Sometimes, it is Just the TRAINS....

The movement can be almost hypnotic.  The smoke, the smell of ozone, sparks coming off at the switches, a true sensory wonder.  Add in the power of DDC (my Digits Directly on the Controls of a ZW) and I have completed my dreamworld.

Chris Sheldon

Bacon the day, store window displays could keep kids occupied for quite some time.  The only thing that cut that time short was when parents said, "It's time to go".  

Ah - the dreaded "It's time to go!" I remember it all too well!  😐

For me it is the sound of the metal wheels on the metal track, especially going over the specialwork. I convert all of my O and HO to metal wheelsets just for that reason. An added HO benefit is a little more weight down low where it helps.

Dan's comment about store window displays is so true.

Many of you familiar with the history of Lionel know what I'm about to say.

Around 1901 Joshua Lionel Cowan made a shoe box with an electric motor and wheels to add motion for the window displays in retail stores. He wanted to sell his electric shoe box to store owners to make their merchandise more attractive to the store's customers. But the customers wanted the shoe box, not the store's merchandise. That's how the Lionel Corporation got started.

I think this true story is one of the best stories about what is best about private enterprise in the United States. Joshus Cowan Lionel was a good business owner, who capitalized in a very positive way on his good fortune. He invested in his business to satisfy his customers. He hired good employees, paid them well and was loyal to them during the Great Depression, and always did his best to make quality products. This includes making compasses and other important items for the military during World War II. Arnold

When I first got into O scale the noise drove me nuts I was use to the quiet HO trains I ran. I finally got use to it and the noise now I love the action on those O scale layout o see. I bought a Lionel beacon last year I just had to have it the moment I seen one in action.

I believe I read somewhere that JLC used a wooden cheesebox, but whichever is correct, it was the novel, circular, and repetitve MOTION that attracted the potential customers.

Tinplate Art posted:

I believe I read somewhere that JLC used a wooden cheesebox, but whichever is correct, it was the novel, circular, and repetitve MOTION that attracted the potential customers.

You may be correct. Now my recollection is that it was a wooden box the size of a shoebox. Not sure it was a cheese box.

I Googled it: a simple open wooden box, its sides stained red and Electric Express printed in gold lettering on it.

lee drennen posted:

When I first got into O scale the noise drove me nuts I was use to the quiet HO trains I ran. I finally got use to it and the noise now I love the action on those O scale layout o see. I bought a Lionel beacon last year I just had to have it the moment I seen one in action.

Most of the noise is coming from the Fastrack.

I put simple loops of track under both our Christmas trees each year - no switches.  I then like to lay on the floor with my Postwar trains simply going in circles, the only sound the wheels on the track.  A few years ago it occurred to me that when I closed my eyes, that sound was as soothing as laying on a beach with your eyes closed listening to the waves breaking on the shoreline. 

Curt

juniata guy posted:

I put simple loops of track under both our Christmas trees each year - no switches.  I then like to lay on the floor with my Postwar trains simply going in circles, the only sound the wheels on the track. 

Back in my first foray into 3 -rail (early 1990s), I did that too! In fact, the daughter and I would lay on the floor, with only the lights of the Christmas tree on, and watch that headlight coming straight at us before the train would turn at the last second to follow the curve. We would both sniff the ozone as the little stamped frame Alco churned by, the cars rattling along behind it.

Ah... in my mind, I can still hear the growl of those PW Alco's, the clatter of the wheels, and that sweet smell of the ozone.

Andre

Ah; the ozone!

Andre; I have a 125 whistle shed on one of my Christmas tree layouts.  Those things are a little ozone “factory”.  The first few nights after I set up the trains each year, I will drive my wife half mad blowing that shed whistle and sniffing the ozone.  

Curt

I go downstairs to my train room almost every night. Most of the time I run a train, but some nights I just walk around the room and look at the collection. Either way, it's a great escape. I have gotten hooked on DCS this year, and love to run trains with it. But still, the trains that give me the most enjoyment are my prewar tinplate trains passed down to me from my Dad. For me, it's tough to beat running my Dad's 1936 Lionel O gauge Blue Comet. It's about as far from prototypical as a toy train can get, but I love it. 

John

Gentlemen: Zen moments all! THANKS for sharing!  ☺

It's all about the magic.  I can identify with a lot of the magic moments described above.  To an extent, even electricity was magical back in the 40s and 50s.   25 years ago i would lay under my layout with my son listening to the noisy trains running around over the tubular track until he fell asleep.

Today, magic is a little different.  Like controlling your home environment or video cam with your phone from miles away; playing a video game linked to people all over the country; "tweeting" the most important thought that just came in your head;  or having the latest thing/phone/shoes etc.

Nothing like ozone, smoke pellets and an air whistle to recreate that magic.  Only thing missing is a man throwing milk cans out of a white boxcar.