How do young people get "into trains" these days?

Oh, I almost forgot one influence on me- I was born in the Bronx and lived there right above the D train, and I was a stones throw from the Harlem Line, I guess the location had somethin to do with it

and I was a stones throw from the Harlem Line

Oh really?? throwing stones eh?

My dad used to work for the MBTA many years ago with a friend, Joe Cavanaugh, an MBTA instructor, and I went along in the Red Line yards in South Boston and that's how I started my passion for MBTA railroading.

I love telling this story. Before I was born my father bought my mother a bachmann N scale train set( you know the old one with 119 in the improper paint job and the three coaches) well it was kept on top of the tv and starting when I was 2 i became fasinated with it. From there on I was raised on Thomas till I was 10 and I gradually moved on to larger railroading things.
(Also I still have that first N scale train)

Im an Instructor at Seashore and anytime I see a child etc that seem "very" intrested in the operation etc of the car, I usualy ask the parent or guardian to come with me and I take the person on the line and teach them how and let them operate. I usualy get members out of this or donations to the museum. I do it out of the kindness of my heart no other reason. When I was 5 an operator of a 'NEW" LRV let me operate from Goverment Ctr to Lechmere all by my self with my mother watching. Since then this is my way I pass on letting people operate.

All it took was my grandmother taking me to Hoboken from Rutherford when I was a wee lil tyke at 2 years old.

Well, like hioo1 said I was brainwashed since day 1. My dad is also a train nut and growing up we spent lots of time at Steamtown, and the former D&H mainline in Mayfield he and his friends used to railfan when they were in high school. When I was around 12 or so I got into model railroading and built a few HO scale 4x8 layouts over the next couple years, then when I was about 14 or 15 I started photographing trains

I got into it by riding them on the NEC and MNRR territory! It was a great experience.

I was turned onto trains when I was five. My family and I were taking a ride to the station here in Joliet to pick up my aunts on the Amtrak. The train was about eight hours late, which gave us time for some "railfanning" (I didn't even know what that term meant back then!). Joliet is a very busy place and is listed in the top hot spots in the Chicagoland Area on www.frograil.com . My aunts arrived around 10:00, about nine hours late. After the very exciting day, I kept begging my parents to go back. I'm sixteen now and have loved trains ever since that day! I am also very interested in photographing trains. Watching and photographing them - no better combo!

It all started in 1998 when I was seven years old. My parents and I just moved into Malden, MA. I lived near the Reading/Haverhill MBTA commuter rail line and the Orange Line subway. I was fascinated by the purple commuter trains and orange subway trains, but the trolleys and LRV's on the Green Line were what really got me into trains. I always sat near the front and watch the trolley or LRV round those bends and do its thing.

I think the "train gene" must be in my blood. I'm not as hard core as some folks around here, but I have always loved trains and my love of them was influenced by my family. I have a grandfather and two uncles who work for or used to work for the railroad (grandfather worked for the New York Central and NY, NH & H, uncles work for Amtrak). My dad isn't heavily involved in trains but he does like them a lot. He's simply the kind of person who will suggest we go out and look at a train go by if he knows there's one coming. Or he might stop at the tracks if we ever pass any, just on the offchance that we'll see some action.

I grew up in Reading, MA with the MBTA running through town, and now I go to UNH where Amtrak and Guilford freight trains pass right through campus. I just like trains, period. Love them, actually. If I never end up working with them I still want to be able to watch them.

I don't live near any tracks, and noone in my family is quite as 'hardcore' as I am. My father had an American Flyer sets, so thats how I entered the hobby-(As an AF collector, restorer).
BTW AF powns lionel.

I was in Japan and we toured alot on the JR rail system (very advanced) and I lived with a Japanese student for a week. When she came to visit me, I decided to take her to DC on Amtrak so she could compare JR vs Amtrak and since then I use MARC and Amtrak alot to travel.

Of course, I played with trains and used to go watch Trolley's when I visited grandma in San Diego.

My dad worked for New Jersey Transit when I was little, and the joy of hearing the sweet sounds of trains has stuck to me ever since.

Got a model railroad set up when I was 3, HO scale and for years I built a town around a loop track, at 8 I started making spurs and all that. Went on tons of exurison rides pretty much from the day I was born. I've been in love with them as far back as I can recall.