I needed to pick up a repair at the Train Shack in Burbank. I talked my wife into tagging along with lunch at Porto's Bakery. That was her first time in to the Shack. An Old Guy was over at the O Gauge Layout talking to her. He said, "I wish I had a layout like this at home", my wife replied, "We have one in the garage" He wanted to see pictures and of course I had my camera in the car with some pictures. Funny my layout is not that nice, but I guess in the scheme of things probably not ordinary for around here.
So we were there talking about trains and I asked the gentleman to tell me about his first train and he tells me about 1940 and his Marx train, then his second train, an American Flyer. He is about my Dad's age and I thought how great, the impression these train sets had on these "Old Guys". So I want to thank all the Old Guys and your stories of your first trains, I see them posted here on OGR all the time, I don't know if my generation really has a childhood toy that has lived on like Lionel Trains. My wife, while walking with me to Porto's seemed to think a little differently about the hobby in a good way.
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