In a world where much childhood play takes place on a two dimensional screen, model railroading offers a form of play that is both old-fashioned and timeless. For more than a hundred years, children have been using toy trains along with construction sets, toy figures, empty boxes, and anything else at hand to build their own imaginary worlds.
While all of this can be accomplished today on a computer screen, there's still enormous value in building something with your hands, making it operate, and sharing it with your friends. Childhood development experts call it "unstructured, imaginative, free play" and they say it helps kids grow mentally and socially. We just think it's fun, and having fun has to be a good thing.