I can relate. This is what my grandson does. :lol: 
Saves a bundle on decoders.
Used to do that myself!
Kids like hands on things. Though I had, and often played with, my electric trains, I often played with the old ones too.
About a decade back, the members our club began showing up less frequently. At that time we all owned a couple of battery powered and radio controlled trains that we ran around and around the club layout. After a few years of running the same trains around and around in circles, club members became bored with the hobby and wandered away.
When railway operations were introduced, everything changed for the better. Now you weren’t just a spectator pushing buttons to control some electronic object, you were hands on. Assembling a train in one of the freight yards using a switch list took time. Manually uncoupling cars and throwing switches in some hard to reach places took some dexterity. Figuring out how to pick up that last car from the middle of a long string of cars on the inner most track of a crowded yard took some thought.
Each point along the line added new switching challenges that changed weekly. In time there were up to 8 different runs to choose from, each with its own character and switching puzzles. But the members liked this new hands on approach and returned on a regular basis.
Now that the club has doubled in size each train has a 2 man crew, and the large freight yards each have their own yard masters to assemble trains. The dispatcher and crews are kept busy on the 2-way radios keeping the trains moving and avoiding corn field meets.
Kind of lets you know why that young tike is happier pushing his train around wherever he wants to go, instead of watching endlessly as one goes round and round untouched.
Have a point Paul.
I’d like to buy a couple turnouts for my Bachmann train set when (if!) finances allow - sadly, unlike Congress, the bank won’t take my Xeroxed 50’s.