model railway is a safe place for kids and adults to enjoy being in charge, without interference from parents, teachers, or bosses.

Your railroad is a safe and exciting place to learn about cause and effect. Choices made on the model railroad will get immediate results. Wrong choices cause derailments and other minor problems; right choices make the trains run smoother or make the layout look more realistic and exciting.

Outside of grades and sports, many kids lack opportunities for accomplishment. Model railroading gives them the chance to build something unique and special, something that impresses everyone who sees it. Unlike video or role-playing games, a model railroad is a solid, real-world achievement that is easy to share and builds both skills and the character that comes from self-reliance.

Before you build your railroad, you dream it. Model railroading teaches important lessons about the power of imagination, how we can make our dreams real one step at a time, and that solving problems often means thinking about them in new ways. The layout allows kids to build a world that matches their dreams and wishes, one that may function better than the messy everyday world outside.

As the railway develops step-by-step, kids see the power of steady work. A little effort applied at regular intervals creates noticeable and exciting progress.

The hands-on activity in building and operating a railroad improves hand-eye coordination. Detailing buildings, building scenery, and operating accessories teaches hands to be accurate and graceful in motion.

By operating the trains with other kids or family members, kids learn how to cooperate and share. The value of teamwork is easy to understand when you are trying to complete a complicated railroad maneuver or want help in completing a complex building project. If you attend train shows or join a model railroad
club, you will make many new friends who share your interest in trains.

By operating heavy trains at speed, you will get a hands-on education in how things move. Model railroads embody such important physics concepts as inertia, momentum, friction, and vectors.

RealTrax track and RailKing accessories feature the simplest and safest wiring possible. However, in setting up and learning to control trains, kids will get a solid grounding in how electricity works and what makes all the other machines in their lives work the way they do.

By running realistic freight operations, you will learn how our economy works. Raw materials must be transported to factories and then the finished goods must be carried to market. Railroads move the majority of experience of the challenges involved in moving America s people and products from place to place.

Steam locomotives were 19th Century high tech. As you model the operations and equipment of different eras, you will understand the changing face of American industry and how one technology's advantages caused it to replace another.

By modeling the buildings and structures on your railroad, you will gain a deeper understanding of the history of architectural styles and why buildings are built the way they are.

The railroads created the communications industry. By popularizing first the telegraph, then the telephone and the traffic light, and finally computerized traffic control, railroading has pioneered new ways of getting a message through. By modeling signals and other communication systems on your layout, you will see how these critical systems work, making life safer and more efficient for everyone.

Real trains are tremendously powerful and heavy and railroad tracks can be very
dangerous if you don t know what is going on. Model railroading teaches proper
respect for train tracks and what to watch for when you are trackside.