Frequently when I am at the train shop I will over hear "I am building it for my grandson/son" Then they go on to buy flex track, high end locomotives, scenery, and other advanced equipment and details for experienced model railroaders.
If they want to introduce youngsters to the hobby then they should read the excerpt from the article I posted at the beginning of the thread
http://tracks.lionel.com/5-rules-for-introducing-kids-to-model-trains/
I cut this piece out and pasted it here becauseI believe it is the most important part
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Let their personality and creativity shine: Kids are creative. They may not pay attention to the same amount of detail that we do as adults, but you’d be surprised at the level of detail they can conjure when given the opportunity. Allowing your child to decide how the track is placed and what the layout looks like gives him or her a chance to showcase their personality and creativity. It’s best not to attach track or any landscape to the layout permanently because it restricts your child’s ability to experiment with different layouts.
If they really want to introduce young ones to our hobby buy them ready to run sets with snap fit track with road bed. You can even set it up on the floor, no bench work required. They don't have the patience to watch us fiddle about with hand laying track or other complex track systems. Little guys want to set it up and play, right now! They may only play for 30 minutes as it is before losing interest and moving on to the next thing.
If we are to compete for our kids time with video games and all the other electronic gadgets we are going to have to make trains fun and set them up fast! These easy ready to run sets could usher in a second "golden years" of model railroading.
Don't get me wrong, I love the beautiful and accurate layouts as much if not more then most, but don't say you built it for your little kids. I hope one day I can build a layout for myself like those I see, but right now my grandsons are my focus and ready to run sets are the answer for them. My 97 square feet of layout is a play place for my boys and I. Even with the layout we still set up trains on the floor.
One day when my gout is acting up and I am grouchy because I am not feeling my best I will tell one of the "I am building this museum quality layout for my grandson/son" guys to shut up, stop lying to yourself and build it for yourself! There is nothing wrong with grown men playing with toy trains. In fact I hope my grandsons grew up to love toy trains as much as I do. That is why I let them be involved and do as much of the work as possible. Ready to run sets make that easy for me.