Yes. Dad & his three brothers received a used 254E set for Christmas in the early '30’s. Some how, as the next to the oldest, Dad ended up with it. A set of repro wheels got it going again. Here’s a photo of him and his great-grandson during Christmas "07
Banks, great picture, shows that electric trains are timeless and are passed from generation to generation.
You know I don’t know if my Dad or mom had trains but here is the story.
My dad was born in 1924 and when the depression hit it was not good to them.
Dad’s father passed away when dad was 7 years old from a fishing accident and years later his mom remarried but I don’t think that worked out.
I never knew any relatives on my dad’s side other than a stepsister. Both of his brothers were dead before I was born.
When dad got out of the Air Force after WWII his mom died 15 days later. Dad never spoke much to me about his childhood but I can’t think it was very good.
My mom grew up on a farm. She got cancer when I was 4 and died when I was 5 so I don’t remember her too much and even my older brother who was 7 when she passed doesn’t recall a lot about her.
My grandfather on mom’s side spent a lot of time with my brother and I and they never had trains. Too much to do on the farm.
On the Christmas after mom died my brother and I got our first train sets.
There were two sets. I remember crying to get the orange new diesel U.P. 202 set and my brother had to settle for the used steamer set. Back vision tells me he got the better train but heck I was just a dumb kid and wanted the train in the new box.
So that was the start. After Christmas dad set up a layout in the basement of the house we were renting and trains became a way for him to spend time with his two young boys.
When he remarried and we moved in 1961 we set up a layout in the attic of my step grandfather’s house with the help of my uncle who was 9 years older than me but still a kid. That layout was where we grew up on trains. It was the full length of the attic, 23’ x 4’ with a 4’ x 8’ switchyard on the one end. Dad helped with the build and kept getting trains as he could afford them, passing them out between my brother, half sister, and me.
Dad would s
Great stories, all. I enjoyed them very much. I apologize for going bananas here with my posts, but it seems many of us share one thing in common: the trains have provided wonderful memories and a solid connection to our past.
Have we lost something in all of this with the current generation and our own children? I hope not. My son never got the train bug, and I don’t have a grandson…yet. I think I will keep scheming until I can “help” just one more child get hooked like I was and am.
Jack
Jack,
You make a great point by saying that our children don’t carry on the tradition of trains and it is a shame.
My son and daughter were always fond of trains, when they were younger.
Now, their interests have waned, but there’s still a flicker of hope, as my son looks at some of my trains and admires their detailing and my daughter has spurred her oldest son to ask me about the trains.
I suppose, with our children’s jobs, computers and economy, their minds aren’t on the pleasant, simpler things.
When, I was younger and got home from work, I would play and tinker with my trains and my wife did not mind, because she’s supportive of trains.
I’m lucky, because my wife would play with her brother’s train set, more than he did, when they were younger and she still finds trains interesting.
When, we have extra pennies my wife makes sure I get a train goody.
I hope, things will turn around, for the good of our children, country and for the good of trains.
Take Care,
Ralph
Well, yes and no. My Dad was one of 8 kids, and times were tough for them, so he had no trains as a child.
On the other hand, I was “given” a wonderful set of S Gauge trains on my 1st Christmas, and I was not allowed to touch or operate them until I was 8. For those 8 years, they were his. He and my uncle built the “train table” & wired the layout and my Mom built paper structures and procured Plasticville structures for the layout that remained up year round. I was allowed to procure Marx & Tootsietoy people & cars and play with them on the table, but I didn’t get to be the engineer until I was 8.
BTW, yes the engine still runs (very well) , and remains the flagship of fleet of trains some 61 years later.
LittleTommy
My Dad had lots of trains. They all ran on the main line of the New York Central behind our house between Erie, PA and Cleveland, OH. He worked in the Maintenance of Way department. I know that is not really the question that was asked at the beginning of this topic but I couldn’t resist!!!
Mel,
That sounds great to me!
Take Care,
Ralph
No. While they supported my interest in trains and managed to save enough to have Santa bring me my first train, the “funds” just weren’t there for them or my grandfolks to buy luxury items (like trains) for themselves. Thanks for asking.
My parents didn’t. Growing up in the rural south, I don’t think they even knew of or had any interest in toy trains, but I always suspected my Dad liked trains a little more than he let on. Even when I was a baby, I have seen pictures from vacations where we would ride trains, sometimes the same ones. Little did they know what it would spark.
My aunt (Maryland born, married my uncle on my dad’s side) was the one who sparked my interest in Lionel trains. I had been duly supplied with Thomas the Tank Engine tapes and trains, but my aunt’s Lionel always caught my attention. It had, I think, belonged to her dad, my great uncle who sadly passed away when I was very young. Anyway, I would help her set it up around her tree every Christmas. It was more for me to play with than a decoration. Now that I’m older, and don’t have alot of time, there have been a few Lionel-less christmases at their house. Sad, but at least they still have it.
Anyway, flash forward to the present. I’m 20 years old and a busy college student, and have a few Lionel pieces which I run around the tree. I have a set my parents gave me when they thought I was old enough to take care of it: a brand new Lionel Erie Hudson freight set (2004 I think). I bought a Polar Express a few months later, but a year ago when I was short on money and had to pay some bills I sold it. I also had, briefly, some Lionel 0-27 postwar pieces and a 1050 Texas Special alco (I may be wrong on the number). I was never fond of them so I sold them and bought some new rolling stock.
The cream of the crop was a 2343 Santa Fe f3 A-A I bought at my LHS (sadly now closed) after Christmas. They were in alright condition externally, but needed some work. These two were sold, but in the hopes of buying one in better condition in the future.
My current roster os of Friday included my Erie Hudson which needs some serious maintinence, and a 2065 Hudson which belonged to my best friend’s, late stepfather’s, late father. It was in really r
What a terrific picture worth a million words.
Well,since they paid for them you could rightly say they had trains. I sure enjoyed playing with them.
Well, here is the story…
My Great Grand Father was a worker on the Pennsylvania Rail Road and my grandfather worked on the PRR for a time as well (I have both of their pension books…or I should say Mom does). We lived near the North East Corridor, because Great Grandpa Alieni took the train to work. Adams Station in now the MOW for AMTRAK in North Brunswick, NJ. So the ground work was laid for my interest in trains.
My Great Grandparents and my Grandparents lived within walking distance of the NEC. When we visited, them, myself and my 2 younger brothers would walk to the NEC (across US1! ) and find treasures beyond imagination…and yes, we did squash a few pennies.
I can’t tell you whether my Dad scrimped and saved for any of the trains, but being in the Navy in 1960 and buying a house and 3 boys, I’d have to say that would be true.
We moved out of my Grandma & Grandpa’s 2nd floor 1 bed apartment (my grandparents lived downstairs), in 1960, to a brand new 3 bed 1 bath home with a full basement. Eventually one half was finished and the other half was empty sans the washer and dryer and 12’X16’ train table.
The perimeter had an oval of track and in the left back corner was the foam mountains and beacon and in the far right corner was a bascule bridge. On the front was 2 switches for a passing siding (for a passenger station). In the center was an elevated set of tracks. We had a few freight and flat cars, a 2037, 1061 and a Texas Special diesel. A 1644 rounded out the roster, but it would never move (more on that later…).
Whether it was day or night (and the lights on the Plasticville houses were installed from USN surplus from underneath) we spent lots of time with our Lionels. Summer or Winter, the basement was warm in winter and cool in the summer. Dad had constructed an aluminum console where the ZW was placed and lighted switches for all the lig
I am really enjoying this thread.
Jack
No.
If a parent is going to buy a starter set from LIONEL, wait until near Christmas day and after Christmas for the best prices.
Andrew
Nope. My parents worked in the textile mills and really didn’t have any hobbies. We had a garden and went fishing, but that was for food, not fun. The only fun pastime I remember was going to the swimming hole or beach.
When I was way little, perhaps 4, my dad did win a Lionel train in a poker game. I never actually saw it run on any track and I think it was basically destroyed by me playing with it. I was too young to have a train without guidance.
I got my first train at around 8 or so and it was my only train until I got into the hobby of model trains as an adult about 15 or so years ago.
My father did not have trains as a boy growing up in The Great Depression. My older brother was born in 1948 and my parents made sure that he got a nice Lionel train set that Christmas. I myself never had Lionels as a child. I had an HO layout. My father did buy himself a Lionel 602 Seaboard switcher in 1957, I guess it was a sort of delayed chilhood gift to himself (he was 39). He gave that locomotive to me in 1973 or 74 when I was 16 or 17. That locomotive got me started in Lionel Trains.
Cobrabob.
No. I just got into it myself. I was fascinated by trains, born in '43 so I started life surrounded by trains.