I just recently made a weekend trip to my grandparent’s and left with the complete story on my family’s history with toy trains.
It all started in 1934; my grandfather received a green Marx M-10000 as a birthday present from his uncle. That would spark a lifetime fascination with trains. He would add a couple of Marx accessories and a Commodore Vanderbilt set to his collection some time after he got the M-10000. As the world descended into war in 1941 the collection would not expand further until a few years after the war had ended.
In 1951 my grandfather would resume building his collection in his parent’s attic, this time he would choose Lionel. He began with a modest set, a 1451ws. Over the course of that year the empire expanded rapidly. Plasticville houses popped up and populated the town. The ambiguous 3472 milk car and 3656 cattle car would bring action to the layout, as would a 397 coal loader with the 3559 coal dump car. A yellow 2023 Alco set would join the roster and pull 2421, 2422, and 2423 passenger cars. Over the next year or two he would add a few more freight cars and a 145 gateman to the layout while life moved forward.
He would marry his high school sweetheart in 1954, buy a house of their own and start a family a few years later. Just before my dad was born my grandfather would move the layout from his parent’s house to his attic. A 50 gang car, and 395 floodlight tower would be added to the layout but would otherwise remain unchanged. As the 60’s came and went the end of the Lionel empire would near. December 1970 would mark the end of the line. With the fear of uncertainty surrounding Lionel’s future my grandfather would make the difficult decision to sell his collection. It would be packed up and sold after Christmas.
With the money he made from selling the Lionel my grandfather would begin anew, this time with HO. The layout would expand to the entirety of the attic and my dad would help build it until he went into the Navy in 1976. The layout would make slow progress with some work between 1980-1983, then it would stagnate through the 90’s.
In 1996 I was born, and so began a new chapter in the story. I grew up watching Thomas on VHS and playing with the HO trains at my grandparent’s house when we visited from out of state. On Christmas Day in 2010 I would receive a Lionel of my own, a Polar Express. Over the next two years I would add a couple of cars to my carpet central before I would get the space to begin building my own layout in 2012. Progress was slow but steady as I was in high school but would gain steam as time went on. In 2013 I would meet a neighbor who had a Lionel growing up and asked if I was interested in buying it. I agreed and the 2025 set he had would begin my venture into postwar Lionel.
After graduating high school in 2014 I would discover my grandfather once had Lionel as well. I learned of the regret he had on selling his trains and wishing he had kept them. With that information in hand I began the task of rebuilding what he once had. It was not easy at first, all the information I had was the memories of well over 40 years prior. When I would visit my grandparents I ventured into the attic, looking for any signs of the past. I would find the M-10000, still in its original box. It ran, but it’s time running would be limited. The wheels on the motor had zinc pest. I would find another box, this time it would have the 395 and the 3656 platform, some trestles, track and a Marx 413A switch tower and a spotlight. Progress was slow and with only memories with very little was certain.
A years or two later I would venture in the attic once again, determined to find anything I could link to Lionel. While digging through HO manuals and literature I came across a crudely written list. “1 2023 disel UP w/ horn”, “No. 3472 operating milk car”. My dad had inventoried what my grandfather had when he was young! With the list in hand I checked off what I had and what I needed. I had everything but the 2023 diesels. That night I went on eBay and bought a set that would arrived the day I would get home. Perfect. The list wasn’t extensive according to my dad but it was the best thing I had so far.
I had accepted the fact that I wouldn’t find much more physical connections to the past and suspended my search in the attic for more. COVID would throw a wrench in things and prohibit travel for a year. Now we come to the present day. During my most recent visit I was determined to find anything left I missed before. Boxes upon boxes with nothing train related. I realized my search method was flawed. I was looking for old trains in newer containers. If there were old trains they must be in old boxes. The hunt resumed. I searched behind the HO workbench where there was an old box with crutches on top I had seen on my last visit. It looked empty until I lifted a piece of foam covering the open top. The 145 gateman peeked out! Then some track and a train nobody remembered. It was the Marx Commodore Vanderbilt set, I was elated. I was told there may be pictures of the layout in the house somewhere, but nobody knew where. Now I needed to find pictures to complete the puzzle.
There was a filing cabinet somewhere in the basement with slides inside. I found it not long after I started my search. Opening up I discovered hundreds of slides from decades of pictures to go through. With so little time there was no way I’d find what I was looking for. I began the hunt once more. Then it happened. A dark and blurry picture, but tracks with three rails were clearly visible. BINGO! A few more boxes later and another picture, this one even clearer! The pictures kept coming, each one better than the last. Over five years since I began my search I could finally see what my grandfather had and continue the tradition he started in 1934.
All of the pictures are from around December of 1970.
