Sentimental Value

About 25 years ago, I was painting my back drop. I have virtually no artistic knowledge or skill, and was struggling with painting a mountain on my backdrop.

Mt older sister (she and my mother had a unique name - Idaehla), saw me struggling with my mountain. She picked up a paint brush and in 10 seconds with just a few strokes, she painted this mountain:

Here it is in the laundry room section  of my layout:

When she painted this mountain so quickly and IMHO skillfully, I was euphoric, and our children got into the act, and it was truly a peak experience. 

The sad part of the story is the a couple of years later, in December 1997, my beautiful older sister Idaehla suddenly died of a massive brain aneurism at the age of 51.

Needless to say, Idaehla's mountain is priceless to me.

Arnold 

If there is sentimental value to my layout, its is because nearly every structure has been hand built by myself and it was the culmination of a life long dream.   My wife is a nurse who works the night shift at the hospital, and when I started construction 16 years ago there was no room, let alone a layout.  I would work downstairs or on the kitchen table top, night after night.   I view my layout as an accomplishment that has brought joy to the family. One day I hope to run trains with my grandson who is now 5 months old. Like all other layouts though, one day it will be taken down, torn up and probably sold off.

Here is the Lionel train set that got me started, It was a Christmas present when I was about 4 or 5 years old around 1955 or 1956. 

I don't remember the set number, but know it included the 2065 steam engine, coffin style whistle tender, and my recollection is that the train cars were the operating green log dump car, operating milk car, yellow cattle car, red gondola and illuminated Lionel Lines caboose with circular portal windows. 

Before my father gave up smoking cold turkey at the age of 50, he would put his L & M or Lucky Strike cigarettes in the red gondola.

We always had plenty of power thanks to the ZW that ran the trains around the Christmas Tree.

Well, the Lionel 2026 and the four freight cars that came with it were my Christmas gift in 1951.  I have my father's Lionel 252 with its three illuminated passenger cars.  Also my mother's Lionel Jr. three-car streamliner.  And I have some handbuilt wooden structures made by my carpenter grandfather on my layout today.  All of it has great sentimental value to me.

I bet this was one of the very first gifts for many of us:

And this one too:

Hey, what about me?

I'm the Little a Engine That Could.

My Dad bought me this Lionel Baltimore & Ohio 626 center cab diesel from Telly's Hardware Store in downtown Mt, Vernon, NY when I was about 10 years old in 1962. Here it is today:

It is priceless to me.

I did not tell my Dad that what I really wanted that day at Telly's Hardware Store was the more expensive Lionel New Haven EP5 that was on the shelf there.

Well, 4 decades later, I was not to be deprived any longer. I bought that EP5 at a train show. Here it is gleaming in the morning sunlight:

Now, I bet the above story, or something similar, has been repeated many times among us!

Arnold

I have a Texas Special Alco Freight set (#1599) I received for Christmas when I was 6 in 1958 that is near and dear to me. Also a 6464-325 B&O Sentinel boxcar I got for my 7th birthday that started me on my collection of 6464 boxcars.

Regards,

Steve

When my son played trains with me......

He's now 26.......

Peter

My original set from 1958......

The long gone attic layout....

Peter

Putnam Division posted:

My original set from 1958......

The long gone attic layout....

Peter

Wonderful, Peter!

Arnold,

    For me it's a lot more than just memories, although sentiment plays a big part of my Train Room layouts.  Building O Gauge layouts spurred my Professional Engineering Career by teaching me actual building engineering skills as a young boy.  It helped develop a logical Engineering mind set that benefited me greatly down thru life.  Because my Grandfather and Father helped teach me while learning to Engineer these early O Gauge layout, the sentiment is very high and today the building of my Train Room layouts spurs memories that I hold important to my actual families way of life.

For me it's much more than sentiment.

PCRR/Dave

My Grandpa's words to me as I sat with him at Christmas time, as a young boy in the early 1950's.

David I believe someday you will be able to run your Trains from a remote control box, that you will hold in your hands, you will even be able to run your Lionel Switches from that remote Controller.  I will be long gone into heaven, remember what I say, you will see it happen in your life time.  With the engineering mind you inherited, you will be able to put men into space, before you retire.

Every bit of his incredible engineering imagination came true for me.

Nice story Dave! Thanks for taking the time to share it!

Putnam Division posted:

When my son played trains with me......

He's now 26.......

Peter

26...won't be long and you might have some little "New Havens" running around needing to play trains with dad and grandpa.  Thanks for sharing the memories.  

Big Mike G,

   I never met a Sr level NASA Engineer in our age group, who did not start their Engineering Career, without participation in our hobby with the building of O Gauge Train Layouts.  

PCRR/Dave

Dave:

I can relate to your every word.

When my son, David, was a little boy, he loved the trains. So did his sister who is about 2 years older than him.

My David was more interested in opening up the trains and accessories to see how they operated rather than running them. I remember he was particularly fascinated by the mechanism inside the Lionel 022 switch tracks.

Later on, he excelled in calculus and physics (his high school physics teacher said he was awesome), graduated # 2 in his class in mechanical engineering at SUNY Binghamton, and now he is 29 years old and employed as a mechanical engineer.

Arnold

Someone once told me an activity like running or playing with trains, even for an infant children just a few months old, helps them develop their brains because of the stimulation.

And the stimulation is done in a loving way, with the Dad holding and supervising the infant child whose hands are clutching the ZW levers.

Haven't you noticed how little kids love controlling the ZW and the speed of the train. They revel in power and speed and feeling like they are in control.

Arnold

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Big Mike G,

   I never met a Sr level NASA Engineer in our age group, who did not start their Engineering Career, without participation in our hobby with the building of O Gauge Train Layouts.  

PCRR/Dave

That is fascinating!

My mom passed away in late 2016 after being diagnosed too late with Stage 4 cancer. I have her dad's (my grandfather's) postwar trains and accessories. Here's a pic of her with a cousin with my grandpa's carpet central layout when she was in 10th grade, about 1957. Found the picture in a bio she had to do for school.

Not so much physical stuff but the hours my Dad and I spent working on my HO layout that we built when I was 8. My Uncle and cousin would come to visit and we would all spend time together watching the trains go around the layout. Most of my HO stuff is still packed in boxes in my parents attic. I do have a few special pieces though that are in my possession.
Two Rivarossi locos- NYC Hudson and a PRR Y6b.

As the Mastercard commercial says.....priceless!

My Christmas gift received as a 5 year old - my favorite gift of all-time - a Lionel 2035.  I remember running the trains with my dad, brother, sisters, and mom.  Come to think of it, I couldn't even run the 2035 for the first few days because the transformer from my brother's MPC set was too weak to move the old girl.  We borrowed a transformer from my grandpa for that Christmas season.  My dad told me tales about another transformer that Lionel produced...the ZW...2 big handles...control up to 4 trains...whistle control...all the power imaginable.  Needless to say, I spent most of the following November pleading my case to Santa via USPS.  Santa didn't get the chance to deliver on my request though, because my dad took me to a gentleman's house that collected/bought/sold trains to go pick up our *new* 40 year old ZW so we could be running trains from Thanksgiving through the Christmas season.  This time, the train table stayed up for good, and is still standing in my parents' basement today.  Both the 2035 and that ZW are in that category for me.

A couple of things (I don't have pictures to share)-

A 671 Turbine that has many meanings, it was part of the trains I had as a kid, that were passed down by my older brother as a birthday gift (layout and all!). More importantly, that was part of a bunch of trains my mom bought for my dad as her first Christmas gift to him as a married couple (1952), she thought it was horrible he never had trains as a kid (he had a lot of envious buddies at Bell Labs, where he then worked).  That engine today still runs (haven't run it in a number of years, but I suspect it will), went through us racing it, falling off the track, derailing, and off the table, but it kept running like a faithful friend. Once I have my new layout it definitely will be run and I'll keep it warts and all, the patched together drawbar, maybe get the light and even maybe a smoke unit and get the whistle to work on the tender.  

My other one may seem mundane, but it was the other year having the funds (as modest as it is compared to what modern engines) to buy a scale NYC hudson (Williams Brass c199x), something I always wanted but never had. It sits proudly for the moment in a display case, but you can bet it will run, and if I go command I'll upgrade it to run that way. It also is sentimental in that I think my dad would love it, he loved the lionel trains, and I think he would appreciate it that I care. 

raising4daughters posted:

My mom passed away in late 2016 after being diagnosed too late with Stage 4 cancer. I have her dad's (my grandfather's) postwar trains and accessories. Here's a pic of her with a cousin with my grandpa's carpet central layout when she was in 10th grade, about 1957. Found the picture in a bio she had to do for school.

Such a beautiful picture.

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Here is the Lionel train set that got me started, It was a Christmas present when I was about 4 or 5 years old around 1955 or 1956. 

I don't remember the set number, but know it included the 2065 steam engine, coffin style whistle tender, and my recollection is that the train cars were the operating green log dump car, operating milk car, yellow cattle car, red gondola and illuminated Lionel Lines caboose with circular portal windows. 

Before my father gave up smoking cold turkey at the age of 50, he would put his L & M or Lucky Strike cigarettes in the red gondola.

We always had plenty of power thanks to the ZW that ran the trains around the Christmas Tree.

 

That's the same set my dad has from his childhood, and first brought out when I was 2. The master carton is long gone but everything else is still there. He got the set when he was 1 year old in 1954. I'm pretty sure it's the 1954 "Greenball Express" set.

25 years ago my fiancé (now my wife) gave me the NYC GP9 TMCC set as a wedding gift, which propelled me into the World of O gauge. I also have my dads Lionel NJ Transi set. Most of the rolling stock I have related to some aspect of my life- I have a DuPont tank car as that was who my dad worked for; a Hercules hopper for an uncle who worked there, several for Raritan River as the short line had a large presence where I grew up. 

A couple of buildings my Dad made for me and my brothers childhood layout posted from my topic below.  I made sure to find a place for them on the layout.

https://ogrforum.com/...fties-era-027-layout

Post 10        7-1-2016

50’s Type Building Construction

I have two buildings from my brothers and my childhood layout on my layout.  They were both made by our Dad, about 1950, using his childhood pedal powered scroll or jigsaw.

One building is a small train station, made from Masonite with the roof covered with model railroading  roofing paper.  The building has cuts scribed in to resemble siding.  It has widows and other parts sawed out by jigsaw after drilling a hole and making inside cuts.

Train station built in 1950

The second building is a gas or service station.  It is made from some type of thin wood covered with paper on both sides.  The siding has model railroading brick paper glued to the side to simulate brick siding.  The two garage doors have windows cutout with the jigsaw.  The rear windows were made from some plastic window covering with cloth support simulating window panes.

Gas Station built in 1950

These building construction methods lead me to build several of my building using Masonite and brick paper which is still available from hobby shops or on eBay.  I got mine from Walthers years ago.

My brother and I used my Dad’s pedal powered #1 Amateur Velocipede Scroll Saw from age 7 or so through high school.  My Dad installed a small ¼ hp motor when I was about 10.  My brother still has that jigsaw.

Picture of  a  pedal powered #1 Amateur Velocipede Scroll Saw

Charlie

Wedding present from my wife....October 1984.....

Thank you, dear!

Peter

I have a lionel mopar express train set my mom bought for 2.00 at salvation army and i will keep this set for a long time!!

Choo Choo Charlie posted:

A couple of buildings my Dad made for me and my brothers childhood layout posted from my topic below.  I made sure to find a place for them on the layout.

https://ogrforum.com/...fties-era-027-layout

Post 10        7-1-2016

50’s Type Building Construction

I have two buildings from my brothers and my childhood layout on my layout.  They were both made by our Dad, about 1950, using his childhood pedal powered scroll or jigsaw.

One building is a small train station, made from Masonite with the roof covered with model railroading  roofing paper.  The building has cuts scribed in to resemble siding.  It has widows and other parts sawed out by jigsaw after drilling a hole and making inside cuts.

Train station built in 1950

 

 

 

The second building is a gas or service station.  It is made from some type of thin wood covered with paper on both sides.  The siding has model railroading brick paper glued to the side to simulate brick siding.  The two garage doors have windows cutout with the jigsaw.  The rear windows were made from some plastic window covering with cloth support simulating window panes.

Gas Station built in 1950

 

 

These building construction methods lead me to build several of my building using Masonite and brick paper which is still available from hobby shops or on eBay.  I got mine from Walthers years ago.

My brother and I used my Dad’s pedal powered #1 Amateur Velocipede Scroll Saw from age 7 or so through high school.  My Dad installed a small ¼ hp motor when I was about 10.  My brother still has that jigsaw.

Picture of  a  pedal powered #1 Amateur Velocipede Scroll Saw

 

Charlie

Thanks, Charlie. These home-made structures and the pedal powered saw are very cool.

These are all great posts! 

For me, it's quicker to say which items in my collection are not priceless. The majority of my collection was passed down to my from my Dad, who passed away in 2001. While I've added several pieces to the collection, it's still mostly made up of the trains and accessories he acquired over time since the 1960s. I remember thinking I would never add anything to the collection as I still refer to the collection as "Dad's trains," and wanted to keep them as he left them. However, in the last year or 2 I've been selectively adding trains, and I think he would be happy about that.

John