Here’s my two cents:
My dad had (and still has) a Lionel Berk set. He never rain it but I would sometimes pull it out of its crate and look at it. My grandma had a Marx set that once belonged to my uncles. My sister and I loved to set it up and zoom it on the track as fast as we could get it to go. Fun stuff.
My dad and I built an HO set when I was about 5 years old (aside from christmass battery operated christmas trains.) We had trains on and off, when I became somewhat of and adult of limited means I started in N, but always wanted to venture outside.
Hi Rene
I grew up with Triang and Triang Hornby OO trains I still have them and one day will set them up again
Hope it is still posable to get them serviced properly when I do doubt it some how
as they have the old XO4 motors in them
regards John
Hi Rene,
Like John I had Briti***riang & Hornby Double ‘O’ but sadly they are long gone. In the 50’s & early 60’s these were major Christmas presents and my favourite was a Triang version of what was probabley an FA unit. I suspect this is what got me on the American scene years later. As a little aside, in those far off childhood days I had a pet budgie who used to love riding in a coal car at low speed. Apparently, my wife tells me, it’s time I grew up. I’m 5’10", what does she mean?!!
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]
Just one set?
I went thru a slew of them!
The oldest I can remember at 5 or 6 is a battery op set from the Check Republic called the Red Comet with a O guage Euro double header engine and two small ore cars. I bashed that thing up in no time (the fact that it didnt run contributed to that).
Next when I was7 or 8, I got a Marx O guage set that came complete with a siding and a couple of buildings, ran the wheels off of that one. It was a good set for a kid.
After that nothing new until i was 10 or 11 and I got an HO set from Tyco with a GP9 that I discovered ran horribly on the carpet and I soon I had a 4 x 8 plywood with two ovals on it. The Geep ran horribly as any good Tyco loco usually does and soon I saved a got an AHM 0-4-0 Dockside switcher and that was a good loco! Then a Mantua Old-Timer 4-6-0. I never did anything past the double ovals in HO because Dad wouldnt let me take over the garage!
I ended up selling off all this stuff at the end of High School 'cause I didnt think I would ever need it again, I just wish I had kept that Dockside switcher!
Hi Vsmith
Yep only one set I don’t have the orriginal set that got worn out but it grew and grew
I have a nice rake of silver streamliners and the red and silver Fstyle unit to pull them
that Kim was talking about.
Ned Kelly the antipodean version of the davey crocket wild west style loco all worthless on the collectors market they have been fitted with bearings and modern wheels a couple of years ago just the way I like them useable.
With the mix I have if I ever get round to setting them up again
no way is it possable to build a proper model railway.
regards John
My brother and I had a wind up set in 1948 (no electricity on our South Dakota farm). When we moved to the big city we got a Lionel set for christmas. In 1956 I switched to HO and my brother moved into other things.
Like vsmith I no longer have the wind up or the Lionel but I did end up with the childhood Marx set of a man I used to work with.
OLD DAD
My dad got me a Lionel “O27” set, Atlantic engine, 2 cars, and a caboose. That was in 1950 and I still remember it clearly and fondly. Like OLD DAD, I moved on to HO in 1958. Then came marriage and kids so the trains took a distant “back-burner” spot in my life. However, I’ve been an avid steam train enthusiast since I was a kid.
I became interested in LS when I read the early GR mag put out by Marc Horovitz. I’ve been collecting equipment and experimenting with various techniques ever since.
Grandpopswalt
Hey Gramps,
Haven’t heard from you in a while. Hope eveythings OK.
Capt Carrales
Every weekend of my childhood was spent at a transport museum.I had real ones!
I had to answer yes, because there wasn’t another option. My dad had an American Flyer set - still does, but more worse for wear. It wasn’t actually my set, but I certainly pulled it out often to play with it. I probably did more damage to it as I was between 5 and 8 and had to tinker with everything! [}:)]
At about 9 years old, I recieved my first HO engine as a birthday present and a 3 foot section of flex-track. I had a borrowed power-pack and probably ran that engine 100 miles back-and-forth on that three foot section. No wonder the gears didn’t last! [8D]
Bob…
Hi all,
First one I had (at 5) was a wind-up train that ran on 32mm track, next was an electric set (at 7) which ran on 13mm track, was scaled at 1:100 (OK I admit, scale in the early 50s was quite variable, much like LGB still is in many respects[;)][}:)][:D]).
A friend’s father had a huge Lionel layout, I spent hours and hours there. I was also lucky that my dad had no interest in railways, was all thumbs and I got to do “it” all on my own.[8)][:)].
Mind you, I got some good lickin’s when I came home late, again, from running trains.
Whenever I read “modelrailroading is a virus” I smile. I know firsthand and lickin’s are no antidote.[:I][:D]
Hi RhB_HJ
Afraid so a disease with no cure is non contagiouse
Sufferers have been seen muttering strange number combinations like 0-4-0 ,4-6-2 and go into semi conciouse states at the passing of a steam locomotive the only known treatment is regular model railway therapy sessions too keep the patients from going insane
regards John
Hey Cappy,
We’ve been in Florida looking around for a new “nest”. I’ve also been looking around for steam train museums down here. As far as I can see, there are no narrow gauge steam trains and very few standard gauge steam lines either.
BTW, can you point me toward some of your political opinion forums? I’d like to see which way the wind is blowing regarding all the issues currently facing us.
It sounds as though you’re well on your way toward that dream layout, good for you, please keep us updated.
Grandpopswalt
Grandpopswalt,
Glad to see you are in good spirits.
If you are looking for narrow guage steam that is running and/or a place that has an honest to goodness running steam shop you need to check out…
Here are some pics of the Loco-shop (almost looks like there putting together the Bachmann Set.
Allow me to quote from the site…
"Visit North Carolina’s first theme park, and take a trip back into the days of the Old West. Hop aboard the train for an unforgettable three-mile journey through the scenic mountains; but watch out for train robbers! Tweetsie Railroad also has amusement rides for all ages and live entertainment throughout the park. "
If you have the Bachmann set it might be worth making the pilgrimage to North Carolina. I plan to do so…someday.
As for political forums…
I post mainly on the Web-forum of a local Conservative Talk Show host, albiet the “threadsters” are far from just being conservative. It has the most varied group of people,
i had a playmobile set
No I didn’t have a train set as a child i wasn’t allowed too.
I was forced to follow in the normal Brown family traditions of drunkedness, womanising and general lewd behaviour and this isn’t easy when your only a kid.
Rgs Ian Kawana etc.
When I was very young, my father and his 2 brothers would set up the families Ives standard ga, trains. The way our house was built, the track ran from the living room, through the dining room and into the kitchen. Only my oldest brother was allowed to “help”. Two other brothers and myself (the youngest) were allowed to watch, but not touch.
George
Hey Cappy,
We just visited the Tweetsie railroad today. Unfortunately Number 12, the prototype for the Bachmann 4-6-0, was inside the shed so I couldn’t take as many shots as I’d have liked. But it was a great experience for me anyway. I’m going to make it a point to return later this year to see and photograph the loco running under steam.
Many thanks to Mr. Chris Robbins and his staff for a most enjoyable visit. The folks at Tweetsie are keenly aware that the NG steam train fraternity considers the “tweetsie” 4-6-0 a treasured connection to the roots of our hobby. And they take the responsibility of caring for that treasure very seriously.
Grandpopswalt
I got a Lionel in 75/76ish for X-mas ran it a while than told my dad I wanted to have an HO like his. He sold my lionel to purchase my HO stuff, I still have it, and just this past weekend was given all his HO stuff. No real room in the house for any real kind of layout, but I live on an Acre so for a Garden railroad the possibilities are endlesssssssssssssssssss.[:D]