The good old days - precious memories of our trains....

I joined TCA in 1974 and attended many local meets here in Nashville, TN. In those days, we had a pretty large attendance and one of the well known Nashville collector's and his wife were well known for their open house resplendant with abundant food, drinks and desserts! His collection and layout were very impressive and their hospitality was no less. Those open house get-togethers were almost as good as the meets themselves, which were then full of choice postwar Lionel, early Williams, and Tebolt parts. Great memories!

The 1970's were a time of renewal of interest by baby boomers in the toy trains of their childhood in the forties and fifties. TCA  membership surged and many of us in our early thirties rediscovered the joy of our Lionel, Marx and American Flyer trains. MPC/Fundamensions was a new player on the scene, and many of us embraced both the "new" Lionel as well as the postwar treasures of our youth. It was a fascinating period.

Model A: I like your idea of this thread. I found out about York through OGR magazine. After seeing the articles in OGR I knew I had to get to York. I tried to get into the TCA but the first person I talked to wouldn’t sign me up because they didn’t know me. I can’t blame them and back then I didn’t know people would sign you up at York itself. Then a fellow forum member was one of the signatures and our own Allan Miller was the other. An act he regrets to this day! 😄 Just kidding. Finally I was a TCA member and I could go to my first York. This was in 2001. MTH and Lionel were in the now defunct Yellow Hall under the grandstand. Myron Biggar organized the OGR meeting. This was before he sold out to Rich and the gang. Myron gave everyone stickers that had your forum handle on it and the meeting was held in the grandstand. The weather was beautiful that day. I don’t remember what I bought at that meet but I do remember being overloaded by all the trains in all the various halls. There was a certain excitement in the air. It seemed to be a toy/model train frenzy. I remember it being so cool to see all kinds of products and trains I had only seen pictures of. All too soon it was over. Back then I only went for Friday and it was always over so fast. I didn’t make every York after but I immensely enjoyed each and every York I did attend. 

I am not much of a collector. Well I do collect NYC steam engines. I am more interested in just collecting scale models that I think look like the prototype. Some other memories I have is standing next to Neil Young, Tony Lash, and I never will forget that ladies voice on the loud speaker telling us to follow the arrows. 

Thank you, Model A Guy, for starting this interesting and positive topic.

I am a longstanding TCA member, been to the York train show (the Mecca of O Gauge trains) once with my family in the mid 1990s when my children were young, and have regularly gone to the Westchester Toy & Train Show in White Plains, NY around Christmas time for the past 30 years.

I am a scrounger type of collector. No $1,000 plus locomotives in my collection and nothing I have is mint in the box.  I buy post war and modern O Gauge trains to run them a lot, and I am fine if there is a scratch or a ding here and there. In fact, I welcome little cosmetic defects so I can get a lower price for a good puller and runner. What I want is interesting, economical trains that are in good operating order. I love every train I have, and I have never sold anything I have acquired for the past almost 70 years.

Collecting and operating mainly Lionel and MTH trains has given me much needed, light hearted, entertainment; enabled me to bond with my young children when we played with trains and built train layouts together many years ago; and provided me with a man cave (the basement) where I could become engrossed with "my little world" to escape and reduce occupation-related stress. I have had, and continue to have, a lot of fun with my trains and layout where I can be creative. I regard my train layout as my multi-faceted dynamic art project.

Until I joined this Forum in November 2017, I was primarily a lone-wolf model railroader. Except for train activities with my young children (they are now both 30 something and have no interest in trains except that they think it's hilarious that I am still so involved with it) and occasional train-related get togethers with a few guys I met at a LHS, my model railroad social life was nil.

This Forum has greatly enhanced my enjoyment of our wonderful hobby. In addition to being a place to connect with fellow model railroaders throughout the World almost every day, it has been a tremendous creative outlet for me, and I have gained more technical knowledge that has helped me make layout improvements. 

During the past 2 years I have attended the Big E train show in Massachusetts, which I very much enjoy. I like all of the scenery related products that are available at that show. My good Forum friend, Melgar, introduced me to the Big E, and we have gone together to that show in January during the past 2 years, and had a great time.

What is most special about the Forum is the wonderful friendships I have developed with its members.

I am no longer a lone wolf model railroader.

Arnold

I returned to the hobby in late 1989 after helping Santa Claus deliver a Lionel set to our oldest son on his first Christmas.  We were living in Houston then and I loved visiting the local train stores and hanging out to talk trains with the owners.

There were some really good train shows in Houston back in the 1990’s at venues such as the Sam Houston Coliseum, Astro Arena and George Brown Convention Center, that were a train lovers heaven.  While not as large as York; they still had so many vendors you could spend the entire day and not see everything.

i can’t say that I truly became aware of TCA till we relocated to the Atlanta area in 2004 and my youngest son and I joined the North Atlanta O Gauge Railroad Club.  Several of the members also belonged to TCA and after hearing about York for a number of years as well as attending the local Terminus Chapter meets, I finally joined TCA in 2010.

I guess every hobbyist goes through several stages.  When first starting out, you want everything.  Then, over time, you develop more of a focus - whether you’re collecting, operating or both.  In the later stages - for me, at least, the hobby has become more about the social aspect.  While I still purchase new engines and rolling stock and enjoy searching at shows for something I didn’t realize I needed till I saw it; it’s the friendships I’ve developed through the club and TCA that are now the most rewarding part of the hobby for me.

Curt

I'm the meet coordinator for the New England TCA.  We miss seeing each other and even for our late September meet I doubt that it will be feasible to have our usual kind of indoor meet without risking a "superspreader" event.

Our solution for September is to have an old fashioned outdoor flea market type event.  We've found a 60 x 115 foot pavilion, and we can add a tent if we need more space.  I'll plan it with 10 foot table spacing and announce only to TCA members.  IT won't be a big sales event, but we'll be able to get together and trade old toy trains.

The hobby , for me, began here at one deliriously happy childhood Christmas, and continued through to times like this, when I was hired to reinterpret the Lionel layout at FAO Schwarz, in NYC, which was an occasion for more joy. And my experiences at TCA Meets at York, PA... were always complete bi-annual sell-outs at my little booth in the Orange Hall....

...and the model train adventure has included a basement turned into our trainroom, to this day...

I actually have no complaints. That's a lot of years of enjoyment.

FrankM

I attended my first York meet in 1984, at age 42. Prices for Lionel postwar were higher than they are today. Overall, I like the current 3-day meet better (less mobbed). The big deal back then were the Greenberg Train and Doll shows that I attended in the Philadelphia Civic center...later in other Philadelphia area locations (without the dolls). I also have fond memories of TRAIN 99 at the Booth's Corners Farmers Market, which had a great selection of postwar Flyer.

To me, "the new days" have a number of pluses...like Miller signs, a huge Arttista figures selection, great looking affordable 1:43 cars, and FasTrack.

Mine started in Christmas 1957 and hasn't stopped.  Still have the set in the movie clip.

I started as a kid with a layout I 'inherited' from my older brother back in the early 70's, and then had some temporary layouts since then, still working on the permanent one. I started going to train shows relatively recently and they are a lot of fun, especially the first frost/first thaw shows in Allentown. My other favorites were things like the now defunct Citi station Clark Dunham built that used to be in the citicorp building around the holidays, another favorite was the choo choo barn. 

I think one of my most precious memories, though, was in the late 70's-early 80's going to Madison Hardware and experiencing the Lou and Carl show. They tolerated me, I didn't have a lot of money to spend there but I did go there for parts from time to time. 

The best show was when prices for Lionel post war went through the roof when the collector bubble hit trains, and someone in a suit would come in looking to buy trains and it was obvious they knew very little other than Lionel was hot. For a kid in his late teens/early 20's, seeing them interacting with customers like that was a hoot, they were gruff to a lot of people but with the get rich quick collectors it was an art form, when one of them asked if something was original Lionel, hearing their response was a hoot. With the suits, I think they saw them both as an 'opportunity' (whether that meant customer/sucker/ both IDK to this day) and also didn't like them for not caring about the trains, so it was interesting to see how they navigated that. Between that, and looking at the boxes and boxes of trains I couldn't afford and almost drooling, it was always an experience, and I still cherish it. 

A good old days event for me was seeing the Lionel train layout and trains for sale at Macy's Department store at Herald Square in Manhattan, especially around Christmas time in the mid to late 1950s/early 1960s. Arnold

Hi...My first Lionel train set was a gift from "Santa" in 1947.  My Dad brought the set home paid for by his Christmas bonus (much to Mom's chagrin as she had other plans for that money).  It was sighted by me, then about 3 years old, on Christmas morning.  The set was powered by the PA steam turbine loco and had a work caboose with a search light.  I remember running that train in the dark with the tree lights, the headlight and the searchlight all illuminated.  Like most families in those days, when the tree came down the trains were packed away till the following year.  Several years after that, the trains moved from under the tree to a semi-permanent layout.  Much bigger but still primarily a Christmas activity.  I remember that Dad had 3 weeks vacation while Mom only 2 so Dad took his "extra" week during Thanksgiving and we set up the trains.  They still came down again after New Years.  A new house ( the first home my parents owned) had a basement so the layout could stay up.  The '54 layout is pictured below.

Some classic Lionel stuff.  The PA turbine in the back, milk car platform, station, water tower,rotating beacon,  bill boards and pumping oil rig  all post war.  The prewar passenger train is an anomaly, I suspect Dad bought it used so we could have a passenger train as I was born in '44 more or less another postwar addition to the family .  Unfortunately at about 13 years old I was bitten by the "prototype" bug and we sold all the Lionel's for HO scale trains.  By that time I had some real beauties I wished I still had ... the 773 Hudson and Madison cars, the Santa Fe F-3 and aluminum passenger cars.  Things I still cannot afford to replace. In '62 I went off to college and then married and the Air Force and the trains stayed in Mom's attic.  I never really got back into HO but then we had two sons and my memories stirred and I discovered that Lionel was still producing trains (although not the original company).

In 1975 my two sons were interested in trains, we had ridden several "steam specials" by that time,  so I bought them each a train set (one Lionel and one Marx) and they played with them and they went around our tree - just like the '40's.  They never really had a continuing interest in the trains, although my younger son really loved building and modeling and he built many buildings and diorama type scenes well into his 20's.  In 1977, while stationed in Ohio,  I started attending local train shows and a few members that I was friendly with got me interested in joining TCA which I did in 1979 and I have been a member ever since.  I am also a member of LCCA and TTOS. 

I became pretty much a collector as we never seemed to have space for a layout.  Finally in 2018 I got some space and started a small layout, which I have configured more or less as a 1950's vintage "toy train" layout.  I call it the Leonardtown and Savannah after two places we have lived, but mostly because the letters, L&S let me nickname it the "long and skinny" as it is only 40 inches wide but 17 feet long in order to accommodate the space available.

I did attend several "York" meets in the late 80's when we lived in the Philadelphia area and it was a drive able distance away.  Unfortunately before and after that time, we have lived too far to make the journey.  I still love the trains and have become a bit like Arnold above, a collector that really wants things to run or operate.  I am fine with scratches and dents as long as it can go around - my layout is basically loops and I love to watch them go.  This forum has really been terrific to me as it provides contact with other hobbyists world wide, shows me pictures of wonderful efforts in modeling and operation, and is just a great place to virtually meet people.

Very Respectfully

Don McErlean

  Over the years I've put together huge layouts on the floor - rec room when I was still living with my parents - living room or master bedroom when I was single - attic once married.  After I had assembled one of these things I would invite people over from both work and from the neighborhood.  I have a lot of fond memories of the events that transpired as a result of these displays

A couple at random:

 Long Story First: When I lived in a two bedroom duplex I would move myself out of the master bedroom, squeeze into the very small second bedroom, and then cover the huge master bedroom floor with a layout.  One year after putting everything together I sent out the usual invitations to friends and neighbors.  One invitation went to a family of 4 who lived a few doors down from my place.  When their evening came, Mom and the two kids were the only ones who showed up.  I asked if Dad was coming and just as Mom started to make a polite excuse for his absence her little girl blurted out - "Dad thinks toy trains are stupid and any man who plays with them is stupid too!"  Mom got flustered, I just laughed and said, "Well, now that that's settled let's go upstairs and run some trains."  

   We went upstairs and I opened the door to the "train room." The ooh's and ah's started the second the kids saw what was all over the floor. I had read Frank Ellison's thoughts about running trains and I always made sure I showed off the layout in the manner he described.  Typically I would have enough loops to get three trains running at the same time and I made it a point to have a small city positioned right up front where I could show off switching moves and operating cars in an industrial setting.  I also wired everything so I could power up the accessories one at a time (set up time for something like this was on the order of 4-5 weeks).  

  I would start the "show" by powering up a single train,  it would loop a couple of times and then one-at-a-time I would power up accessories connected with its running - the #45 gateman, gate crossings, crossing lights, etc.  Somewhere in there I would start the second train, follow a similar course and the bring the third set on line.  Once everything was rolling and had looped a few times I would turn out all of the room lights and one-by-one turn on the building and city lights.  The reaction to this display was everything you would expect.  After running at night I would bring the lights back up and one-by-one bring the looping trains to a halt.  

  I would then fire up my little #1615 switcher over in the industrial section move it just a little and then pause to briefly explain what real railroads did and how they delivered product.  Then, it was run the switcher, spot the cars and, for the operating ones - fire them up - milk car, cattle car, side dump, coal ramp, icing depot - whatever it was that I had put out that year. 

   Typically, the loop with direct connection to the industrial park had a freight train and on it's last loop before stopping it on the main I would uncouple the caboose on the fly (the reaction when that happened was always fun to witness) and then stop the rear of that train clear of the industrial switches.  Once the switching was done I would have #1615 move a car or two out on the main, push the cars forward to connect with the freight, return the switcher to the yard and then back up the freight on the main until it reconnected with the caboose and fire up everything again. Depending on the kids interest the show could last from 45 minutes to almost 2 hours.

  When I finished running Mom and the two kids were impressed beyond words.  Both of the kids were raving about what they had seen and were talking so fast you could hardly understand what they were saying and Mom thanked me more times than I can remember. When it came time to go Mom had her hands full prying the kids out of the train room and getting them suited up to face the winter cold outside.

  About two days later I was coming home from work and had just pulled in the driveway and put the car away when I saw Dad heading my way.  He came up, said hello, and in a rather sheepish and embarrassed manner asked if there was any chance he could see the layout.  I said, sure, no problem when would he like to see it - how about now - ok....it was a good 2 hours later before he went home.  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when Mom and the kids returned home that night and made Dad realize he had really missed something.

 Short Story Second - same year - same layout.  The guests were a widow and her young daughter.  She had mentioned she knew some guys who were into model trains and said she was looking forward to see what I had set up.  We went upstairs, I open the door, and the little girl just froze at the entrance and then in a voice filled with awe and amazement said, "It's TOYS!  It's a WHOLE ROOM full of TOYS!"  Her mother quickly stooped down and said in a lowered voice, "No, dear, no, they're models not toys!" ...and I said, "No, she right.  They're toys and I'm just the oldest kid on the block." 

   When I started running Mom insisted on keeping her daughter sitting right next to her on a small bench I had for visitors.  After I had looped the first train a couple of times I could see the little girl was doing as she had been told and I also could see she really wanted to get a closer look at the trains so I said, "You know, the best seat in the house is lying down on the floor with your head close to the track." She looked at her Mom, her Mom gave a little nod, and with quiet "Yay!" she lay down on the floor and spent the next hour and a half with her nose just a few inches from the outside mainline track.  They had a great time.

The layout for that year

Great story! I've been in prone position many times with a floor layout to watch the trains go by. I especially like to laid at the end of a long straight with a curve and watch the engine rushing toward you only to swing away on the curve at the last second. Lots a fun.

My first Lionel train set Christmas morning in 1948, a 2026 freight set. I was four years old. Every Christmas after that for years I got something Lionel from Santa. Becoming good friends with Fred Hines (Charter Member #136 TCA) and Jim Madden. They really took me under their wings and showed this young kid the ropes. They took me to my first local TCA meeting in Oakland Ca. On the way they both told me not to pay full price for anything unless I really wanted it. They didn't know I only had ten dollars in my pocket and I was only looking for two Lionel crossing gates. I was in heaven looking around that room at all the trains. I was nervous when I saw two crossing gates. I asked the man "how much?" He said "two dollars each, and they work fine". I don't know what I was thinking but I blurted out "would you take five dollars for both?" He handed them to me. I only got a few steps when I realized what a fool I was. Thank goodness Fred and Jim never asked if I got a good deal on the gates.

Getting to know Allan Miller and my first cover on OGR in 2011is another good memory. Don anotherDon

wow - these stories are just what we want to hear !!  so many different ones.  Myself, I joined TCA in 1993 and the spring drive from Ontario, Canada To York Pa was literally a ray of sunshine with the milder weather.   My first trip to the TCA in York resulted in a sore neck as I walked through all of the buildings and followed the arrows on the floor looking on both sides of every row  looking for American Flyer "S" gauge. My greatest find was (I think) a 314AW or was it a 314W steamer with the unlicenced Lionel patented  smoke unit in the tender with bellows.  I remember that I had spent all my money when I spotted this rare gem and this retired elderly gentleman seller seen my dilema and since I was a TCA member he offered to take my cheque. no credit card for me back then.  That transaction made my whole trip.

@Robert S. Butler posted:

  Over the years I've put together huge layouts on the floor - rec room when I was still living with my parents - living room or master bedroom when I was single - attic once married.  After I had assembled one of these things I would invite people over from both work and from the neighborhood.  I have a lot of fond memories of the events that transpired as a result of these displays

A couple at random:

 Long Story First: When I lived in a two bedroom duplex I would move myself out of the master bedroom, squeeze into the very small second bedroom, and then cover the huge master bedroom floor with a layout.  One year after putting everything together I sent out the usual invitations to friends and neighbors.  One invitation went to a family of 4 who lived a few doors down from my place.  When their evening came, Mom and the two kids were the only ones who showed up.  I asked if Dad was coming and just as Mom started to make a polite excuse for his absence her little girl blurted out - "Dad thinks toy trains are stupid and any man who plays with them is stupid too!"  Mom got flustered, I just laughed and said, "Well, now that that's settled let's go upstairs and run some trains."  

   We went upstairs and I opened the door to the "train room." The ooh's and ah's started the second the kids saw what was all over the floor. I had read Frank Ellison's thoughts about running trains and I always made sure I showed off the layout in the manner he described.  Typically I would have enough loops to get three trains running at the same time and I made it a point to have a small city positioned right up front where I could show off switching moves and operating cars in an industrial setting.  I also wired everything so I could power up the accessories one at a time (set up time for something like this was on the order of 4-5 weeks).  

  I would start the "show" by powering up a single train,  it would loop a couple of times and then one-at-a-time I would power up accessories connected with its running - the #45 gateman, gate crossings, crossing lights, etc.  Somewhere in there I would start the second train, follow a similar course and the bring the third set on line.  Once everything was rolling and had looped a few times I would turn out all of the room lights and one-by-one turn on the building and city lights.  The reaction to this display was everything you would expect.  After running at night I would bring the lights back up and one-by-one bring the looping trains to a halt.  

  I would then fire up my little #1615 switcher over in the industrial section move it just a little and then pause to briefly explain what real railroads did and how they delivered product.  Then, it was run the switcher, spot the cars and, for the operating ones - fire them up - milk car, cattle car, side dump, coal ramp, icing depot - whatever it was that I had put out that year. 

   Typically, the loop with direct connection to the industrial park had a freight train and on it's last loop before stopping it on the main I would uncouple the caboose on the fly (the reaction when that happened was always fun to witness) and then stop the rear of that train clear of the industrial switches.  Once the switching was done I would have #1615 move a car or two out on the main, push the cars forward to connect with the freight, return the switcher to the yard and then back up the freight on the main until it reconnected with the caboose and fire up everything again. Depending on the kids interest the show could last from 45 minutes to almost 2 hours.

  When I finished running Mom and the two kids were impressed beyond words.  Both of the kids were raving about what they had seen and were talking so fast you could hardly understand what they were saying and Mom thanked me more times than I can remember. When it came time to go Mom had her hands full prying the kids out of the train room and getting them suited up to face the winter cold outside.

  About two days later I was coming home from work and had just pulled in the driveway and put the car away when I saw Dad heading my way.  He came up, said hello, and in a rather sheepish and embarrassed manner asked if there was any chance he could see the layout.  I said, sure, no problem when would he like to see it - how about now - ok....it was a good 2 hours later before he went home.  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when Mom and the kids returned home that night and made Dad realize he had really missed something.

 Short Story Second - same year - same layout.  The guests were a widow and her young daughter.  She had mentioned she knew some guys who were into model trains and said she was looking forward to see what I had set up.  We went upstairs, I open the door, and the little girl just froze at the entrance and then in a voice filled with awe and amazement said, "It's TOYS!  It's a WHOLE ROOM full of TOYS!"  Her mother quickly stooped down and said in a lowered voice, "No, dear, no, they're models not toys!" ...and I said, "No, she right.  They're toys and I'm just the oldest kid on the block." 

   When I started running Mom insisted on keeping her daughter sitting right next to her on a small bench I had for visitors.  After I had looped the first train a couple of times I could see the little girl was doing as she had been told and I also could see she really wanted to get a closer look at the trains so I said, "You know, the best seat in the house is lying down on the floor with your head close to the track." She looked at her Mom, her Mom gave a little nod, and with quiet "Yay!" she lay down on the floor and spent the next hour and a half with her nose just a few inches from the outside mainline track.  They had a great time.

The layout for that year

 

Greatest toy train story I've ever read.  Takes me back 75 years to playing with trains with my 8  6 year old brothers.

 Thanks for the compliments - I'm glad you liked the stories.

   All of us on this forum are enamored of trains and sometimes we forget that trains - like anything else - are not for everyone.  From time to time I have invited families over and, while Mom and Dad were always impressed with what they saw and had a good time watching the "show" unfold there were occasions when the kids really weren't that interested - disappointing, but given the distribution of people and interests, not unexpected - and then there were those instances where the initial indifference was suddenly obliterated by unfolding events.

  Like all of us I'm continually adding to my cast of layout figures.  Most of the time the figures are purchased unpainted. Over the years there were times when I ran out of ideas with respect to painting the figures wardrobes.  When this would happen I would go into work, announce my predicament to my co-workers, and tell them if they could lend me a picture of themselves in an outfit of which they were particularly proud, I would paint them in miniature, bring in the finished product for their inspection, and then let the figures take up residence on the next reincarnation of the Ophir and Oblivion.

  A lot of people have taken me up on this offer.  One year, one of the guys loaned me a picture of himself and his wife and two kids.  All of them were sharply dressed in very distinctive outfits.  I started just painting Dad but the more I looked at the picture the more intrigued I became with the entire family.  The end result was I painted all four of them.  Later that year I put together another set up, sent out invitations, and put on the show as described in the earlier post.  One of the visitors was his family.  They arrived, Mom and Dad were obviously interested as was their daughter.  Their son, on the other hand, gave the impression he was there because he had been told he had to be there.

  We went up to the train room, the door was opened and Mom, Dad, and daughter reacted as expected...son was still indifferent.  Because I knew they were coming over I had placed the entire miniature family on the station platform directly in front of the viewing area.  I mentioned the best seats in the house next to the trains and son and daughter took them while Mom and Dad sat on the small bench.  Daughter, as I said was impressed from the get-go.  I started the show, looped the outermost train a few times, and was just starting up the second train when I looked at the son and daughter and asked, "By the way - is there anyone down their waiting for a train on the station platform that looks familiar?"  They both gave me a puzzled look.  The son was closest to the platform. He looked over the figures and as he did so I could see a compete change come over his countenance.  He stared for a long second then glanced up at me sharply and said, "That's...that's me, ...that's our family?!"  I replied, "Yeah, I thought so.  So, where are you guys going anyway?"   The focus of interest on the waiting passengers was such that I had to stop the trains, remove the figures from the platform, and pass them around so everyone could examine them.  When the show started again everyone exhibited a keen interest in what was going on.