Nostalgia

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

What train sets, locomotives, train cars, caboose, accessories, etc. make you feel the most nostalgia?

It's probably something you have had for a long time, or is otherwise very dear to you. Perhaps it was one of your very first Christmas, birthday or holiday gifts from your parents long gone. Perhaps it's something you never got as a child and always wanted, that you finally got later on in life.

 

 

In my case, it's the Lionel 2026 Korean-War era set that Santa brought me for Christmas, 1951.  I don't think I have any photos of it (I'll have to do something about that), but it was pretty basic: Locomotive and whistle tender; NYC gondola; Sunoco tank car; un-lighted SP caboose.  Dad -- er, Santa -- got it for twelve bucks, because it had been a demonstrator at the hardware store that was one of our local Lionel dealers.  He was an undergrad at the time, working two nighttime jobs to support Mom and three-year-old me, and money was very tight.  It still amazes me that he was somehow able to scrape together those twelve dollars.

Yes, I still have that set, it's all in fine condition and I run it every Christmas.

As for the trains I never got and always wanted...well, as a kid, I spent a lot of time pining over the jaw-dropping illustrations in the Lionel catalogs every fall.  We still didn't have a lot of money for some time after Dad graduated, so I never did get any of those fabulously-illustrated high-end Lionel treasures that figured so prominently in my fantasies in those postwar Christmases.

But although my main interest now is 3rs, over the years I've managed to acquire all of the dazzling Lionel delights that eluded me in the early Fifties.  Still, it wasn't until I finally got my Lionel GG1 and 736 that I figured I'd gotten my revenge on those insidious Lionel catalog artists at last.

Balshis posted:

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

What train sets, locomotives, train cars, caboose, accessories, etc. make you feel the most nostalgia?

It's probably something you have had for a long time, or is otherwise very dear to you. Perhaps it was one of your very first Christmas, birthday or holiday gifts from your parents long gone. Perhaps it's something you never got as a child and always wanted, that you finally got later on in life.

 

 

In my case, it's the Lionel 2026 Korean-War era set that Santa brought me for Christmas, 1951.  I don't think I have any photos of it (I'll have to do something about that), but it was pretty basic: Locomotive and whistle tender; NYC gondola; Sunoco tank car; un-lighted SP caboose.  Dad -- er, Santa -- got it for twelve bucks, because it had been a demonstrator at the hardware store that was one of our local Lionel dealers.  He was an undergrad at the time, working two nighttime jobs to support Mom and three-year-old me, and money was very tight.  It still amazes me that he was somehow able to scrape together those twelve dollars.

Yes, I still have that set, it's all in fine condition and I run it every Christmas.

As for the trains I never got and always wanted...well, as a kid, I spent a lot of time pining over the jaw-dropping illustrations in the Lionel catalogs every fall.  We still didn't have a lot of money for some time after Dad graduated, so I never did get any of those fabulously-illustrated high-end Lionel treasures that figured so prominently in my fantasies in those postwar Christmases.

But although my main interest now is 3rs, over the years I've managed to acquire all of the dazzling Lionel delights that eluded me in the early Fifties.  Still, it wasn't until I finally got my Lionel GG1 and 736 that I figured I'd gotten my revenge on those insidious Lionel catalog artists at last.

What an inspiring, rags to riches, toy train story, Balshis. You have triumphed!

My father and grandfather started me with a Lionel small steamer set when I was about four years old. When we moved out of New York City to Long Island, my father built me a 4'-by-8' model railroad in the basement of our new house and bought me a Santa Fe A-B-A diesel to run on it. I worked on the layout until about the age of twelve whereupon the O gauge trains were given to a co-worker's son and I converted to HO. So, I don't have any of my childhood trains. But I do have an MTH Santa Fe F-3 A-B-A set that reminds me of my family and those long-ago days with Lionel trains. Actually, everything I now do in the hobby reminds me of those days...

MELGAR

MELGAR posted:

My father and grandfather started me with a Lionel small steamer set when I was about four years old. When we moved out of New York City to Long Island, my father built me a 4'-by-8' model railroad in the basement of our new house and bought me a Santa Fe A-B-A diesel to run on it. I worked on the layout until about the age of twelve whereupon the O gauge trains were given to a co-worker's son and I converted to HO. So, I don't have any of my childhood trains. But I do have an MTH Santa Fe F-3 A-B-A set that reminds me of my family and those long-ago days with Lionel trains. Actually, everything I now do in the hobby reminds me of those days...

MELGAR

If you want, Melgar, you can purchase all of your Postwar childhood trains at very reasonable prices at train shows.

Since I have all of my childhood trains (but none of the boxes which are probably more valuable than the trains, LOL),  what I have done as an adult is purchase at train shows the Postwar trains I wanted as a child, but never got. The 282 Magnet crane, NYC F3s from the early 1950s, and NH EP5 from the mid 1950s are examples.

I was born in the early 90's, so I grew up with both Tom McComas' early collectors guides from the 70's and his video magazine Toy Train Revue - both were readily available at my local library. So most of my nostalgia comes from the Richard Kughn era of Lionel because of that, along with some famous Lionel's from the prewar, postwar and MPC eras. They were the new, stylish product then, and those videos shown them in grandiose, larger than life fashion.

Locomotives and sets like the remake of the scale Hudson (which TM also made a fantastic video on how they made it, also a factor in the nostalgia) with the Rail Chief cars, the Reading T-1, the B-6, the scale Southern Mikado, the 785 semi-scale gray Hudson with the Irvington cars, the Chicago & Alton 'Red Train', the Southern Pacific Daylight GS4, various modern F-3's - they captivated my imagination with their size and colors. It all helped they were shot on now legendary layout guys like Stan Roy, Harry Turner, Ed Mularz, Lou Palumbo, Terry Johnson, Rich Kohn, and Dick Brown, as well as places like the Choo Choo Barn, Roadside America, and the 1992 Lionel Visitor's Center Showroom Layout.

The below video preview kinda shows what I mean. The guys at TM back then sure liked to blare Lionel's RailSounds 1.0 sounds constantly (as the vid shows), but I guess that's why I still like them so much.

(sorry for the crappy video quality)

Now that I'm older and can afford this stuff, most of my collection consists of these pieces. Mostly because now they cost only a third or so than they did when they were new in the 80's and 90's. They still have that old school RailSounds 1.0 in them, too.

I was born in 1968 always had HO until about 3yrs ago when I bought this guy mostly because I love the oldies the train shop where I bought it in St. Louis ran it on his layout and I fell in love.I could  just imagine owning this little engine back in the 50s but one thing I had to get rid of  was the orange paint so I did and repainted it in New York central because I like that railroad and I also had an extra set of decals.  I always like to pull the old lionel cars behind it to just for the nostalgic reasons enjoy the pics 

Arnold,

It was the people.  When I was little I would write Lionel and they would faithfully reply.  Charles Montagna was Chief Engineer (1960 era) and he answered many questions from a 10 year old (me).  Charlie is 90 and we talked a few weeks ago but today I was able to have a face time call with him.  Can't ask for more.

Lou N

When it comes to power, my parents did not mess around. I was born and bred with a ZW in my hands: 

And this #41 US Army switcher has run laps around many Chriistmas trees all my life.

My above childhood trains and ZW, and a few other Postwar trains I will share later, were gifted to me by my parents and a well to do dear aunt, all of whom have passed away. Because they remind me of them with the fondest of memories, they help me remain connected to them. 

I think many of us have experienced the above.

Arnold

For me it's just looking at the 1957 Lionel catalog.

Rusty

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

MELGAR posted:

... So, I don't have any of my childhood trains ...

MELGAR

If you want, Melgar, you can purchase all of your Postwar childhood trains at very reasonable prices at train shows.

Arnold,

As you know, I am fortunate to have acquired just about every model locomotive, passenger car, freight car and caboose that I could ever have wished for as a youngster. No regrets here!

MELGAR

This one-off Athearn hopper is one of my top favorites:

It's nearly all nostagic here, a "collector family". I'm pretty sure my purchases have yet to exceed a lifetime of gifts(the ones that survived alone, lol) If I really wanted to run something special, it was mostly available at SOMEONES house.  The only gap I'd really love filled at this point is my Marx El Captitan for a custom Lionel Super Chief ABBBA with seven motors between them...but I couldn't add enough cars to justify it anyhow.  A Jawn Henry and a Northern were two of Gramps wishes never fulfilled by Lionel in his lifetime. Given the space and a fatter wallet, they might be considered for tribute. 

  I'd love to just SEE the brass ABBA (permanently coupled) that Jerry Williams gave Gramps in thanks for testing motors for his new carbodys.(took two people and four hands to rail it nicely.)   (I might sell the house and "live in a van down by the river" if it was ever up for sale )

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

When it comes to power, my parents did not mess around. I was born and bred with a ZW in my hands: 

And this #41 US Army switcher has run laps around many Chriistmas trees all my life.

 

My above childhood trains and ZW, and a few other Postwar trains I will share later, were gifted to me by my parents and a well to do dear aunt, all of whom have passed away. Because they remind me of them with the fondest of memories, they help me remain connected to them. 

I think many of us have experienced the above.

Arnold

Luck dog... I had to settle for a KW, a few 1033s and a 65w sheet "metal box" I forget the number on. I always thought it was rated low though. It was only a smidge weaker than a 1033 and much better than the 50w ones.  Could be the  huge Mercury set had different innards in the 65w box, the KW was not normal either. It had two transformers inside and a gear set like a preway Z so both handles operated as "to you for off, away from you for power". It died in my teens,and obviously the parts were not available...it's whereabouts are another story..and not a nice one. I still mess up the right throttle with its replacement even today; jamming to full throttle vs off if a panic stop is needed.

Gramps jumped 8 times in WW2 with the 101st & 82cnd Airborne; the Army switcher(s) likely got ran more than any critter but a (common) trolley (I think there was 6 versions of trolley color shades in body and roof...plus the runners) (and the 41 already missing the fireman's side window slat anyhow )

Oh..a #52 fire engine and ladder car! That's what the 65w was supposed to power in the Mercury set! ( steamer, alco, fire engine, ballast tamper and gang car were either in the set or recieved that year ...???? (memories are getting foggy in just the last 5 years or so.... too many thoughts about trains I didn't grow up with lately )

(....well...that's my story and I'm sticking to it, regardless )

Arnold, all those cars and engine were in a 1954 Lionel catalog on page 12. The set was #1519WS "The Green Ball Express". With transformer and track, $65.00. I will send a picture from the catalog in the morning. This is the order of the cars in the catalog. Stock car, gondola, operating milk car, operating lumber car and #6427 illuminated caboose. Don

scale rail posted:

Arnold, all those cars and engine were in a 1954 Lionel catalog on page 12. The set was #1519WS "The Green Ball Express". With transformer and track, $65.00. I will send a picture from the catalog in the morning. This is the order of the cars in the catalog. Stock car, gondola, operating milk car, operating lumber car and #6427 illuminated caboose. Don

Thanks Don.

Do you feel nostalgia when you see these?

I sure do. I also received these as Christmas gifts in the 1950s. 

Arnold

To me, this set 

or this one, which was my Pops - 

Arnold, here is the 1954 Lionel Catalog with your set on top. Click picture to enlarge.  Don

scale rail posted:

Arnold, here is the 1954 Lionel Catalog with your set on top. Click picture to enlarge.  Don

Thanks so much, Don. I was 3 years and 1 month old when I got those trains as a Christmas gift in 1954. Very pleased that I remembered the correct cars that went with that set. Arnold 

While I own a fair amount of trains, tiny compared to those in this forum, there are four items that stand out, my 2405 Santa Fe Passenger Car, the 6560 Red crane car, 230 C&O Diesel and the 52 Fire car. The passenger car and crane were my first two Lionel pieces that I ever received. I had an AF set and my mom picked up these two cars for me from Madison Hardware, she didn't know there were different gauges, she just asked for two cars and got them for me. I went put them on the track and of course they didn't fit, but that didn't stop me from playing with them on the living room floor, no track, no transformer, no engines, they ran on pure imagination! I was fine with that, we didn't have a lot of money so I didn't get a full Lionel set until a couple of years later. The 230 C&O was my very first Diesel, I just wanted a diesel, any diesel and I got that one. I wasn't into steam at that age, about 8 years old. Then quite a few years later my mom got me the 52 Fire Car for Christmas. I'll never forget opening it up that morning. She thought it was cute so that;s why she got it. I thought it was cool!! I loved it and still have it. These cars even beat the Presidential Set that I bought piece by piece with my own money years later from Madison.

scale rail posted:

Arnold, all those cars and engine were in a 1954 Lionel catalog on page 12. The set was #1519WS "The Green Ball Express". With transformer and track, $65.00. I will send a picture from the catalog in the morning. This is the order of the cars in the catalog. Stock car, gondola, operating milk car, operating lumber car and #6427 illuminated caboose. Don

This is the set my dad got when he was 1 year old (train was actually probably for my grandfather) in 1954. He pulled the set out when I was about 2 years old. That set is my first exposure to O gauge trains. One of my oldest memories is watching that set go around a 4X8 green painted plywood board with the old Lionel air whistle blowing away.

Mikado 4501 posted:

I was born in the early 90's, so I grew up with both Tom McComas' early collectors guides from the 70's and his video magazine Toy Train Revue - both were readily available at my local library. So most of my nostalgia comes from the Richard Kughn era of Lionel because of that, along with some famous Lionel's from the prewar, postwar and MPC eras. They were the new, stylish product then, and those videos shown them in grandiose, larger than life fashion.

Locomotives and sets like the remake of the scale Hudson (which TM also made a fantastic video on how they made it, also a factor in the nostalgia) with the Rail Chief cars, the Reading T-1, the B-6, the scale Southern Mikado, the 785 semi-scale gray Hudson with the Irvington cars, the Chicago & Alton 'Red Train', the Southern Pacific Daylight GS4, various modern F-3's - they captivated my imagination with their size and colors. It all helped they were shot on now legendary layout guys like Stan Roy, Harry Turner, Ed Mularz, Lou Palumbo, Terry Johnson, Rich Kohn, and Dick Brown, as well as places like the Choo Choo Barn, Roadside America, and the 1992 Lionel Visitor's Center Showroom Layout.

The below video preview kinda shows what I mean. The guys at TM back then sure liked to blare Lionel's RailSounds 1.0 sounds constantly (as the vid shows), but I guess that's why I still like them so much.

(sorry for the crappy video quality)

Now that I'm older and can afford this stuff, most of my collection consists of these pieces. Mostly because now they cost only a third or so than they did when they were new in the 80's and 90's. They still have that old school RailSounds 1.0 in them, too.

I was born a little before you were and I have a great fondness for LTI and early LLC Lionel Trains, as well as early MTH stuff. I remember drooling over the stuff in display cases at the local hobby shop I couldn't afford as a 10 year old in the mid 90's. I still have 2 TM Lionel layout tour VHS tapes. I hang on to them because I remember watching them over and over as a kid, even though I don't even own a VCR to watch them.

I received my first train set in 1956 when I was 5 years old. It was a scout type set headed by a 2034 steam engine (which I still have). They also got me a LW transformer and this switch tower. I most enjoyed the tower as I imagined myself up in the tower as trains went past. It wasn't until many years later that I realized it was made by Marx. That tower was lost a long time ago. I looked for quite a while for another one and found this one at a GATS in the early 80's. It looks and works well to this day.

Being born in the mid 80's my train nostalgia is a little more recent. After my parents figured out I really had an interest in trains the bought me an early 90's Lionel 2-4-0 with a plastic body and no whistle or smoke. It was great to have my own locomotive to run alongside my dad's 2065 Hudson but I wanted something a little nicer after a yeat or two. So I saved up some birthday and Christmas money and bought a red nose Lionel SP GP20 with twin can motors in the trucks (I still have both locomotives but don't run them on my current layout as they don't fit the era). I was happy with that for a few years but then wanted something bigger and fancier. So I started mowing lawns, shoveling snow, saving birthday and Christmas money. Finally when I was 11 I was able to buy the ABBA set of Lionel Santa Fe freight F3s brand new from my local hobby shop. I still run them on my layout. In the past 22 years they have probably gotten hundreds if not a thousand hours of run time. The locomotive still runs and sounds like new. It is currently assigned to a scale SFRD refrigerator block that makes up my Santa Fe GFX train.

This year I was also able to pick up two locomotives I wanted as a kid. I finally had the means to buy them. The first was the first TMCC F3, the 2343 AB set from 1996. I also added another B unit and the matching dummy A for a full ABBA set. I got everything NIB for a great price. It heads up the Super Chief on my layout. The second locomotive was the scale MTH Southern Pacific GS4 in Daylight colors MTH put out in the late 90's. I always wanted the early 90's Lionel model until I saw the scale MTH GS4. It was massive and had a presence the 746 based Lionel model never had. I was able to buy one converted to PS2 3V here on the board. It heads up the Golden State on my layout. 

I've reached the point where I have enough trains that fit on my layout without any extra sitting in shelves or boxes collecting dust. I have the couple items I wanted as a kid. Now I can just go downstairs and run trains or tinker with the layout. I never thought I'd get to this point but I'm content, I have no more train wants. I built the collection I wanted as a kid and now it's time to just enjoy it. 

Most likely my CC 671 Turbine and Lionel PWC Southern F3s.  I bought them because they are the engines I grew up with from dad.

Dad's originals...

My reissues...

These two Lionel locomotives were for sale at Telly's Hardware Store on Gramatan Ave. in downtown Mt. Vernon, NY around 1962:

I was 10 years old at the time I went with my dad to Tellys Hardware and saw these engines.

Suddenly, my dad asked me if I liked the blue diesel engine. I said sure, and thought, but did not say, that the engine I loved was the New Haven, because that's the train we took when my mother (who did not drive) and I  took to go shopping in NYC, and because I always thought the look of that engine with sparks flying from its pantographs was awesome.

Then, my father stunned me by buying that blue B&O diesel for me eventhough it was no special occasion. Soon thereafter, he built a very nice trestlesd layout on a 4 by 8 foot plywood board with green grass paper on top of saw horses in our basement.

I never told my father I preferred the New Haven EP5 that was at Tellys Hardware that day. It wasn't until I was about 50 years old that I bought the New Haven at a local train show.

Arnold

Arnold,

I very much enjoy your posts.  Your layout shots are wonderful because you have a great layout but it is not overwhelming to hobbyists who are not professional modelers.  It is accessible and something we can all emulate without needing to win the Powerball.  Your enthusiasm for the hobby is also palpable, and contagious. 

As for me, I am at the office (need to stop goofing off) but the most nostalgia I have is for the two sets of trains I got from my dad.  The first set is a 671 steam turbine with four of the 2400 series green passenger cars with the yellow trim.  I think this set is from 1948 or so.  My dad used to set it up around Christmas time in the apartment in Brooklyn and it used to run under the couch.  He told me he would watch it running around and love the lights in the dark.  The second set is a locomotive, a 2383 Santa Fe AA set that he purchased with his allowance money later on.  That AA set is still run regularly, although in the late 90s I had Len Carparelli (with my dad's permission of course) go through it top to bottom.  My two boys, now ages 7 and 10, have run it regularly since they were small, and it still sees a lot of action on the layout.  The turbine and the green cars get run less regularly -- really mostly around Christmas time under the tree -- but the kids swap putting that set on a shelf in their room.  And of course, the ZW250 to run it all.  Now that transformer is mostly retired in lieu of more modern power sources, but I still have it. 

In any event, thanks again for a great post.  It's a reminder of the joy and memories in this hobby.  Have a good weekend.

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Do you feel nostalgia when you see these?

 

Indeed I do.  One of our two authorized Lionel dealers in the town where I grew up was in the back of a gas station, and my Dad took me there one cold Saturday afternoon.

Nine-year-old me was amazed. They had an operating layout back there, and a Gang Car and a Trolley running on sidings, each doing the Bump-n-Go between a pair of bumpers.

I thought they were fascinating -- and still do, though I never had either one as a kid.  It wasn't till the Seventies that I bought my first#50 Gang Car, and then a couple of years later, the #60 Trolley.  

My LHS closed about three years ago, but before they did, I bought my second Gang Car from them.

When I run them (usually during the holiday season), I can still see that operating layout in the train room at the rear of Hoover's Gas Station.  It took me a long time, but I finally got to take them home.

--John

Arnold, I think this subject would make an interesting book. I know Lionel and electric trains have been the one constant in my life. From four years old on. I bet lots of folks have the lots of stories. Don

I got the Lionel bug about age seven in 1955. Family friends had a son four years older than me and so had a layout in their basement. That’s where I was first exposed to it all. (Although, truthfully, I had received a basic Marx disel 027 set in 1952 and ran it on the carpet. Liked that set a lot, too, and still like Marx to this day.)

Our friends with the Lionel layout gave me an extra Lionel catalog they had (missing the front cover) and that did it: Christmas 1955 had to be a Lionel train set one!

The catalog turned out to be the 1953 version so that’s where I picked out the set to ask for. When my folks visited Jaye and Jaye, our local dealer on the east side of Cleveland, they discovered that the set I wanted being two years old was unavailable. So the dealer put together a set of similar nature from his stock, led by a 665 steamer. A new that year LW transformer was to be my power source, not the TW I had asked for. 1955 was the first year, coincidentally, that Lionel encouaraged its dealers to make up their own train outfits from existing stock.

Christmas morning came and I loved every part of my first Lionel set despite it not being the exact one I had earmarked. 

My folks had thoughtfully had a carpenter friend build me a 5x9 layout table downstairs in advance, so I was up and running on Dec. 26, 1955. 

A great day in my memory and a swell Christmas vacation that year!

scale rail posted:

Arnold, I think this subject would make an interesting book. I know Lionel and electric trains have been the one constant in my life. From four years old on. I bet lots of folks have the lots of stories. Don

I totally agree with you, Don.

The thought occurred to me that a Forum member could print out his Posts and Replies most appealing to him or her (mine would be the nostalgic and sentimental ones and those with a spiritual quality), find the common threads in them, and use them as a springboard to write a book.

I greatly admire authors who write good books. But, for me, writing a book seems to be such a huge project, which takes enormous discipline and time. On the other hand, I have written songs that typically take between a few hours up to a couple of weeks, which is much more manageable for me. Writing an article, such as an article for a train magazine based on prior Forum writings, would also be a manageable project. 

My recollection from looking at Forum profiles is that some of our members have written books.

Not a model and not my photo, but this image brings out the nostalgia for this hobby for me.  I was 13 or 14 when this was taken.  The classic changing of the guard at South Amboy, NJ.  A tradition from 1938 through 1983.  The GG1s, the scene, and the hand operated gates were the constant.  The cars in some cases remained the same too in the form of P70 coaches.  The tradition of the locomotive swap started with K4s, the occasional E6, to the Alco PA, Baldwin passenger Sharks, the E7, and ultimately the E8. 

My modeling has always been informed by the prototype and this scene more than any brings back my fondest memories of when I really got serious in this hobby.

In the modeling world, these bring me back.  My dad was and is a huge Varney collector.  When was 27 I custom painted this cast 1947 HO F3 for him.  It ended up being one of 5 western Maryland pieces I did for family as gifts.  3 more F3s to make A-A sets for my dad and uncle and a reworked Roundhouse Consolidation for my dad from a kit.  My stripes are a little straighter these days 22 years later.

Like me, you might feel nostalgia for your favorite accessories. These make me feel nostalgic:

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

These two Lionel locomotives were for sale at Telly's Hardware Store on Gramatan Ave. in downtown Mt. Vernon, NY around 1962:

I was 10 years old at the time I went with my dad to Tellys Hardware and saw these engines.

Suddenly, my dad asked me if I liked the blue diesel engine. I said sure, and thought, but did not say, that the engine I loved was the New Haven, because that's the train we took when my mother (who did not drive) and I  took to go shopping in NYC, and because I always thought the look of that engine with sparks flying from its pantographs was awesome.

Then, my father stunned me by buying that blue B&O diesel for me eventhough it was no special occasion. Soon thereafter, he built a very nice trestlesd layout on a 4 by 8 foot plywood board with green grass paper on top of saw horses in our basement.

I never told my father I preferred the New Haven EP5 that was at Tellys Hardware that day. It wasn't until I was about 50 years old that I bought the New Haven at a local train show.

Arnold

I worked at Spark's Hobby Shop in Cleveland when I was 15.  I remember we were at my sister's house when Dad asked how work was that past week.  I told him I found an engine like I never saw before in the back room, a 226E.  Jim (Sparks) wanted twenty bucks for it.  The next day it was on the layout!  I know that twenty bucks was a big deal for him.  I still have it and its a beauty!

Lou N

Did you ever get a Lionel accessory for Christmas when you were a kid, maybe one of these, that now make you feel a little nostalgic?

I got this modern era Lionel rotary beacon for my 11th birthday. It's still on my layout today. 

I feel most nostalgic when sitting in the train room, just gazing at my first set sitting on a special shelf. It's the train lead by the trusty 2037 Prairie loco that sits on top of the 'girls set' in the '57 Catalog. 

For me it's American Flyer Trains. Thanks Mom and Dad.

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Did you ever get a Lionel accessory for Christmas when you were a kid, maybe one of these, that now make you feel a little nostalgic?

 

Yes.  A Lionel #362 Barrel Loader.  It appeared on our layout on Christmas Day 1953, and it still works and looks as good as it did that morning.  The vibrating rattle and the subsequent plop-plop-plop of the little wooden barrels dropping into my NYC gondola never fail to make me think of the Christmas season.