Everydaymatters
Engineer
At 10 years old I often rode the el alone from Forest Park to Chicago and then would walk to one of the museums. Times have changed and I'd be afraid to let my grandchild do that now.I was also the kind of kid who when I was 8 my mom could put me on a train headed into the city and know I'd be fine getting there and also once I was there I would have no issues getting to where I was going alone. I could also get myself on the train back home alone without help. It's amazing hat cutting the "apron strings" at a young age and not codling a child does for a person.
Take your avg. 8 these days and do that and he/she would get lost/cry/killed/do something very stupid. Parents just raised kids WAY differently these days.
As Whooz can tell you , I'm not at all mechanically inclined. I'm just a passenger and my knowledge of Amtrak is extremely limited as to what makes the train run.