Western Railroad Discussion > Stupid People Tricks

What NOT to teach your kids.  I came upon this scene (several years ago) just in time to see the adult on top pass down the todler after some 'play time' on the big machine.  What could possibly be wrong with that?  (Edit: this took place some time ago, both adults were passers-by, equipment was secured for the weekend.  They just decided to climb on.)

Ed



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/15 14:16 by Auburn_Ed.

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Wish those things hd been around when I was a kid!!

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Auburn_Ed Wrote:
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> What NOT to teach your kids.  I came upon this
> scene just in time to see the adult on top pass
> down the todler after some 'play time' on the big
> machine.  What could possibly be wrong with
> that?
>
> Ed


do ya mean besides the fact that if the employer of the guy operating the track mobile sees this photo he's looking for a new job ??? ...

Out_Of_Service Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Auburn_Ed Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What NOT to teach your kids.  I came upon this
> > scene just in time to see the adult on top pass
> > down the todler after some 'play time' on the
> big
> > machine.  What could possibly be wrong with
> > that?
> >
> > Ed
>
>
> do ya mean besides the fact that if the employer
> of the guy operating the track mobile sees this
> photo he's looking for a new job ??? ...

Because he didn't feed the meter?!! Seriously though, I don't get the impression that the "adult" on the equipment is the operator.

I don't get the impresion that he is the operator either FWIW...

I don't get the impression he is the operator either FWIW.

Well, if the keys aren't in it, i dont see a problem with it - other than there may be the small issue of a possible trespass.

In any case, some of you folks are way too uptight. 

You're right. This child needs to be in a padded cage with an ipad, this world is far too dangerous for physical interaction.

I'm sure they're technically trespassing, but for goodness sakes, can we all stop policing each other?

-Ryan

I happen to think it is irresponsible to show a small child how to act badly.  You convey to the child that such action is okay, and it's not!  A repeat in the future could lead to bad consequences.  I'm not uptight about it, but years of observing human behavior tell me that it should NOT be done. (It's an old-age thing).

Ed



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/15 14:22 by Auburn_Ed.

Auburn_Ed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I happen to think it is irresponsible to show a
> small child how to act badly.  You convey to the
> child that such action is okay, and it's not!  A
> repeat in the future could lead to bad
> consequences.  I'm not uptight about it, but
> years of observing human behavior tell me that it
> should NOT be done. (It's an old-age thing).
>
> Ed
 
Well, a young age thing is to climb up on stuff.   When I was about 12 or so, they were building a big storm drain (6-7 foot pipe)  from Glendale to the LA River.  It passed through Glendale station and under the SP mainline in a tunnel and from there down Dover St (in L.A.) to the river.   They had a huge crane to lift the pipes into the trench and guess what?   We had contests to see who could climb up the inside of the truss-type boom to the top, which had to be 40 feet or so above the pavement.  And it was greasy, slippery, etc. for we in tennies.   Great fun and everybody survived.  Would I do it today, probably not unless there was a train shot to be had from the top, but I sure wouldn't go nuts if kids did it.  When you're a kid, you gotta test your limits imho.

I would argue that the natural curiosity of children, coupled with the typical peer pressure forces that a child will endure throughout his or her life have far more to do with how they'll behave down the road. Grandpa letting a 2-year-old look in the windows of a locked-up TrackMobile doesn't necessarily mean that the child will grow up with no regard for private property or safety around equipment. How many of us as kids were treated to cab visits and or rides on railroad property? And do we now or have we ever then assumed that we had a green light to do as we pleased in those same places down the road? For myself I can say no, and I imagine most (if not all) others understood this, too.

-Ryan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/15 14:45 by BN7149.

Before digital cameras, phones, tablets, etc., you wouldn't even have taken the picture if you had to pay for film and processing. Too easy now to shoot frivolous photographs, too easy to broadcast them via internet and/or Facebook, Twitter or whatever.

I'd bet all of us did our share of climbing around on stuff when we were kids, with adult supervision and with the rites of increasing age later without adult supervision. It looks to me like the equipment is properly shut down and secured and the child is adequately chaperoned by a loving Dad. I don't perceive too much of a problem here. My Dad let me climb around forklifts and boxcars at Post Cereals in Battle Creek, MI when I was no older than Kindergarten, and nobody freaked out then, I was adequately chaperoned by my Dad, who was a plant foreman. Edit - It just occurred to me that later I became a US Air Force AFSC 47251D Special equipment Technician, and I repaired forklifts among other things, then I became a Brakeman, Conductor, and Engineer. Hmmm made a bigger impression on me than I thought! === === = === JLH



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/15 21:48 by highgreengraphics.

One of the reasons I am a railfan today (age 68) was because when I was 8 to 10 years old I was able to climb all over CPR flatcars loaded with huge timbers parked on a siding near my home. We also got to know the local section gang on the branch line and no one ever said anything to us about climbing on cars or all over the trestle over the creek.

 

Will MacKenzie
Dundas, ON

Or you could end up like the 13 year old that released the brakes on the hopper and sent it down grade smashing the parked display steam engine into the depot. Just playing around, doing what teenagers do, no big deal.

Nice caboose on the mom.

What do you expect ?  Have you seen the prices at Disneyland ?

Nudge

Just a grandfather who happens to own the company showing his grandson what someday will be his.

MP4093 Wrote:
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> Or you could end up like the 13 year old that
> released the brakes on the hopper and sent it down
> grade smashing the parked display steam engine
> into the depot. Just playing around, doing what
> teenagers do, no big deal.

And what, exactly, would have prevented that?

-Ryan

It all goes back to basics.......do the right thing, don't do the wrong.  It is the very first lesson any child should get from their parents!  At the very least, it instills greater caution in the child, should they elect to try such 'dangerous' actions.  I was warned countless times to: not climb on trains, stay away from the tracks, keep out of the yards.  I did it anyway.  Even perfected getting on and off moving trains.  But perhaps the reason I'm still here (after a reckless childhood, thousands of hours of flight in the Navy, and seventy years) is that I heard and heeded those warnings.  I don't think a lot of kids today either hear the warnings or have any parents to deliver those warnings. 

Ed

Who cares.

Seriously, who cares.

Ted S-P