I had about four large plastic totes of old train set quality stuff laying around old Bachmann, Tyco, AHM etc. to me it was just junk and I was going to take it to one of or local train shows and get what ever I could get for it. I later decided to just put it on craigslist.com instead and was overwhelmed with responses. You could not believe how many guys wanted that old junk all for exactly the same reason as the o/p’s LHS owner. “It’s what I had when I was a kid” Hey who am I to argue when someone want to throw money at me in exchange for stuff that I was half ready to toss out.
When I first saw the words, “Train sets,” in quotes, I thought someone had gotten the same E-mail my daughter forwarded to me. The author described this wonderful, “Train set,” with all kinds of marvelous features.
About three sentences in I recognized the subject - Miniatur Wunderland! Hello, “Train set!”
Back on topic, I’m into (approximations of) prototype train sets. My September, 1964, JTR Master Timetable includes the consists of every major train, including those that ran on my little segment of the Chu-o- Nishi Hon Sen, so I don’t have far to go to prove that my version of #11 is accurate - except for being two coaches short.
As for model train sets, mine were Lionel, one in 1937 (I was five months old!) and one in 1947. Both ended up in the hands of cousins. When I started in HO, I bought individual cars to go with my Mantua Shifter…
Much more recently, I’ve ended up with the remains of an assortment of HO train sets, courtesy of my yard sale addicted sister. That’s why I have a bunch of toy train power packs and some very unlikely kitbashes on wheels.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I got a TYCO train set for Christmas, 1964. It included an AT&SF warbonnet painted F unit, a Virginian hopper, a Southern Pacific flat car with culvert load, a PFE Refer, a 4 wheel bobber caboose, horn-hook couplers all around, and track with brass rails. I still have all but the track and one of the culvert sections.
A couple of years ago I put the loco on the track and it still runs pretty well. It is all a little worse for wear, so I doubt that I could sell it for much, but it may be a good first train for some future grand-kid. Who knows, it may become a Christmas decoration (doing laps around the Christmas tree) in the interim.
I still have most of my 1st trainset which was Tyco. I’m rehabbing the rolling stock with knuckles and metal wheels. Even though the detail is poor, sentimentailty keeps em rolling. The ICG u boat loco is inoperative but it will find a place on my layout, even if an ICG loco would be woefully out of place on PC trackage.
I’ve had a habit of buying up trainsets at yard sales and it’s not a bad way to get some stuff for the layout. To wit: some 400 feet of sectional track, about a dozen powerpacks which are better than wall warts, some rolling stock, and a little stuff for the structure/scenery department.
Trainsets are a great way to get started in the hobby, especially with the better quality stuff thats availible now. Track plans are pretty limited but track is cheap and if you start with decent locs/rollingstock you can run them on whatever layout you come up with later.
IMHO, buying a train set is like buying a TV dinner.
My first train set was an American Flyer Royal Blue 4-6-2 in S not scale. It got me interested in model trains and later on I started buying HO models. Train sets for HO have normally been of less quality than but many have started with them since they furnish very basic items to start a railroad and a loop of track.
Our old joke around the train club went like this. I purchased a Tenshodo Crown or PFM train set and it was missing the track, the transformer and the train cars. No more trains sets for me.
CZ
I think one of the best current train sets is the Bachmann Acela. The one with DCC goes for about 400 bucks but it looks like good stuff.
Depends on which TV dinner you talkin’ 'bout[:-,]
[(-D][(-D]
I have fond memories of my Tyco trains. I started the hobby with them. Since no one told me they were junk, I had a lot of fun with them. I’m in S scale now, but I still have my old Tyco’s.
I’m not a serious collector, but I have picked up 3 of the Bachmann 1830’s train sets that are still MIB - they may get run one day or not. I have also picked up other odds and ends of cars, locomotives, etc. as they appeal to me. If I find a set I like in the future at the right price, I’ll probably buy it.
Enjoy
Paul
Tyco train sets were my intro to HO. I distinctly remember getting the Tyco spirit of 76 set after seeing it in a sears catalog. Now Lionel train sets are more to my liking. But I also like prototypical train sets. The Flying Yankee, Burlington Zephyr, etc.
Well I do have a couple of set. There the higher end sets for Athearn’s and Bachmann Spectrum. I got them for the trains not for the sets. I have the CAT and John Deer sets from Athearns and 4-8-0 Consolidated and J-Class Bachmann. I’ve run them on my big layout.
I bought an Atlas Trainman UP set to start myself in the hobby. It is of great quality, and did it’s job perfectly. I now am an avid modeler.
Fifty years in the hobby, and I never had a train set. Never felt deprived for the lack of such krap.
Mark
Interesting the varied opinions on train sets.
Personally, I recieved an AHM trainset about 1972 and ran it for a couple years on the floor and on a piece of plywood without even tacking the track down. Then I built a 4X8 layout and got another train set, this time TYCO. In 1976 everything got put in a box and sat until January 2008 when, while cleaning out my Mothers basement, I found them and decided to wait no longer on my dream of a layout. To get started, not thinking they would run, I once again, purchased a train set. This time a Bachmann. The Bachmann runs fantastic and strong today. The TYCO’s well, they didn’t fair well through storage One probably will run if I clean and greased it, but the AHM runs just as good and grindy sounding as I remember.
These aren’t the greatest locos there are, granted, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying they are junk. Their purpose is a package to get people to buy their product and have a ready to run train and some track to get started and hopefully get the bug then return to buy more. I’d say they are a good thing. And, though many may disagree with the way to purchase your first train “set”, you have to admit the tradition of a child of any age, unwrapping a trainset on Christmas morning is a wonderful thing. I know when I returned from the LHS with my latest trainset I felt the same way I did Christmas morning when I was 10.
Train sets? No thanks. Especially those sets that are sold with all the different football team boxcars, or the NASCAR drivers, etc. I think they are called “affinity” train sets.
“Start your series now, and for only a mere pittance we will send you another car every two months until your collection is complete. These are collector’s items and will increase in value. This is a limited time offer and quantities are limited, so don’t be left out. Call 1-800-555-1212 and have your credit card ready.”
What a crock!
Christmas 1962, my first train set. It was a “Lone Star Treble O Electric” Dad and I added on a lot to it over the next few years. Lots of rolling stock, track and switches. I would lay on my bed for hours reading while the train would make its way around the layout. I had it out about three years ago and it still runs like a top. My son spent hours playing with that thing. And then we took over what is now our train room.[:-,]
I often wonder if I would be in the hobby today if it hadn’t been for that train set. That very same set that sparked my interest is the very same set my little guy couldn’t leave alone 45 years later.[^]
Brent