Nice thread topic! Thank you guys for the stories.
same plot, same story here.... Grandma was responsible for the train spark for me. I started a little bit later then most others. In my very late childhood/early teen years, grandma took me to the Lionel visitors center in MI, during one of my summer breaks from school. I was hooked ever since! Later that year for my birthday, my folks got me a little O27 starter set. Grandma soon followed suit, and got me some goodies.
My grandma really spoiled me rotten honestly. One item that really stands out was a MTH premier Empire State Express. I remember lusting over that engine in the catalogs at the time. She surprised me one birthday with one she purchased through a young eBay at the time. I still have it. In fact I am waiting on it’s return from the local shop. It is getting a Protosound 3 conversion, from originally being proto1.
I had a carpet central in the basement for a while. The trains were played with daily, up until around driving age. As normal cars, girls, work, and a little partying eventually took precedence over the trains. I had a couple blips of going back to the trains shortly during those times. I worked at a grocery store, and brought home some trashed pallets to build a layout with. Picked up 2 4x8 sheets and got the trains up off the floor in the basement for a while. They mainly collected dust after getting up off the floor though.
Eventually moved out, and came down here to FL. Met my girlfriend shortly after, and we moved in together. I remember talking with my folks back home, and they were telling me of a couple leaks and puddles that had happened in the basement. I thought crap.... I gotta get the trains outa there before something happens to them. I also had to pick up one of my cars that was still up there.
So we ventured back up to MI later that year (I wanna say 2012) to retrieve some stuff. I packed all the trains in the back of the truck, and had the car in tow back down here. That’s another long story in itself lol. The truck broke down in TN/GA and we had to pack it all into the car. Luckily the car got us home, and the truck was towed down a week or so later.
We didn’t have any space in the house we were living in at the time, for the trains. Once in a very great while I would set a loop up for a night, and run one. I would set a loop under the tree, and run my first starter set around the holidays. The rest stayed packed away in a closet.
Almost 2 years ago we moved into our new house. We are a bit more settled here, and hopefully this is our “forever” home. Shortly after moving, my family came down to visit. All the train boxes were in our sun room. My sister made the comment, you should put a layout here. Guess what happened?? LOL That week while they visited we got some lumber, and an 8x8 was constructed.
A Legacy SD70 was also purchased and added to the roster that week. The rest is history. These past couple years have been a blast. The wallet could be doing a little better however! lol
My hiatus from the trains was around 14/15 years. It was worth the wait though.
