Awesome thread! I caught the postwar bug in a department store toy department in about 1948. Christmas of 1950 a 2036 freight set appeared under the tree. Years later Dad allowed as to how they put it in layaway and paid 10 bucks a month for 3 months to make me a happy kid. A church friend got a 622 set that year with ringing bell and a front coupler. This was huge, as even a 5 year old knew real trains had front couplers, and also knew that 2-6-4 was a fake wheel arrangement in Tenn. at least. I coveted the 622 until another friend got a 1930 A-model Ford...
The postscript is that a TCA meet in the early 1980s there was a table with a boxed, reasonably priced 623. I still wanted a bell, but that was when you had to get a loan to buy a 622 in decent shape. I looked long and hard at the 623, walked the room, went back and bought it. When I got home and had it on the bench for quick clean and lube I noticed a black screw in the hood I had missed at the meet. It went to a whistle relay. The job was so neat, it looked professional. There was one more serendipity, also overlooked in the dim light of the meet hall. The front truck had a bell. I learned to live with the number not being 622.
