Grampstrains posted:My father grew up in the Depression. A train set was only wishful thinking for him.
My dad had the same experience.
It's really a shame because, after driving me to train shows, train dealers, etc. when I was still a teenager, he began to catch the train bug. He liked the 9700 and 9400 boxcars being produced by MPC at that point and bought some of the ones that he liked for me. As a child of the Depression, he was pretty good at scouring newsletters, comparing prices ― including shipping ― and getting what he wanted from all the big 1970s vendors (Charles Ro, Train99, TrainWorld, etc., etc.).
One of his first projects involved buying a Lionel 6362 trucks car at a train show we attended together. The 6362 came with no trucks, but he had a good time looking on tables and buying used parts trucks which he polished up in order to finish off the car. It was his first mini-restoration project and it was a pleasure to seem him "get it". I treasure that 6362 and I think of it as his "first train" because it's the first one that was all his -- his purchase, his project, his finished result.
My dad died not too long after that at a relatively young age and, besides missing him, I regret that he didn't have more time to truly expand into the hobby and enjoy it. He had the eye and the patience to polish things up. He would have been a good one.
Steven J. Serenska