At the Halifax and South Shore Railway Museum last summer, The Boy stuck up his hand when the proprietor asked if there were any model railroaders in the group. Later, he intimated that he wasn’t so interested in the railway itself as in the buildings and scene around it.
When we got home, he started sketching and thinking about building a mill, but really didn’t get far. So, for Christmas we got him a Vollmer kit for one, complete with water wheel.
Now that the luster has worn off the new X-Box games and the Lego is long-ago assembled, we finally got around to starting. It’s a decent kit for a 12-year-old. Loads of parts, but easy fit, and not much will go wrong.
Of course, it’s mostly a father-son project. That’s a win-win, as far as I’m concerned.
Pembroke:87 
Its great to see, there is a thread on the Hornby website running at the minute:
https://www.hornby.com/us-en/forum/average-age/?p=1
That I think shows the need for more young blood in the hobby!
For as long as I can remember, we’ve been worrying about the aging hobby.