My life story with trains

I hope everyone has enjoyed Tim's story here.  he is an inspiration to all young people who are thinking about getting into the train hobby.  his  dedication to the hobby and his help with other young people in our 3 railers kids club shows more young people are getting interested in trains and this hopefully will keep the hobby going for years to come.

I have read many threads since I joined the OGR forum that it would be nice to see more young people get involved well here is Tim getting involved.  as such he has just been de-promoted to not being the youngest person in the san diego 3-railrs as we had an 18 year old join this month.

 

as far as I can tell this hobby is not dead or dying!!!

 

 

Tim,
I was happy to read your story and hear about your efforts to promote trains to others. It is good to have you on the forum. I too fall into the younger portion of the crowd. I have been a train guy since I was little. My dad got me started in O gauge when I was young. Now, I am 23 and have a large collection of O Scale, Lionel Postwar, Lionel HO (from the late 50's- early 60's), Marklin HO, S gauge, and some nice Kato N Gauge stuff. You will find that expanding you collection gets to be almost addicting ��. I guess I would answer your other post about how much I spent on trains last year by saying, way, way more than I planed on. Also, I do my best to promote the hobby to others my age. Just last week I took one of my good friends on his first Amtrak ride from St. Louis to KC and back. He was amazed to find that there was a snack with a full bar and selection of food. Before his train trip the only travel he had experienced was on airplanes. He soon found out how relaxing it is to sit in the snack car and watch the scenery go by. Much better than a crowded airplane. On the next trip (to Chicago) I will show him what a superliner lounge and dinning car are like ��

Anyway, welcome to the forum. It's good to know that there is a younger group of people on here too. ( no intention to offend the older crowd, I would be nowhere in this hobby without the wealth of knowledge I have learned from all of you old timers ��)

Tim
Thanks for sharing your story. You are a person of good character and your dad is surely proud.
Enjoy that lionmaster. We have the same loco and it's a great runner.
Hang in there with the form. Some can be a bit snarky but all in all, it is a tremendous wealth of knowledge and these guys can usually solve any train issue.

Tim, enjoyed reading your story.  I have enjoyed the many times I've run trains at SD3R with you and your Dad.  You are both gentlemen.  And above all I thank you for being a patient teacher and a marvelous ambassador for this hobby.  

 

Whether its helping some of our more senior mebers with packing up their trains and rolling stock to patiently explaining the basics of DCS and TMCC to first timers, I always see you rise to the occasion to help, to educate and to share your infectious passion for trains. 

 

You give your folks many reasons to be proud. 

Tim,

Thanks for sharing your story. This hobby needs more young, enthusiastic people to ensure its future. Welcome to the forum. 

My Grandson became a Eagle Scout last month. Congratulations!

Tim,

 

Thank you for posting your story.  Far too often these days the things in the news and in the papers are the troubles that the youth in America are into the days.

 

You are an insiration and example for everybody.  I am am sure that your parents vary proud of you, as they should be.  They also deserve a ton of credit for raising such a fine young man.

 

My best to you and your family.

Tim, always good to see another fellow Eagle in the group.  my dad encouraged me in the scouts as well, he always said, if I was in, he was in.  he was my den leader, did a year as cubmaster, and then was troop committee chairman for as long as I was in the troop and then some.

I started with trains at age 3 when my grandparents bought me an HO set from model power, and made the conversion to O-gauge around age 8 when I inherited a 1946 postwar set from my dad's 2nd cousin. Both mom and dad always supported the hobby and my dad even sold his lionel set (cheap 1960s set) from his childhood to invest in newer trains (we were loving k-line at the time!).  I'm 25 now and live out of state, the trains are boxed up in my parents' basement, but I've got a "carpet central" in my apartment and every Christmas I set up as much as I can around my parents' tree and dad and I still sit on the floor watching them go round and round.

It's always encouraging to see more people my own age in this hobby and I never get tired of hearing of that special encouragement that only a father can give.

 

-John

 

PS: in the process of replacing my dad's trains; hope to have them as a surprise for him this Christmas

Very nice story.

Congratulations on being an Eagle Scout, Tim. That is a wonderful accomplishment. It was very interesting reading how trains have influenced you. Thanks for being part of this Forum as we enjoy your participation.

Enjoyed your story. I'm sure you have some proud parents.

Good story, Tim......but, being a Dad, I cannot help myself........so I remind you: trains are just a hobby.......get that education.....and, all the trains you may ever want will flow from it!

 

Good luck!

 

Peter

Thank you for the comments but that is not how I got into 3- rail trains or trains in General. So here it is:

I started liking trains at 3 weeks old because my dad has live steam trains and I do not know how I remember this but I rode on that train. I got into 3-rail because one of the many members in the live steam club like me collect 3-rail. I recieved a bundle of stuff from one of our member engines, cars and track. When he passed on his son who also was involved in live steam gave me all his Lionel Fastrack for free, because his dad told him to give me all the track. I no longer have the engines and cars he gave me as I passed it along to another person who has a child who just got into model trains and three rail in General.

So that is how I got introduced into 3-rail trains starting trains in all total.

Thank you once again for your support.

Well Tim, you have certainly made a major life accomplishment.   I bailed on Boy Scouts at 14.  I was four badges short of Eagle, but peer pressure influenced me to move on.  This is something I have regretted for my entire life.  Kudos to you for sticking with it.  Scouting, for me was a life changing experience, all for the better.  

 

I wish you continued success in your future.  You seem to have the drive to succeed at whatever road you choose.  Keep the wheels on the rails, and you can't steer wrong.