Indoctrinating children

[serotta1972]

Look at the focus on his face, can't wait to see the final assembled product. I miss building kits, good stuff Toni - like Jeff said, great training.

[Das Steinkopf]

On 11 October 2017 at 11:28 PM, marknewton said:

Last Saturday morning my family visited a live steam club track in Western Sydney that we hadn't been to previously, the Western District Live Steamers at Prairiewood. 

 

http://www.wdls.org.au

 

The blokes we met there today were very friendly and obliging. One of the members was running this beauty on the 71/4" gauge track:

 

 

Its a freelance 0-4-2 named "Emma". Mal, her owner, very generously let my son Harry have a little run of her. He loved it! 

And Dave, another member put Harry in the seat of his 44 class diesel loco:

 

 

If you're in that part of the world I can highly recommend a visit.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

 

That would be Mr X's 44 Class there if I'm not mistaken. 

[railsquid]

The other day the Squidlet discovered my "workbench", aka the level surface which stops a bunch of random stuff falling to the floor due to gravity. Anyway he espied a clump of "foliage" which had escaped from somewhere, and in his wise knowing way identified it as "broccoli" (or more precisely "bwocolli", freaky little blighter loves the stuff but I digress). He is fortunately able to differentiate between normal edible broccoli and things which only look like it, anyway I took the opportunity to demonstrate its real purpose, i.e. covering up landscape, at which point he twigged (hah) and said "happa" (leaves) then "twee" (thing which sticks up out of the ground and bears "happa"), and proceeds to watch me attach said "happa/twee" to some landscape, and since then he points to the bit of scenery I worked on and says "daddy! twee!" (translated: "those are the trees Daddy made!").

Edited October 28, 2017 by railsquid

[cteno4]

Amazing how all those neuron pathways start connecting up, it's like you can see them growing in his head and hear the clicking! One of the best things about kids and also teaching -- Watching that lightbulb go off is amazing! 

 

Jeff

[Davo Dentetsu]

Hopefully they're not too fiddly for him.  But good on him for having a go, he'll have a blast.  :)

 

EDIT:  That was to Toni.

Edited October 29, 2017 by Azumanga Davo

[ToniBabelony]

Apart from mismatching parts here and there it all went pretty disciplined. He can now rail and rerail a 4-car set, as well as maintain proper speed. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures. Next time we'll have a red Hakone 1000 type running as well! Now at least the Finetrack Mini Curves and points come into play. I'm thinking of making his own little layout board as well later.

[Pashina12]

On Saturday, October 21, 2017 at 8:40 AM, railsquid said:

 

He worries me sometimes... earlier I was trying to explain to him that the HO2 in the bathtub was not "omizu"  ("purupuru") but "oyu" ("hotty hotty"/"atchi atchi", this is not Sparta) so he pointed at it and said "water".

 

That reminds me of a story about my cousin, tryIng to teach her French. Point at an apple saying "pomme". The response? "No pomme! Apple!"

[beakaboy]

On 10/15/2017 at 4:12 PM, Azumanga Davo said:

Pleased to say that plans to go ahead with our second local Japan Festival are now ready to implement.  Only a once a year indoctrination so far, but hey, progress is progress!  :)

when is this festival to take place Azumanga? My wife and I are headed to Perth on the 11th Nov for about 2 weeks. 

[Davo Dentetsu]

3 hours ago, beakaboy said:

when is this festival to take place Azumanga? My wife and I are headed to Perth on the 11th Nov for about 2 weeks. 

March next year.  But if you fancy a Saturday at the local model train club when you are here, you're very welcome to.  I can provide help with transport too if needed also.

[railsquid]

Spot the difference

 

 

 

[cteno4]

You just grabbed another kid that looked like the squidlette!

 

jeff

[railsquid]

On 28/10/2017 at 11:21 PM, railsquid said:

The other day the Squidlet discovered my "workbench", aka the level surface which stops a bunch of random stuff falling to the floor due to gravity. Anyway he espied a clump of "foliage" which had escaped from somewhere, and in his wise knowing way identified it as "broccoli" (or more precisely "bwocolli", freaky little blighter loves the stuff but I digress). He is fortunately able to differentiate between normal edible broccoli and things which only look like it, anyway I took the opportunity to demonstrate its real purpose, i.e. covering up landscape, at which point he twigged (hah) and said "happa" (leaves) then "twee" (thing which sticks up out of the ground and bears "happa"), and proceeds to watch me attach said "happa/twee" to some landscape, and since then he points to the bit of scenery I worked on and says "daddy! twee!" (translated: "those are the trees Daddy made!").

 

Since then, he keeps insisting I sit at the workbench and make more "twee", unfortunately I've run out of surface which needs covering.

[cteno4]

Teach him to make the trees and sell em! Start of the college fund!

 

jeff

[ToniBabelony]

Today we were leafing through some RM Models magazines when my son noticed some trains in there have the same coupler types as his beloved Odakyu trains. My wife looked at me with fear in her eyes as I was doing a victory pose. Things are proceeding as planned.

[cteno4]

We want a photo of this victory pose!

 

jeff

[ToniBabelony]

No victory pose, but rather as punishment a private trip with papa to Enoshima to ride the Enoden. And walk along the beach, the line and... Basically a real papa day.

[JR 500系]

Oh wow Enoshima! Really brings back memories... did you check out the diorama at Enoshima station?

[marknewton]

Indoctrination doesn't just have to involve trains.

 

Last week my son had a doctor's appointment just before school started. We got there a bit early, and while we were waiting a young bloke driving a cement mixer pulled up next to us. The truck was immaculate, and we got talking with its owner when we told him how impressive it looked. His name was Steve, and he invited Harry up into the cab so he could check it out:

 

 

Steve was a lovely bloke who was very pleased to show off his rig. On the way back from the doctor we called in briefly at the tramway museum so that I could collect some tools. Harry wanted to have a look at the steam tram while we were there:

 

 

On the Friday night we met up with the missus after work and went out to the airport for a bit of planespotting. Our first stop was the beach near the old control tower:

 

 

Next stop was the "Scottish Restaurant" for a quick meal, then more spotting. The hill in front of the new control tower has been turned into a proper viewing area, with signage, seating and a shelter. All the junk and weedy scrub that was in front of the hill has been removed to improve the view, which is now superb:

 

 

 

And then last night we played with buses. The Sydney Bus Museum staged an event modelled on our nighttime tram running, which they called "Deckers in the Night".

 

https://www.sydneybusmuseum.info/deckers-in-the-night

 

It featured night trips into the city, a barbecue and a band playing music from the 40s thru to the 60s. A group of members from the tramway attended, and to get in to the spirit of the event we brought our own double-deck bus along. We made the trip from Loftus to Leichhardt in our newly restored AEC Regent, MO2619.

 

 

 

During the night we ran a few trips into the city with her, but as well we rode on some of the other buses belonging to the museum. The most interesting one being this beast, which is a long way from home:

 

 

 

I'm sure some of the forum members will recognise this bus, and know where it came from...

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

Edited November 13, 2017 by marknewton

[ToniBabelony]

5 hours ago, JR 500系 said:

Oh wow Enoshima! Really brings back memories... did you check out the diorama at Enoshima station?

 

We particularly avoided touristy spots and enjoyed getting off at stations my son fancied. Had a long walk along the beach and the line and basically saw more living areas than tourist traps.

 

Also, video from a crossing near Inamuragasaki sta.

 

 

[Kiha66]

That's the way to do it!  Exploring around lesser known stations is a great way to spend an afternoon.  These pictures are really making me want to visit the Enoden.

[railsquid]

3 hours ago, marknewton said:

 

I'm sure some of the forum members will recognise this bus, and know where it came from...

 

 

Given that it's left-hand drive (err I mean designed for places which drive on the left side of the road), and looks like a British double-decker despite the Germanic radiator ornament, I'm going to guess Fragrant Harbour.

Edited November 12, 2017 by railsquid

[railsquid]

The Squidlet discovers the magnifying glass and is intrigued by how it makes things (including fingers and N gauge trains) so much bigger.

 

[railsquid]

On 8/8/2016 at 12:24 AM, railsquid said:

And today's lesson is... the Yamanote Line.

 

 

The Squidlet loves to go through his book and point at trains and make me say the name multiple times, which is kind of educational for me when it comes to wierd Kansai stuff (I am now aware of the existence of such things as a "Kintetetsu Aaban Rainaa Nekusuto" and a "Nanpuu") but after having to repeat "Yamanote-sen" for the dozenth time I decided it was a good opportunity for some strategic Youtube, and I do love the expression on his face when he realises "train thing in book is same as train thing on TV".

 

Digging up this post from over a year ago, I'm happy to say that the effort has paid off, as he now can vocalize such useful things as an "Outou-sen" (which is apparently in Kyoto, now I've just got round to looking it up) without being prompted.

[Densha]

5 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

That's the way to do it!  Exploring around lesser known stations is a great way to spend an afternoon.  These pictures are really making me want to visit the Enoden.

Enoshima itself is also really beautiful, but I'd advise to get off the main paths to avoid tourist routes. Enoden itself is already definitely worth it though. I would recommend planning a whole day for Enoden and Enoshima if you're doing both. There's nothing like being able to leisurely take time to look around, which is something I sometimes tend to forget.

[JR 500系]

Wow! That Hong Kong bus is interesting! Seems like you guys had a great time!

 

Little Toni sure had fun watching the Enoden! I love the Enoden too, even the Mrs like it! That's something about Kamakura and the region around it... sometime very serene and scenic that we really liked... I remembered when we went there was even a weekend flea market with many locals selling their own produce or 2nd hand stuff at Shichiriga-hama (七里ヶ浜駅) station!  

 

Little Squidlet sure is growing up fast!