It's December , if you have your original train, show it here.....

@Putnam Division posted:

Know the area well....I went to Spellman for high school and many of my HS buds lived in the area off 238th. Do you remember the seasonal train store, Honig's Parkway, under the El on White Plains Rd, just north of the intersection with Allerton Ave?

Peter

Don't recall Honig's.  I do vaguely remember a train store on White Plains somewhere near the Wakefield Library, don't recall the name.  My Dad's Mom lived couple blocks from Spellman, remember riding my bike past there.

@johnstrains posted:

Really enjoying this thread. Thanks for everyone's contributions.

@Rich Wiemann That set is fantastic looking. I think it perfectly captures the ideal of a colorful Lionel PW set. Good balance of rolling stock, including some operating cars for play value. A real winner.

John I agree totally. Three operating cars (barrel, animated cop & hobo, generator car) were full of action and play value.  

Well ...... it is my original train.  Tyco HO.  Got it when I was 7 and repainted it when I was 12.  My first effort and it shows.  It was ultimately one of three very "prototypical" Alco Century series locomotives I repainted for the CNJ that never had them.  Lol.  The side mounted bell detail and break cylinders on the roof are a very special touch.

This act however did largely define my hobby that I never stopped being involved with.

My first train was also a tyco. Christmas 1977. The additional cars were add ons received for Christmas that year. The 50th anniversary car was a recent pick up. My shift to Lionel and back into trains was a Lionel set that one of my moms friends picked up for Christmas in 1990.

This is a great thread!  I only have video of my first train - an AF set running around the Christmas tree when I was a little over a year old.  Sadly, it's been lost to the passing of time and several moves as a young child.

-Greg

GG-1 not a bad paint job for 12, straighter than my lines at 59 lol.

@GG1 4877 posted:

Well ...... it is my original train.  Tyco HO.  Got it when I was 7 and repainted it when I was 12.  My first effort and it shows.  It was ultimately one of three very "prototypical" Alco Century series locomotives I repainted for the CNJ that never had them.  Lol.  The side mounted bell detail and break cylinders on the roof are a very special touch.

This act however did largely define my hobby that I never stopped being involved with.

@NYC Fan posted:

In 1956, at age 3, I got the 2265WS Berkshire Freight Set. Still have it in it's original boxes. May take it out, lube it up and give it a run this weekend.

In 1959, at age 6, I asked for and got the 2528WS "5 Star General Set."  This one is run every year at Christmas!

Skip.....that TV cabinet screams 50s!

Peter

@Sitka posted:

GG-1 not a bad paint job for 12, straighter than my lines at 59 lol.

I used Scotch tape for the stripes.  My dad was a regular subscriber to Model Railroad Craftsman so I had some good reference material even if I didn't have the correct masking material! 

This thread is great.  I am seeing so many familiar sets, your memories are MY memories, the photos are so darn timely too.  This shot, taken 5 minutes ago includes my 1954 Seaboard set, and in the foreground is my brothers first (second hand though) set which he would have received around 1950.  Dad's 1946 #726 with three original Tuscan brown Madison's will be around the Christmas tree at my nephews home soon enough, and I'll break out my 1959 General set to put around the tree.  Hard to believe that these first sets, so memorable, have lasted so long, have evolved from a circle around a tree to layouts large and small, and have inspired and entertained us for a lifetime. Nothing complicated about it.  Thank you all

I don't remember the year but it was probably around 1957.  I would have been 5 years old.  It was a collection of individual cars along with some 027 track and a Marx transformer.  I still have everything.  The locomotive still runs just like it did in the 50's ... slow and loud!

John

Jonathan GG-1, got to say this is a good thread, like you said about your dad growing up my father had postwar Lionel (wish he kept) went to HO Lionel still have some, my father-built balsa WW 2 planes, ships and HO layouts what a great time, My brothers and I built model all the time, A lost art for some young kids today.  God speed All!

Thank a Vet over Christmas

Thank you to all who have contributed!

Peter

@Andy Hummell posted:

That set was my 1st modern set.  We got it for Christmas in '75 or '76.  I also got a PC auto carrier and a PRR covered hopper to go with it.  It added a lot of play value over the pre-war set, and the two sets still looked great running together.

Andy

Do you still have it?  My Hudson won't go so I need to get that figured out.  It's my favorite steam engine and a nice set.  Not too shabby for $275 in 1976 dollars.

This was the first electric train I ever played with. My grandfather bought the set new in the 1930's. I found it in the attic in the mid 1960s and bugged my father to set it up with the help of my Uncle Joe who also built the shelf it sits on today. It hasn't turned a wheel under power since then but I'm hoping that will change soon.

@Apple & Orange Line posted:

Do you still have it?  My Hudson won't go so I need to get that figured out.  It's my favorite steam engine and a nice set.  Not too shabby for $275 in 1976 dollars.

I watched your video and you mentioned that the engine had the legendary mighty sound of steam!!! Did you check the SOS board??? I remember reading on the forum that there are issues with the boards - they were supported by some foam which disintegrates over time and can cause some shorts. Not sure if this explains your problem, but it is worth a look in any event.

I don't have pictures of my original HO locos and rolling stock, but I still have them. And they still run, though they are a bit beat up. I also still have my first O-Gauge loco, and it still runs, too. I'm never getting rid of my trains.

This is the 675 my parents bought when I was probably 5, still going strong a few weeks ago doing duty pulling some PE cars on the club's traveling layout at the Military Aviation Museum train show in VA. Bch. VA.

The original 3472 milk car, 3469 dump car, 3484 op car, 6462 gondola, and 6457 caboose are in their OBs.

@NYC Fan posted:

In 1956, at age 3, I got the 2265WS Berkshire Freight Set. Still have it in it's original boxes. May take it out, lube it up and give it a run this weekend. That's my Dad's Red Comet Set on the inside loop.

In 1959, at age 6, I asked for and got the 2528WS "5 Star General Set."  This one is run every year at Christmas!

And here are the sets today.

Is that airplane the Flying Fox?  I haven't seen one of those in over 50 years.  I also had a Whirly Bird helicopter as well.

Richie

@Apple & Orange Line posted:

Do you still have it?  My Hudson won't go so I need to get that figured out.  It's my favorite steam engine and a nice set.  Not too shabby for $275 in 1976 dollars.

Yes, I still have it.  I haven't run it in 15 years or so, though.  If I am remembering correctly, the price tag on my set was around $250.

Andy

I am the proud custodian of the Trainguy family's original train set... my Grandpa's postwar Lionel set, purchased by my Great-Grandpa for my Grandpa in the late 1940s. This is not only the first model train in the family but also the very first O Gauge train that I ever saw. The set began my transition from HO to O Gauge in my teens.

The set has been taken care of so it still runs pretty well despite having a million scale miles (the pickups and wheels are all visibly grooved). I recently gave it a thorough tuneup so I could run it for my family at my Christmas party earlier this month.

My Grandpa always said that Great-Grandpa played with the train set more than he did. Great-Grandpa built his own layout with custom buildings, several of which I have on my own layout. That makes him the first of 4 generations of model railroaders in my family. A proud tradition I intend to continue!

No pic's,  yes I still have it it's a Lionel 10 E, with extra cars, track given to me in 1956, it's rough, but I still run it around the Christmas Tree every year !

@GG1 4877 posted:

Well ...... it is my original train.  Tyco HO.  Got it when I was 7 and repainted it when I was 12.  My first effort and it shows.  It was ultimately one of three very "prototypical" Alco Century series locomotives I repainted for the CNJ that never had them.  Lol.  The side mounted bell detail and break cylinders on the roof are a very special touch.

Love it...can't beat that old CNJ logo.

That's me up in the cab of the loco with my grandfather on the bottom step sometime around 1965.  He worked for CNJ for most of his life, I still have one of his kerosene signal lanterns.

G-Man24

  If I've overstepped my bounds I apologize in advance. Let me know and I'll delete this post immediately.  I copied out your picture and ran it through a color correction as well as a mild sharpening - as you can see there is quite an improvement in the picture quality.

I still have my first Lionel train set which I received for Christmas 1957.  It was a set that was from the 1956 Lionel Cat.  The set includes the 2065 Santa Fe style Hudson and tender with air whistle, operating milk car, NYC Pacemaker operating boxcar, operation log dump car, Sunoco 3 dome tank car, and Lionel Lines caboose without a rear coupler, 1033 transformer, and remote control track section.  Shown below is the 2065 Hudson on my present layout.  It still runs great!   The Lionel passenger cars were purchased circa 1962.

Very cool thread. Thanks for starting it, Peter!

Seeing as you didn't say to not blather (like in the other Christmas Train thread), then I'll share some memories....

I honestly can't remember very much about what may have been my first train set. I think it was a clockwork I received for Christmas in my pre-school years. (I'm a 1952 model, so this must have been mid-1950s.) The set had a black "steam type" engine... can't remember the cars. However, I remember one of my relatives placing a lighted cigarette in the stack so it smoked as it went around the track!

My next train set came a year or so later for Christmas 1958: A Marx HO set. Being somewhat fragile, it didn't survive my rough play and was no more by summer! The set I received for Christmas of 1958 was the set on top of this page in the 1958  Sears Christmas Catalog:

That was it for trains until about 1959 or 1960 and I was given a Marx 3-rail 3/16" litho set. Now THAT set could stand the rigors of play! (And I was a bit wiser and took better care of it). I played with it for a few years until I received a Lindberg Lines HO set for Christmas 1962.

LOVED my Lindberg Lines set. It really set the hook in me for model railroading. I still have one original car from that set. (That car has been in service on every HO layout I've ever built!) Here's a picture of my only surviving piece from any of my childhood sets:

Once I had my Lindberg Lines set, I gave my Marx 3/16" set to a younger cousin that played with it for many years, too. I don't know what he ended up doing with it.

I don't have the original Marx set, or the complete original Lindberg Lines HO set. However, I do have replacement sets for them that I've purchased over the decades. However, I refrained from posting pics of the replacement sets on account of they are NOT the original sets as requested for this thread.

Anyway... model trains are fun and I've loved trains and model trains since before I can remember!

I'm enjoying seeing pics of y'alls first trains!

Merry Christmas to all!

Andre

Apples55 : Thank you for your comments.  Yes the base board in that house was a. real wood and b. varnished and stained.  It was a great old house (as I remember it ) and it was across the street from a small park that had a stream and YUP! a RR at the far border (Erie LW I think).  Unfortunately in about 1948-49 they decided to build the New Jersey Turnpike right through Bloomfield.  Our house was in the right of way and that was it, we were forced to move and the house is gone.  Interestingly the houses that we shared a backyard fence with are still there and you can see them if you pass by on the Turnpike.  We were just a little too close and I expect the unoccupied land (the park) made the routing easier.  The tinsel was definitely lead, and although I don't remember much from this tree (at this time, Santa still set up the entire Tree after I was asleep on Christmas eve, can you imagine the work for Mom and Dad that night!!) I remember the trees into the 1950's and the tinsel was indeed lead.  One problem was keeping the dog or cat from eating the tinsel.

Great memories indeed Apples 55

Don

My first locomotive was a Lionel 726 RR. Under the tree in 1955, give or take a year. I display it prominently on my command layout. Still runs furiously, sparks, ozone and all, when I'm in the mood for conventional.

Bob

My Lionel 736 Berkshire and other cars from the original set I received from Santa Claus when I was almost 3 years old is still running and is seen operating, pulling 17 box cars through the night in the following YouTube video entitled, "Action on the Main Line".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBgaFmSSSbc&t=6s

Flyer 283 from the second-hand Mountaineer set I received in 1963 or 1964:

Still have the rest of the set, with the exception of the caboose, lost sometime over the years. The 283 runs like a champ, but the smoke unit needs a refurb.

PD

Here's my original and first electric train.   Early 1970's MPC Cannonball set.    It usually would be running around the tree this time of year.   But, I let my son run his N scale around the tree this year.

I had received my first Lionel set at age 7 (Christmas 1941), so my mom donated my original 1939 seven car Marx set to one of those mid WWII metal scrap drives in our neighborhood.

The set I’ve pictured is an exact duplicate I bought twenty years ago from an Upstate New York EB seller. Great condition and runs well, and is 1939 like my original.  

@Richard Cuozzo posted:

Is that airplane the Flying Fox?  I haven't seen one of those in over 50 years.  I also had a Whirly Bird helicopter as well.

Richie

Yes, that was the Flying Fox. That one disappeared somewhere along the way. I think a cousin got it. But I did keep this!  I remember the TV Show Whirly Birds but don't remember the toy?

I think this one may count…

This 2025 set was a Christmas present to my wife’s Uncle in 1952. He sent it to us, along with a ZW, Cattle Corral, several other cars and accessories.  I tuned it up and it’s a great runner.

The train on the outside is my first train- a Lionel 736 Berkshire and a set of streamlined Presidential passenger cars. Santa brought it to my brothers and I for Christmas morning, 1967. The train on the inside loop was our Papa’s first train - a 259 freight set that Santa brought him nearly 30 years earlier.

NYC fan!

this one is for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5vX8uivsuI

I forgot to mention that I cleared many a Lionel disaster scene with the “Hook “from my whirlybird! Fun times.

My layout is down for repairs.  I assembled a short loop to show my first train set.

Bill

Not  trains but a train Store form the past. The Christmas Card sent out by Catoctin Mountain Trains and Hobbies in 2014. Found it while cleaning up my Train Room/Man and it is Christmas Past. Sad they are missed and are good friends.

My first train was a Lionel Southern Pacific 2-4-0 Santa brought for Christmas 1993. Got it to run with my dad's postwar set.

I usually run it every Christmas. This year it's pulling two MTH and one Atlas boxcar I got for Christmas.

Here's the original engine, then and now.  That's me on the left.

She's gonna need some work.  She wouldn't pull this year's 8 car Christmas train, when shortened to 4 cars she struggled to get her train moving and  then the coupler on the tender would open. Even the steam whistle struggled so back on the shelf for now until I have time for another project.  The rest of the original consist is still around, just boxed up so no pictures available.  When I got back into the hobby I tried to repair the originals as best as I could, replaced what missing parts I could and some of the missing loads but some things, broken corner on the SP style caboose, and he broken off brake wheels from the AC condenser car couldn't be repaired.