What were the stages...

Interesting question:

I would say the introduction was through my Dad, and my Uncles, which was the ultimate catalyst. Visiting relatives in the Pittsburgh area as a kid really will leave you with an impression. 

Then kids my age building layouts and running trains together.

Then as I got older, other people my age asking allot of questions about trains and themselves getting involved and developing their own layout.

Then joining a great round robin club and meeting a great group of people. Running trains on a regular basis.

Then having my own kids that really take a shine to them.

 

 

Heh, Long version won't fit here:

As kids we had a few Lionel trains. Left them behind for my younger siblings going into the military.

30+ years later, my sister sends me a Christmas gift.

She thought we all still had trains. So she sent me one of the cars we had as kids - The bobbing horse head yellow stock car.

I went a bit nuts and immediately called my brother who did have trains.

He told me about a new company called MTH, he had a set he got by mistake off Ebay. (Poor Description)

I bought it from him, and got some stuff off Ebay as well.

I ran a loop in a room in the house for months until the wife banished the trains to the basement. She got tired of stepping on track. (good thing it's tough)

I then found the LHS (Over an hour one way, but it's as close as I can get.)

I spent way too much money for several years and have a 6.5' X 23' layout in the basement that's in slow process of upgrade to 16 X 23' around the walls now.

It's pretty straightforward for me since I'm still relatively young.

 

It began long before I was born when my grandfather and his family came to America from war-torn Italy. He went to work for the PRR as a trackman and would work for the entire lineage of the company through Conrail and retire with Amtrak. His son, my uncle, caught the train bug from his first-hand experiences visiting the yards and got into Lionel trains. When I came along Thomas the Tank Engine was my favorite show from a very young age and I enjoyed the Brio and Ertl toys based on the series. Seeing this my uncle showed me his Lionel trains and I was officially hooked on electric model railroading.

From ages 3 to about 16 all I knew was Lionel and whatever they put in their catalogs. Then I became proficient with the internet and discovered the forums. I steadily discovered more and more about other manufacturers and eventually narrowed my interests to prototypical scale trains with command control. In recent times I have further narrowed it to primarily vintage northeastern trains. I am 21 now and no signs of stopping.

Here is all the stages for me:

• 1949 - born
• 1953 - I was shown and allowed to play under supervision with my Dad's pre-war wind up Marx set
• 1957 - get Marx electric 0-4-0 RTR set for Christmas
• '57-60 get more train goodies included Warbonnett F3s with allowance & Christmas
• 1960 - Dad's move for better job puts layout and trains in storage - never saw them again.
• 1964 - buy tiny N gauge layout myself - build under-bed roll-out layout
• 1967 - college limits time spent with trains
• 1972 - new job limits time with trains 
• 197+5 - new kid(s) limit time with trains,
• 1984 - small N gauge layout for sons
• 1992 through 2000 - put three kids through college and into adult orbit - no time or money for trains.  Layout disappears (not sure when or how)
• 2001 - build new N gauge layout
• 2007 - get rid of N gauge layout, decide to move to serious model trains and return to O gauge.  No other stage since and none expected until . .
• Someday I die: end of stages

 

Birth of our daughter 20+yrs ago was the impetus to thinking about turning the family to toy trains. My wife was eager to participate since she felt that she, also born female (duh) was denied a toy train childhood during her  PW youth. In a round about way, after reexamine the other gauges (mostly HO) I decided to return to O' scale. Then as during the PW period the attraction of O'scale were the whimsical operating accessories. My daughter's first train Christmas happened when she was 4 yrs old and as circumstance would have it turned out to be Mike's very first Railing NYC Mohawk with a hand assembled collection of operating cars & accessories. That first layout was 3 4X8 plywood sheets which were assembled by "Santa" during that December. Even at the age of 4 she was not convinced that it was Santa & not here father that put together that initial basement layout. Although each of the 3 of us, (my wife being both an active participant of layout construction, and maintaining "toy trains" on her Santa list) have had specialty interests in our O'gauge participation, our daughter who was the original impetus has proven the least involved.

Pretty much the same as Lee only 3 yrs earlier.

Early 1950's--Dad had a Lionel train layout in the basement of our Detroit home

Late 1950's--Move to suburbs results in bigger layout

Early 1960's--Monthly trips to old house to collect rent--House was across the street from C&O rail yard and Fort Street Union Station--Grandmothers backyard backed up to NYC East Yard in Detroit

Late 60's to Late 70's--No train layout-

1980's --Taking my 3 kids on Amtrak trips

1982--Back in hobby with HO

2003-Switched over to 3 Rail

Frank, very interesting question. I fell in love with O-Gauge trains from the time the first set arrived under the Christmas tree. Many of us who are now in this hobby went through various stages of inactivity because of school, family, jobs, etc. But my guess is that very few of us ever lost the spark. For me when I received my last business transfer, it was back into the hobby big time.

 

I believe that my interest now is greater than ever as my Bride is so much of a part of it, I am having as much fun as I have ever had.

1948 I got my first Lionel train set for Christmas. I was 4 years old. It was love at first sight. My parents kept adding to my set every Christmas and birthday and sometimes in between. Never had a real layout but by my early teens I still had my 2026 set, a 1615 0-4-0 switcher many more freight cars and a couple of passenger cars. A pair of 027 switches, light towers and more. Of course then there were girls and the trains went in boxes tell Christmas. After I got married I bought a few HO gauge trains but never really got interested. A few years later I saw a add in a little give away paper that someone wanted to buy Lionel trains. I called the guy and he happened to live down the street. I packed my trains and went to his house intending to sell my Lionel. One look at his layout and I knew I didn't want to sell. I don't think he really wanted any 027 stuff as he had all the big O Gauge stuff. He told me about a group of guys in a club called the TCA. Sounds strange now but I couldn't believe there was such a group of adults that "played" with Lionel trains. He took me to my first TCA meeting in Oakland California the next week. I couldn't believe all the trains for sale. He told me to dicker with the sellers and I would get a better price. I was so excited this is what I did with my dickering. There was a guy with two Lionel crossing gate. He wanted $2.00 each. I told him no I'll offer you $5.00 for both. He took it and as I was walking away I realized what I did.

Well, that was my start and as they say the rest is history. Don

It started the first time I saw Thomas the Tank Engine. This was so long ago, that my first word was Toby. Then, when I turned three my Grandpa bought my my first Lionel Train. He had a couple trains, but was more of an American Flyer guy. Every year after that, I got another train set from him. Sometimes new, sometimes one of the few 3 rail Lionel or Marx sets he had. When I was 14, I finally got my first permanent layout, a 3x6 on the bottom bunk of my bunk bed. The following year, we moved, and I got a bigger bedroom, where I did a 4x8 carpet layout. Then, at age 17, my mom decided that the laundry stuff needed to be moved out of the laundry room and upstairs. Well, that left that room, and an L shaped room empty, which I got in return for helping move the laundry room. That is where my layout is today, 5 years later.

Great thread Frank,

 

    Well for me my dad bought me my first Lionel train set when I was 6 years old.

He added to it every Christmas, until we had a small 4x8 board filled with trains and accessories. I had fun with it for many year's, until I was old enough to build and drive a muscle car. The trains were put away for many many year's until I finally settled down with my wife. Once we purchased a new home I worked on it for a year or two, then I started my dream layout in 2004, and it's been going very strong since then.

 

Alex

1. Born 1953.

2. Early memories were of the #6 El and New Haven RR Jets.

3. 1956, Marx Monon diesel set For Christmas.

4. 1958. New Haven F3 diesel set for Christmas.

5. Yearly formal layouts till 1968.

6. Floor layouts till about 1972.

7. No trains......college/med school

8. 1980.  Doing medical residency in Baltimore and went to a Greenberg show in Towson. Bought Hollander book about the same time.

9. Never looked back. 

I'm gratified by your comments, Alex, because I am of the opinion that this hobby of ours is a very personal matter, esp. when some of us build layouts - on or off the floor. Our hobby takes a personal dedication of resources, space, and time, doesn't it, and it seems to need the accommodation by others who live with us to nourish or, at least, tolerate our enthusiasm. We express ourselves in what we buy and in what we build and craft. Also, the trains we run take up personal and shared space, even if it's just in storage alone. The story of each journey into this hobby would be unique and worth the hearing, I suggest.

 

This is a friendly forum, much like OGR magazine itself, so I hoped the thread would be a pleasant way for us to become further acquainted with folks sharing the same hobby we have welcomed into our lives.

FrankM

Grew up with older brother who had Marx trains.

Every Christmas the trains were set up on two 4x8 tables in the basement with a few Plasticville pieces, plus Lincoln Logs, erector set projects, a large Guidancetown set and anything else we thought would add to the layout.   Christmas tree lights (C7's) under all the houses.  It was magical when we turned off the ceiling lights.

I also had a cousin that was an only child with a huge Lionel collection.  Would see that at Christmas every year too.   Guess what was on my list?  I set a goal that one day I would own such a collection.

Finally got my very own first Lionel train at age 14 after asking for one since I was 5.  We didn't have the money and trains were expensive I was told.  No new trains until this time.

Started to buy more Lionel cars with allowance every year.  Even through college.

Had some no train layout years when my children were young.  House we lived in was too small.   Then I joined a local O Gauge club and  things really took off.  Started purchasing items at swap meets and have been going strong in the hobby ever since.

A lifetime of happiness with O gauge trains.   I guess it shows the power of a starter set and seeing examples of a large layout at a very young age.

Like the other younger folks here, my interest in trains probably began with Thomas the Tank Engine.  About 1990 (age 3), my family took me to the Texas State Railroad, where I saw my first steam locos. A trip to Houston/Galveston about a year or so later further solidified my interest with all of the trackage and industrial complexes all over the place, plus a trip to the Galveston Railway Museum.  Somewhere about this time, I also went to Michigan and my uncle who works for what was then Conrail (now NS) took me to the yard and showed me around.

 

Elementary school was when what could be called "research" (for lack of a less serious term) began.  It was kindergarten that I found a really good train book in the school library.  It was from this book that I discovered Thomas's British origins, as most of the trains in the book were British and I could see the similarities between the two.  That may have been where my interest in British/European trains spawned.  Back to the Future: Part III, which was the very first movie with a real train I remember seeing (on TV), sparked my interest in 19th Century Western trains, which I focus on in HO scale.  Other media sources during my formative years which have influenced me have been the original Railroad Tycoon PC game (fun, even though at the time I had no idea how to properly play it!) and the documentary miniseries Locomotion, which further drove home the British/European interest.

 

As far as toys/models go, most of my childhood was spent with Brio, die-cast Thomas, and cheap plastic sets.  For my birthday in 2nd grade, I got a box of HO-scale trains that were from my grandpa on my mom's side in Michigan.  My dad subsequently built a fold-up 4x6 tabletop with a simple track plan.  That original fleet of 13 pieces of equipment has significantly grown over the years, mostly secondhand stuff from others who didn't want their trains anymore. The layout got more use after we moved to our current house in 2000, including my own revision to the track plan (though it always remained a flat green tabletop), but it eventually , and quite literally, faded into the background, and I decided to dismantle the wall-mounted portion of it.  I have retained the table top and now use it for the annual Christmas layout.

Rewind to 1996.  Another trip to Michigan included a visit to the Lionel visitor's center.  At this time, I knew about O gauge, but never heard of Lionel!  After that visit, I knew that I wanted to have Lionel trains.  Their chunkiness and the way the couplers operated more like the real thing (as opposed to the infernal horn-hooks that I still need to replace!) really appealed to me.  That didn't become a reality until 2004 or 2005, when the same uncle mentioned above sent me a K-Line GP38 for Christmas that he had received as an award for some safety program.  That finally gave me a reason to get into O gauge.  I purchased my Polar Express baggage car some time later, but it was not until September of 2010 that I finally got my starter set that I could finally run either of the two previous items.

 

On a side note, I was the one who convinced my family to start including trains at Christmas time.  I especially liked integrating my trains with my mom's village collection, progressing from my Dickensville train set, through HO, to finally O gauge.

 

At this point in time, the hobby is somewhat on hold.  My trains are readily accessible, and I will run them on the floor every so often, but I am really aching for something much more involved than a simple loop of track.  I often do more window shopping, track planning, and research.  Also, I attended a NMRA meeting this past September and signed up for my first ever operating session for one modeler's HO layout, which I have been attending on a regular basis.  Life has been at a standstill for me for some time, and as painful as it might feel, I may have to put the trains down for a while.  My interest has by no means diminished, and nothing has surpassed it, save my faith in God, which should be first anyway.  But giving them up for short while and shifting my focus elsewhere for now may result in reaping long-term results farther down the road.

 

Aaron

got my first Lionel train set in 1987.

played with it till i got in to computers.

found a rock island northern from 1987. ( had to have it)

when i decided to leave computers needed a new hobby 

before i left computers i found my old trains set them up and ran them. (brought back so many memories.  

cleaned out all old computers and programs so i had room for my layout.  

set my trains up.

never looked back and never planing to. 

Played with (mostly watched) my uncle's O-gauge (that he got from his older brother, another uncle). Watch my uncle try HO and get frustrated.

 

Got uncle's reconditioned set as Christmas present

 

Temporary layouts in basement until high school

 

Moved to Miami in high school from New England - no basement, no trains. Trains put into "storage"

 

High school/college/med school/ residency/fellowship/academic faculty/kids (college and grad-med school for them)/move to NE FL (no time or basement for trains)

 

Buy small house in NC for vacations, wife says "why don't you get back into trains for a relaxing hobby?" 4 yrs ago.

 

Now slowly building permanent layout above garage on vacation time in NC; wife supports/helps with temporary layouts during Halloween and Christmas in FL

1978-born

 

83-85 found Dads mix of HO scale and Lionel items stashed in the basement. 

Trains set up for Christmas display. 

 

1985- Got my first Lionel train set. Black Cave Set complete with a crappy DC steam engine. Quickly I received what I consider my first true Lionel engine 236 Scout. 

 

86-88 I could remember attempting to build a layout in the basement so that coal hoppers could be filled with the anthracite coal that was used to heat our home. This was so I wouldn't have to do the chore of lifting the heavy coal buckets into the hopper of the furnace. Never panned out. 

 

89 built a 5X10 layout in the attic of parents home. 

 

89-93 little league baseball and football practice occupied a lot of my time. I was kept interested in trains watching Conrail and the Reading and Northern haul coal trains through town. 

 

93-96  high school, sports, learning to drive, girls,  no train time

 

94- join the local VFD, interest in firefighting starts 

 

96-99 graduate,work part time, off to college,move to Maryland

 

2000- get hired by fire department

2001 buy first house, 

2006   get married, build first house, build Christmas train display and interest in O gauge trains rekindled. 

2010 first son born. 

2008 start to build layout 

2012 second son born

2013 decide to sell home, take layout down, building new home with more room for trains! 

My mom. About 1956 she bought me my first set, a Lionel Scout which would only run when you moved the switch on top of the engine. I remember locking it in the forward position & taping it so I could just hit the throttle & go. Attached is a photo of my first layout on a 4x8 sheet from 04/59

What a lucky and cool kid you were there, Spence, w/ your own Scout and your own layout ! How'd you keep it from derailing over that switch it is approachng in that photo? My dad's rarely made it over switches w/out at least a grumble and twitches.

FrankM

P.S. If I recall correctly, wasn't that gondola blue? Boxcar orange. Caboose red; tankcar grey?

P.P.S. Do I see the leg of a coffee table peeking out from under the layout? If you got your mother to sacrifice that piece of furniture for your layout's support, you were, again, a lucky guy!

I had no problems going over the switches. Gondola was black.. Good eye. It was a card table along with a childs pool table. She allowed me to set it up in the living room. It was an apartment & therefor no access to the basement.

Spence,Here's my parents' Christmas layout (my elbow in the bacground). You can see the 1666 took the loop w/ switches; the Scout got the switchless outer loop. I used to lie underneath to hear 'em both rumble along their routes.

FrankM

My Dad bought me my 1st Lionel train set **** 1950. It was set up on a 3 x 6 piece of cork board on the dining room table in our apartment in Manhatten. Each year he added additional cars or an engine. There was only so much to be put on this piece of cork board. My Dad always regretted not getting American Flyer sets instead if 027 Lionel. In 1958 I saved my allowance and went to a lumber yard 26 blocks from our apartment. Bought a 4x8x1/2" piece of finished plywood. ($5.25). Didn't want to walk 26 blocks carrying sheet of plywood so I took the subway home. Only 1 stop (Dykeman St. to 191st) Set up in my bedroom. Looked great until my mother called the super to have the plywood removed.  Had all my trains until 1972. Got divorced and had to sell trains. Big mistake.
Fast forward to 1983 . Walked into Charles Ro and got back into trains with my new wife's utmost support.
Charlie and Chuck got me signed up with TCA. It's been the greatest 30 years of my life. Have built 5 layouts since and met a lot of great folks along the way.

Stage I: Dad purchased a train set in 1952 - age 3.

 

Stage II: Dad purchased a train set in 1955 - age 5.

 

Stage III: Dad purchased two train sets in 1958 and a ZW - age 9.

 

Stage IV: I took over purchases - age 12.

 

Stage V: Keep on purchasing - age 63.

 

1966 - Born

 

1966 - Christmas - Grandpop introduces me to the wonderful world of tinplate at the young age of 10 months.

 

1975 - Grandpop buys me (and all the male grandchildren) their own Lionel MPC starter sets.

 

1977 - Mom and dad get me introduced into HO and I run some carpet central layouts for a while.

 

1982 - Grandpop takes me to York and I buy a McCoy engine from Bob and Margaret.

 

1985 - 1990 College years - not much going on

 

1993 - Married, birth of first child prompts me to fix up my HO gauge and build a small 4x8 layout.

 

2001 - Grandpop passes and I inherit his tinplate collection

 

2001 - 2004 Make repairs to the house to prepare for a permanent layout

 

2004 - present - slowly building my dream layout, of Oga and Std Ga.

Thanks Frank,

 

   Your word's are so beautiful and  true.

 

Thanks, Alex

c1951-First Lionel appears, a used freight set headed by #2026.

1954- A used prewar Marx Commodore Vanderbilt set arrives.

1956- Santa brings a Marx tin 4-wheel freight set.

1957- A magnificent Marx E7 AA ATSF passenger set comes on the scene.  Bought new at a furniture store for $19.95.

1959- A friend introduces me to a friend selling his Athearn HO set, and sets the stage for the next 5 years.

1964-c1970-Only a mild interest in trains, as the usual distractions get in the way.

c1971-1986-Another friend introduces me to N gauge.  Shelving built to display the trains, which start to accumulate.  Z gauge arrives.

1987- Lovely second wife () encourages/enables/admires/adds to the collection, which really takes off now.  Never looked back. 

 

My first experience was with a Lionel train that I purchased at age 8.  I enjoyed it very much, but stopped using it once I entered my mid-teens.  I brought it out a few times over the years, but on rare occasions.

Fast forward to 2005...I was now in my 30's and decided I would like to run my set around the Christmas tree.  I pulled out my set with O-27 track and had a ball.  So, I go to my LHS, to get more track, and that's when I saw Lionel FasTrack.  After asking about it, I ended up purchasing enough for a loop around the tree.  I immediately liked this new track and decided I wanted a new set to run under the tree.  So, I purchased a Lionel North Pole Central RTR set...more FasTrack came with it.  I was hooked and knew I'd be in this hobby for a long time.

The advances in the hobby like sound, command control, better smoke are some of the reasons I am staying in the hobby.  This forum is another reason...there is a world of knowledge here with so many willing to help others.  eBay is another reason...I have gotten some great deals on trains that I would have never purchased for full price.

Timeline January 2012: Buy discounted Polar Express Starter set from Charles Ro for my seven year old son. He is a big train fan starting with Thomas as a toddler. Yearly trips to Edaville RR for Thomas Day and Christmas lights for several years. That month we added a Fastrack expansion set and a used NYC 0-8-0 with Trainsounds. Decided on a steam theme with the original idea of a O-27 small switching yard inside an outer Fastrack loop in a 4' x8' area. Went to a traveling train show in Feb at the Shriners in Ma and found a few good used items. After reading several of J Armstrong's articles on prototypical yards, I quickly realized that my idea was not practical in that space. Since then the layout has expanded to about 7 x 14 with a new around the room bent dog bone adding another 2 x 8, 2 x 8 and 4 x 4. Expansion will continue on to a 7 x 12 turntable/ roundhouse double loop and then farther on to a 3 x 10 town. Added TMCC and looking forward to Legacy when they are available again at a realistic price. And about 20k+ in benchwork, operating accessories, steam locos and rolling stock. Most of it used at a fraction of retail. Piles of electronics parts, controllers, lighting, homemade trees, kit bashed and scratch built structures and tunnels. Lots of early Friday evenings digging through the latest Charles Ro bargain bin. Try to get there just as the new stuff gets put out. Nice collection of cranes. After acquiring just enough plus a little extra, I am looking forward to running while I complete expansions and continue detailing and wiring my signals etc on the existing section. And since I am an information sponge and avid reader of this forum, I continue to evolve in my understanding of how I define myself within this hobby. I am currently a Hybrid Hi-Railer, primarily 0-27, with a lot of attention to prototypical detailing with a sprinkling a fun toy train operating accessories to keep the kids focused and interested and less likely to rearrange my carefully placed die cast vehicles and figures. My latest addition of the Command Boom car and crane has inspired me to incorporate some scale track to accommodate my engines and cars that do not navigate the tighter O-27 sections. They are fine with the K-line 0-42 switches so with the exception of a few pieces Atlas track in my Roundhouse, I most likely will stick with 0-27 tubular, weathered with 3R ties and Brennan's ballast. Fred

For me:

1. First train set: December 1959
2. Fall from grace (slot cars): 1966-1972
3. Further fall into darkness (N scale trains and H.O slot cars): 1972
4. Road to redemption through my sons (they found my old trains): 1987
5. Return from the dark side: 1988
6. Part-time residence on the Isle of Denial: 1995 (CNW LIVES!)
7. Joining the ranks of the 3-rail rivet counters: 1996
8. Self-Appointment to Information Minister of the Isle of Denial: 1996 (SP LIVES! There is no BNSF!)
9. Moving into the DMZ between 3-rail and 2-rail scale (2009)
10. Running two-rail where no one can see me: (2010-present)
11. Running two-rail on three-rail track and driving AGHR members nuts: (2010-present)

Pretty typical I'd say ....

 

- Family's PW 2046 set around the tree as a young boy instilled "toy trains" in me

 

- growing up in northeastern NJ, and working around heavy industry, put railroading

  in my blood

 

- off and on HO modeling through the years

 

- early-mid 1990's, when I had very small children at home, built an O layout ....

  but lack of time and space, etc ended it

 

- approx 5 years ago, I stumbled upon Gryzboski's Train Shop when I was in Pa ....

  went in for a quick look-around ..... and they had the first Legacy CSX AC6000's

  set up. I was blown away! Here I am.

1944- BORN

 

12/46: Get Marx wind-up train for Christmas

 

12/47: See first electric train at friend's house: old Lionel pre-war, reportedly was mesmerized.

 

12/48: Santa brings American Flyer Royal Blue freight. This would serve as only electric train for next 12 years.

 

1960: Discover HO, set up layout in basement.

 

1962: Off to college, no time for trains

 

1966: Get first Lionel train, ALCO Rock Island that roomate had partially painted blue/gray, no lettering. Also get married, off to med school, no time for trains other than HO around tree at Christmas.

 

1972: first child: continue with HO around tree.

 

1975: Re-discover LIONEL in Hardware store window, Spirit of 76 freight. Buy for son.

 

1978: LIONEL around tree on 4x8 board. ALCO has now been painted/decaled  in B&O scheme.

 

1979: LIONEL around tree on 4 x 12 boards. Santa brings BLUE COMET #8801 and train.

 

1981: Start "dream layout." Grows to 40 ft. in length, operates 5 trains simultaneously, all conventional. 3 on one main line, two on other, controlling each other by way of insulated rails.

 

1981-89: Period of acquisition, post war and MPC.

 

1989: Move to smaller home, end of dream.

 

1991-2001: Volunteer at B&O Museum, trade ZW handles for real throttle.

 

Period of some LIONEL decline/sales.

 

2005---slowly re-interested in LIONEL. Modest basment layout.

 

2011: First modules obtained, participate in National Capital Trackers Show at B&O Museum.

http://trackers2010.org/pictures/BO%202011/B&O_Museum_2011/index.htm

Son who got the Spirit of 76 can be seen operating Blue Comet cars behind TMCC PRR Jr. Mikado, his son operating B&O GP9 by TMCC.

 

2011 to present:  Significantly re-invested! LOL

 

 

 

Born - 1947

1953 - First Lionel train set at Christmas

1954 - Lionel Texas Special Set at Christmas

1961 - 1962 - Into Revell HO and small layout

1967 - 1970 - US Navy Submarine Service, Vietnam, Cold War

1970 - Sent for my post war Lionel trains, lived in Hawaii

1970 - 1976 - Collected Lionel trains in Seattle, Washington

1976 - 1986 - moved to Alaska, opened train store in Alaska

1986 - 1995 - Plastic navy model building, custom model construction

1995 - Present - Moved to Oregon, O gauge trains, permanent layout

 

TEX

Steve

-1948 - born 4 days before Christmas

 

-1950 - look at brother's Marx set on a 3 X 6 board, but not allowed to play with it

 

-1951 - receive Hafner wind up set

 

-1952 - brother gets American Flyer set, but is too old to be interested. I am not allowed to play with it

 

-1955 - Santa brings American Flyer 372 UP geep freight set

 

-1957 - two Flyer accessories for Christmas

 

-1959 - went nuts over Flyer Frontiersman, but lobbying efforts were unsuccessful

 

-1960 - after a second year of lobbying, received a Flyer Frontiersman set for Christmas

 

-1961 - expand old Marx board to approximately 4 X 8 and mount both trains on it.

 

-1963 - too "grown up" for trains. They go into the closet and the board goes to bratty nephews

 

-1969 - start finding Flyer in Goodwill stores and spark is rekindled

 

-1972 - Join TCA

 

-1973 - move from Minnesota to California and trains stay in storage

 

-1977 - get back into trains

 

-1997 - two local clubs are actually operating O gauge so I make the switch to three rail

 

-2005 - retired at the young age of 56 and have more time to play, relax, and goof off

 

-2013 - the house is bursting with trains and I am repairing and modifying trains in my workshop for fun

I was born a train fan, I've got steam oil in the veins.  My 1st set was from my grandfather at age 5-7, a Marx loco and cars.  As a youth he also brought over HO trains and even a box of American Flyer track, cars, and a locomotive (which I loved size and feel wise).  After his passing my parents got me my 1st N set and I bought more stuff even using the old board that the O27 track was on for my Marx train to build a N layout.  After having my own son, I got my hands on a Marx set for him, loved the size and now am collecting O rolling stock.  The 3-rail system sure makes wiring a breeze or else I would be in S.  I also got all my grandfather's 1:1 items (mostly lanterns, but there is a steam whistle and bell) as well as 7.5" gauge stuff.  But there has never been a time in my life that I haven't love trains or played with them.

Started when my Uncle Ralph brought me to his house at Christmas to see his Lionel trains under the tree. Probably 4-5 years old then, early 70's. My dad had a Lionel HO Santa Fe passenger set that he put up under the tree every year.. By the time i was 8, my parent presented me with a Tyco HO spirit of '76 freight set, which I literally ran the wheels off of. Had the whole 4x8 board, with Tyco accessories and Bachmann Platicville buildings. A few years later, my parent gave me an N scale set, and dabbled with that for a few years - on and off - up until the time I got married. My new bride (in 1997) gave me a Lionel NYC GP-9 set with TMCC (after seeing my brothers SP set a few months earlier). The set was relegated to under the tree, adding a few accessories here an there over the years; the N scale stuff 'mothballed'. In 2008, I was 'allowed' a 5' x 9' space in a side room addition in our house and everything that I had was laid out, wired and sceniked. So I have a permanent, yet small ayout where I run EVERYTHING - 12 Diesels and 5 steam and countless freight cars I've accumulated over the past 15 years.

Put this into the how you got started thread but will add to it for other stages. When I was a teenager I came across about 20 Lionel cars that where stored in my basement.  I asked about them and was told when my uncle died rather suddenly they brought some of his stuff to our house.  The were his when he was a kid and I always thought it would be neat to get them running again (they were pretty beat up)  When I got my first place I asked my Mom if they were still down in the basement and she said yes and if I wanted them they were mine.  I got them fixed up to the point I could run them around the Christmas tree.

 

Started building my first permanent layout back in 2003 and had it going pretty good with multiple levels and subway stations.  Some life changes happened a few years later and the layout had to come down since I was moving.  Got married in 2010 and we moved into our new house.  Wife saw all the train stuff and thought it was really neat and has encouraged me start a new layout once we had got this house back in order.  (Bought a foreclosure)  Well 3 years later I started building the new layout a couple of weeks ago.

FrankM: I've been re-reading all of my OGR issues, starting with my oldest ones and working my way toward current.  I was surprised how many articles that I saw that you authored!!!!!  

 

I would say that your current attitude about things trains, including detailing, was established at least as early as 1996.  Your older articles are fun reading!!!  Just got done reading the one where you talk about 'details making the difference'.  Great article and pictures - kinda you attitude til' this day.

 

- walt

Hey Walt! That was a nice surprise, right out-of-the-blue. Thanks!

 

Recently, I've been keeping a careful eye on your postings esp. since you authored "Bye bye Miss American Pie..." which was a shocking, bold change, seeing your treasures removed. I am very curious what you will be doing for this coming Christmas season. I have loved all your floor-layout variations for the holidays and have steadily looked forward to seeing each year's photos, esp. for where those beautiful models of family homes get placed.

Thanks, Walt.

FrankM