anyone have a railroading or toy train story? or one passed down from an old timer? how it was " back then" ?
I was talking with my dad the other day and I now know how and when I got my start with trains…He was born in 41 and grew up on South Leigh Ave in Philadelphia.
He said that when he was a kid, he would hop a local freighttrain to and from the ballfield! My grandmother or greatgrandmother would give him money for the trolley which he would pocket to save for stamps and Lionel 
. the ball would go into his pocket, the glove looped onto his belt, and he would hold the bat in one hand and hold onto the train with the other!! !!! (HARDCORE) rarely did he have to walk the miles home… said my grandmother never did find out he did such a thing! or did it often!
And as a kid they had a summer home at Ocean Gate NJ where he could see the steam passenger lines running on their way to Seaside NJ from his bedroom…they lived that close to the mainline.
told me he saved a long time to buy the SantaFe 623 diesel switcher.w electro coil couplers…
Dad’s still around, I have all his and grandpa’s old Lionel and run it often.