Skip to main content

How many of us still have our first set of trains ?  I don't, unfortunately.  My brother and I were the last ones on the block to have trains.  When we finally were given them, they were a huge set of Lionel, Pre-War "O" gauge.  4 x 12 foot platform, two ovals of track, a scale switcher and Madison cars, a tinplate 2-4-2 steamer with Vanderbilt tender and three red tinplate passenger cars.  Several tinplate freight cars, Z transformer, metal Lionelville station, signals, lampposts. You get the picture. All of this for the princely sum of $50.00 !   

When I was maybe 17 or so, I was convinced to trade all of it for a Super 8 movie camera, projector, screen, editing tools, tape recorder, and some other nondescript electronics.  Little did I know that ten years later I would get the train bug.  Oh well, stupid is as stupid does, I have heard someone say.

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Unfortunately not. My parents put it in the basement when I joined the military. The basement had severe moisture problems and when I returned from Okinawa, I found the engine completely rusted and there was no saving it. I tinkered with HO and N scale for a few years, but always wanted another O scale train. Now I have 2, but am having difficulty getting a layout built, life keeps getting in the way. I have the design, but can't seem to find the energy what with vertigo, a cold and now a persistent ear infection. Oh well, I'll get to it sooner or later, I have faith.

Yes. A Lionel(MPC) Wabash Cannonball set that I received for Christmas in 1982. My Dad still has his Lionel Scout set that he got for Christmas in 1949. The funny thing is that both trains have the same 2-4-2 steam locomotive. Dad's loco runs better than mine even though it's 30 years older. Just goes to show the quality of postwar Lionel trains.

No and yes. I got a Lionel freight set with the 224 engine in 1947 (I was 5). As I got older, I was drawn to passenger cars, but could not afford the $10. each that Lionel wanted for the aluminum ones. My best friend had a 1951 American Flyer passenger set (K5 and New Haven cars), which I loved. I have no idea what happened to mine.

Fast forward to the 1980s. I bought a AF set like my friend had, an engine like my old 224, and the metal 2457 caboose that went with it. I still prefer passenger cars over freight. My AF train has it's own small layout. I now have 5 Lionel 2457 cabooses, which I'm always looking for as long as they are in excellent condition. Although they should be common, it took me over 6 years to find the 5 I have (3 at York, 2 on eBay).

This is great, I love threads like this.  Yes, I have mine.  It's a Lionel Scout set and it's a curiosity because it matches no cataloged or uncataloged sets.  There is one cataloged set, the 1609 from 1959, that it could be if my parents had bought a couple of extra cars to go with it, or maybe the dealer threw them in to try to move the set because it was old stock.  It consists of a plastic 246 loco with headlight and a serrated bottom motor, a 1130T tender, a red Airex 6014 boxcar, a black 6175 rocket car, a blue 6162 NYC gondola, a coral 6476 LV hopper (which I just read was produced only in 1958 and is hard to find), and a 6017 caboose.  I received the set in 1960 (or 1961 at the latest; I was 4 or 5 so I don't exactly remember anymore.)  I had all of the cars from the beginning.  The two cars that don't fit in are the 6175 and the 6014.

Right here in my attached image is the main reason I wouldn't consider switching back to HO scale, which there was a recent thread about.  I don't do it often, but the set runs fine on my new layout.  Is that fun or what? 

IMG_3823

Attachments

Images (1)
  • IMG_3823

100_0638As a matter of fact, I do.  Sorta.

The pic shows it on my layout a couple years ago for its 50th Birthday run.

Marx set #15765:  #490 0-4-0 w/ slope-back tender and white caboose in NYC; red gondola in Pennsy, and blue log-dump car in Erie.  Oval of 027 track with a trip to dump the logs on one straight.  Metal-cased transformer.

I received it the day after Christmas, 1965.  I was 1 year, 7 months old.  My Grandfather had bought an all-plastic HO set of uncertain parentage that came with a playmat and some paper buildings and signs.  I woke up to that on Christmas morning--at least, that's what the pictures show, I don't remember.  But the dang thing didn't run--I'm told Grandpa was *mad*.

Anyway, the next day, he went right back to Sears and exchanged it for the only set they had left, this Marx set.

Oh my, but did I play with that train!  Years later, after I got my first Lionel, the Marx set saw some rough duty, bashing through obstacles and enduring cornfield meets with friends' wind up Marx sets.  You can't tell from the pic above, but the pilot and cab roof both have small pieces missing. 

No matter, it still runs like a scalded cat--it *really* likes to stretch its legs on the 045 loop on the layout.  I run it every year at Christmas, and it is the last train I'd ever give up if forced by circumstances to divest property.  (The Lionel set from 1972 would be right before it in line).

It's not scale.  It's not expensive.  It's not MIB (I did buy a replacement box recently).  But it embodies Electric Trains to me, the best and most cherished toy a guy could get.

Thanks, Grandpa!

Attachments

Images (1)
  • 100_0638

I do.  It is a 671 with 2 prewar 2430 Pullman’s and a 2431 observation.  The cars have the insert with the window frames, number boards and name board.  All have the prewar 1940TT trucks with latch couplers except for observation end (1940TT - no coupler) and one Pullman end which has a postwar NTC-1.  Always think of my dad when I look at them.

 

Jeff T posted:

Absolutely!!

 

Wow!!  My Mum served Quaker Oats!  We always called it rolled oats, though.  I never saw an advertisement like that, but then that was MPC era, and I was in high school when that came about.  I couldn't afford a Lionel set, so I bought a Tyco HO set in about 1968 or '69.  Dad said train sets were too expensive for Christmas gifts, go save your money.  I don't know how long I saved, but it seemed like it was forever.  Anyway, I paid $20 for the set without a transformer.  I don't know how much the transformer went for.

Dan Padova posted:

How many of us still have our first set of trains ?  I don't, unfortunately.  My brother and I were the last ones on the block to have trains.  When we finally were given them, they were a huge set of Lionel, Pre-War "O" gauge.  4 x 12 foot platform, two ovals of track, a scale switcher and Madison cars, a tinplate 2-4-2 steamer with Vanderbilt tender and three red tinplate passenger cars.  Several tinplate freight cars, Z transformer, metal Lionelville station, signals, lampposts. You get the picture. All of this for the princely sum of $50.00 !   

When I was maybe 17 or so, I was convinced to trade all of it for a Super 8 movie camera, projector, screen, editing tools, tape recorder, and some other nondescript electronics.  Little did I know that ten years later I would get the train bug.  Oh well, stupid is as stupid does, I have heard someone say.

Yes I do, 1946 Lionel 221 Grey NYC passenger set with the blue cars with silver roof and optional whistle. Still runs with limited service.

Joe Hohmann posted:

No and yes. I got a Lionel freight set with the 224 engine in 1947 (I was 5). As I got older, I was drawn to passenger cars, but could not afford the $10. each that Lionel wanted for the aluminum ones. My best friend had a 1951 American Flyer passenger set (K5 and New Haven cars), which I loved. I have no idea what happened to mine.

Fast forward to the 1980s. I bought a AF set like my friend had, an engine like my old 224, and the metal 2457 caboose that went with it. I still prefer passenger cars over freight. My AF train has it's own small layout. I now have 5 Lionel 2457 cabooses, which I'm always looking for as long as they are in excellent condition. Although they should be common, it took me over 6 years to find the 5 I have (3 at York, 2 on eBay).

My mother wanted to buy those aluminum cars for my brother and I.  They were out of reach, financially and remained a dream until I bought an MPC Congressional set in 1979.  

Yes. Hand me down 1666 set from my cousins that I got in 1960 or 1961. My Dad and Uncle were up until 2 am Christmas morning setting up track in the dining room.  Christmas morning when my sisters and I were in the living room opening gifts, my Dad went and started the train running in the dark dining room. I noticed when the headlight of the engine and newly added 3650 searchlight car went by.  I still run it at Christmas and sometimes other times through the year.

Yes, luckily. My Dad bought the kids (3 sisters and I, just born) in ~1937 the gray 1688E streamlined engine with LL tender and 3 orange tinplate passenger cars. Then in about 1947-48 he bought me my own train- a 1666 2-6-2 w/ steel band wheels (slippery) and the 2466WX tender + Sunoco tank, Pennsy gondola, red N5 Pennsy caboose. Added milk car with my saved $$. Still have both proudly on my wall shelves.

Wally

Yes but no. I was given a 2572 B&M Freight set, slightly used. I ended up selling that set in 1988. Moved into a place had no room for my collection of trains, and it was all I could afford at that time. I have replaced that set about 7 years ago with even better cars than I had, The missile launching car didn't have the missiles or brakes wheels. Mine does, Didn't have the parts to the exploding boxcar, security car missing guns and searchlight cover, satellite launching car missing the mechanics and satellite, and the subcar missing the submarine and the wires that held it on the car. Yes it was missing stuff but back then it didn't matter to a 9 year old. 

Yup from Christmas 1960. It was a used 1951 (5108W) AF set but I never knew, or cared. There are two more cars not pictured. It was run until it broke in 1967. Repairing toys was never a priority in our family. Thanks to Adrian at Chesterfield Hobbies, it was finally repaired in 2007. The 40 years it spent wrapped in newspaper in a cardboard box down in the basement didn't seem to hurt it too much. At least it didn't get thrown away. I'm grateful for that.

Sorry for the poor pics, all I had available.

IMAG0124IMAG0125IMAG0126IMAG0127IMAG0128

Attachments

Images (5)
  • IMAG0124
  • IMAG0125
  • IMAG0126
  • IMAG0127
  • IMAG0128
Last edited by Gilly@N&W

Yes... no.... yes.....    My older brother and I shared an O gauge Kusan (two rail) from 1956;  1960 I got my own Lionel Scout set with 246, 1130T, 6014 red Bosco, 6042, 6404 flat with brown auto, and 6017 red caboose.  Remember playing with the brown auto... wish I still had it.  Sold all my trains, Lionel and Marx sets with LOTS of track and switches, tele poles, buildings, trestle, etc. to cousin in Louisiana ($100) when I graduated from high school.  Then, in 1979, cousin gave me ALL the trains back (never really played with them, stay in boxes in attic) as he grew older and I  and wife had first child.  Now, the trains my father and I collected, starting 1975, he passed in 1978, are on shelves and run on layout, along with past 40 yrs collecting and the memories.  

Jesse    TCA

I have become the family train repository. I have my first train - not sure if it was a set or if it was cobbled together by my parents. I do know that it was bought in a great toy store called Thrift Town on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn. It was headed up by a Pennsy 637 2-6-4. Being it was the early 60's (I think '62), it came with some military cars; an exploding boxcar and a rocket launcher (it fired these round things that, if you were EXTREMELY accurate, would blow up,the boxcar). It also had a boat on a flat car that had a plastic L-shaped nozzle coming out the back. If I remember correctly, it came with instructions on making some "propellant" to make it go. I still have the bottle with a few pellets.

I also have my brothers set - probably a couple of years older than mine. It is headed up by a 621 NJ Central switcher. My brother's idea of trains is to place the two most expensive engines I have on the same track facing each other and floor them - I try and keep him out of the train room!!!

Finally, I inherited my aunt and uncle's trains. Technically, they were my cousin's, but I was always told he just got to watch. One of the sets is headed up by a New Haven 2350 EP-5. 

There are no boxes for mine or my brother's sets, but most of my cousin's still have the original boxes.

Last edited by Apples55

Yes, received in 1957 or 58. A Lionel 665 Hudson and tender, with the auto loader car, the Alcoa aluminum covered hopper, the wrecking crane(red and black), and a grey DL&W work caboose. O gauge track with 2 manual switches to create a layout with a passing siding. Finally, an LW transformer. the set is stores currently with the rest of my collection while I am in the process of moving my layout the a different room in the house.

5D559382-5B39-4DB1-A78A-FDF9195E86D2Yes, I and my brother still have our first train sets that Santa Claus brought us for Christmas in 1956. My brother’s  was the box  cab electric loco 520 loco and set with Baby Ruth box car, short gondola, and caboose. Mine was the 1615 0-4-0 switcher work train set with wheel car, crane, and work caboose. I still have it and still love it. It’s displayed on a shelf, and still runs. 

Attachments

Images (1)
  • 5D559382-5B39-4DB1-A78A-FDF9195E86D2: 1615 Switcher Work Train Set
Last edited by WP

Partially. My first set was a Texas Special Alco AA pulling a series of freight cars, set #1599 from 1958. My dad eventually traded in the alcos for a 2243 Santa Fe set so I had to purchase a pair to complete the set. Unfortunately my dad never kept boxes. 

I also received the 6464-325 B&O Sentinel box car for my following birthday which launched me into collecting 6464's in my adult years. Again no box kept.

 

Regards,

Steve

Hobbit posted:

Partially. My first set was a Texas Special Alco AA pulling a series of freight cars, set #1599 from 1958. My dad eventually traded in the alcos for a 2243 Santa Fe set so I had to purchase a pair to complete the set. Unfortunately my dad never kept boxes. 

I also received the 6464-325 B&O Sentinel box car for my following birthday which launched me into collecting 6464's in my adult years. Again no box kept.

 

Regards,

Steve

That's a nice 6464 boxcar. How many do you have now? I just started collecting them. I have a C-9 6464-225 with original box and a  C-8 6464-900 so far.

A "first train" I do wish I had was a Marklin steam engine/cars in HO. Horne's in Pgh. was selling them and my wife wanted a Xmas train. This was 1962. Each year I added track, cars and switches until we had a nice layout. It even survived our house fire in 1985. Nice running train, really liked it. I made a big mistake giving it to my younger son who somehow managed to lose it. I think in one of his divorce moves. That Marklin was a nice train, I would like another.

I sure do!  It's the Lionel Amtrak Lake Shore Limited set from the 1970's.  When my family had a hobby shop, we hardly carried Lionel in sets, more locos, rolling stock and track separately.  We did do train meets all over the place, and I think it was at Westover Country Club we did a show and a fellow had a stack of Lionel sets, all brand new.  My dad liked the Chesapeake Flyer one since it had the die-cast metal loco and I liked the Lake Shore, because it was Amtrak and familiar to me.

So my dad bought both and they still both run beautifully!  We also keep them in the original boxes!

Yep, they were the 1951 1119 Scout freight outfit headed by the 1110 Steam engine and the 1950 1463W Prairie Three Car Freight Set outfit headed by the 2036 steam engine with an extra automatic milk car. They were originally bought for my uncle by my Mom and Dad for his birthday and he gave them to me for one of mine.

Mike

Short Answer: Yes and No.

Long Answer:

My very first electric train was a Lionel Amtrak 0-27 set, circa 1995.

As I recall, it was a loop of 027 track, three streamlined cars and a powered/dummy Alco FA combo. I destroyed that set on Christmas day - literally. I had a ball going full throttle around the 027 curves and launching it off the table my father built. O Gauge Amtrak sets played a big part in my O Gauge hobby....more on this later.

I had various other O Gauge sets such as the Lionel Safari set (wasn't a big fan), and various "Flyer" sets with the Lionel 4-4-2. I don't remember which sets they were but I DO remember the last one I got was the "Santa Fe Special" set which was the top of the line set for circa 1997 - had the 4-4-2, air whistle tender, flat car with semi truck, log dump car, auto loader, 6464 box car, lighted caboose, big figure-8 track, etc. I saw one at York for $100, new in box. I stood there and said "if I don't buy this, I'll regret it for a long time". I didn't buy it and have indeed regretted it ever since!

The last "big" O Gauge set was the top set MTH put out around 1998 - the Genesis Superliner Amtrak train. A starter set with the Genesis diesel, 4 Superliner passenger cars, lots of track and PS1. I remember how amazing PS1 was at the time. My father's office was near the LHS at the time and would regularly buy lots of additional track. We had one heck of a "carpet central" on the basement floor. I thought this set was the greatest thing in the world and literally ran the wheels off of it. I LOVED the Genesis engine.

Around this time, an interest in N scale and HO - more affordable for a kid like me at the time got my interest. The O Gauge trains were packed away.

We purchased a large, completed HO layout and dozens of engines and cars. I was out of O Gauge for good with no trains. N scale was put aside and it looked like I was staying in HO going forward, There was just too much invested in it to switch scales again and go back to O Gauge.

At the same time as the HO collection grew, I was gifted with a train I have always loved - an LGB. I have always loved LGB and only have one set. It is on display and just takes up too much room. I've thought about getting a few more LGB pieces for around the Christmas tree but the size and cost makes it very hard to justify for a few hours use each year.

Resulting family BS saw nearly all trains - and the HO layout lost. I was able to "rescue" many of the HO engines and LGB set. Nothing else. No layout was built, no place to run them with the local club shutting down as well.

I got out of trains for a bit. I still enjoyed them but had no layout, no place to run.

Christmas 2004 found a Lionel Pennsy Flyer set under the tree, a gift from my Mother. Still no permanent layout, it was set up on the basement floor until a basic, but more permanent layout could be put together a few years later. That set got me back into O Gauge and still runs on my permanent layout.

Following the Pennsy Flyer, an MTH F3 diesel Freight with PS2. Since Christmas 2004, 40 more O Gauge locomotives have joined my collection. I'm back in O Gauge and here to stay. On display, in my train room, are many of those old N and HO locomotives, most "under glass" and haven't be run in years. Occasionally, the desire is there but I just don't do it. Same for the LGB. As with many of the early O Gauge engines, N and HO, they were gifts from my parents. They are not for sale and never will be. Times got a bit tough a few years ago, and I sold a few engines that were gifts from my mother. I have regretted that decision and have made it a point to replace them but it just isn't the same anymore. 

I also have a permanent layout at home and while I don't run the trains often, I do run them. For 11 years, I was a member of the National Capital Trackers. I left the club in 2016 to pursue other interests. Nothing "happened", I just wanted to do something else in my life - non-train related. As a result, I'm one of the newest "probies" at the Volunteer Fire Department.

Just last weekend, I re-purchased that MTH Railking Amtrak Genesis, this time with PS3 and the more modern Amtrak paint scheme. It is on the layout now and joins an MTH Premier AEM7 and Railking Scale Dash 8 pulling my Amtrak train whenever the urge is there. I didn't need that Genesis, but something just felt "right" having that Genesis back in my collection.

Last edited by SJC

Sadly no.  I traded all my trains for my first hydroplane.  However I did a nostalgic replacement of my pre war scale Hudson with a new MTH Hudson, my Madison cars with a GGD PRR set.  Also Replaced all my freight cars with the same livery but scale stand ins. 

After visiting the Philadelphia 0 scale club in the old B & O passenger terminal I could no longer stand my AF sized lionels.

Yes, my identical twin brother and I received the K-Line K-1702 Great Northern Flyer set for Christmas in 1989, IIRC. I got the set's GN MP-15, the NP boxcar, the GN hopper, and the GN caboose that came with the set. My brother got the set's D&RGW gondola, SP stock car, a Lionel ATSF U36B, and a K-Line Pennsy caboose.

I regularly use the MP-15 and GN hopper on my layout, and the set's accessories make up some of the scenery. The GN caboose and the set's K-950 20 watt AC transformer are used annually under our Christmas tree. The NP boxcar, however, is boxed away. It is just too small to fit in with the rest of my rolling stock. My brother still has all of his pieces, but uses only the ATSF U36B as part of an all-ATSF work train that runs during Advent and Christmastide under his tree.

SJC posted:

Short Answer: Yes and No.

 

Around this time, an interest in N scale and HO - more affordable for a kid like me at the time got my interest. The O Gauge trains were packed away.

We purchased a large, completed HO layout and dozens of engines and cars. I was out of O Gauge for good with no trains. N scale was put aside and it looked like I was staying in HO going forward, There was just too much invested in it to switch scales again and go back to O Gauge.

At the same time as the HO collection grew, I was gifted with a train I have always loved - an LGB. I have always loved LGB and only have one set. It is on display and just takes up too much room. I've thought about getting a few more LGB pieces for around the Christmas tree but the size and cost makes it very hard to justify for a few hours use each year.

Resulting family BS saw nearly all trains - and the HO layout lost. I was able to "rescue" many of the HO engines and LGB set. Nothing else. No layout was built, no place to run them with the local club shutting down as well.

 

I have read many of these type topics before, thinking I had never been given a train.  I bought my first one when I was about 12.  How dull my memory is.  I had an Internet pen pal who was enamored by the Bachmann HO Shay, which that common interest is how we got together over the miles.  As his health deteriorated, he lost his ability to even put the engines on the track.  He told me he was giving all his trains to his nephew.  I told him I thought that was excellent.  He told me he had 21 of the Bachmann HO Shays, not to mention many other steam engines.  Here one day there was a box at our door containing 6 of the Shays!  I was floored!!  He said they were in good hands, and I should do with them what I wanted. 

By this time, I was having trouble handling HO trains myself, second bout of carpal tunnel and arthritis, plus poor eyesight.  I had bought an On30 locomotive and a couple cars and an O gauge building kit.  After he passed on at age 59, the Shays just sat.  I had decided to go O gauge Hi-rail and had sold the On30 equipment.  Both daughters were in college, and while they both received academic scholarships, and had applied for loans, we were hard pressed to meet other financial needs; laptop computer, arts materials, etc.  I sold all 6 Shays to meet college needs.  Now I wish I had kept one Shay as a memento to the man whose wife wrote me thanking me for being a faithful pen pal for 11 years.

Yes still have it Santa Fe Silver Chief Set (top shelf)was a Christmas present in 1953 as part of a promise my uncle made that if I walked before Christmas he would buy the biggest and best Lionel Train Set available in 1953 and I did 2 weeks before Christmas and it took me almost 60 years but now I have the complete set to include both baggage cars and a B Unit and it still runs like a champ. Mostly sits on a shelf under glass now with most all on my Post War pieces.IMG_0063IMG_0058

Attachments

Images (2)
  • IMG_0063
  • IMG_0058

Yes and no

The first set was a Hafner wind up, that I combined with my brother's Marx Canadian Pacific and played with on the sidewalk in the summer. I have a replacement set, but the original survives only in pictures and my memories.

My first electric train is an American flyer 372 GP-7 with freight cars and an auto unloading car. I still have that, in the box, as well as some duplicates to play with. Santa brought that for Christmas of 1955, four days after I turned 7 years old.

In 1960, I received a Franklin Frontiersman passenger set with figure eight trestle set. Still have that in its original box as well as some duplicates.

Train Nut posted:

Yes and no. I do have the first set I owned.   It's just not the one that was mine. I got rid of it when I got older and just had to repurchase it a few years ago.   For the memories and nostalgia.  It just so happens it's the same set above in Jeffpo's set above...   A Lionel O27 Southern!

Cool!    I see a set for sale every now and then.

I love this thread! I do not have my first train - a Tyco HO Burlington passenger train from the early 1970s - but I have my dad's first train: a 248 and his R transformer. I sold all my HO to get into N years ago, then sold the N to get into O and have 'churned' my O trains over the years as I've changed my layout theme - but I still have the 248 and its two cars. . .

No, Sadly that train set is long gone. My first set was a wind up train at the age of about 9 months. I do remember it threw sparks going around the track. My mom has a picture of me with it laying on the floor at my grandparents. I'm going to try and get it from her before she passes. Then it was a Marx set my brother and I got from a neighbor. After that, I was into N-Scale and I was promised my Dads American Flyer 4-8-4 set when I was older. I got that about 8 years ago finally. I sold the N-Scale set due to aging eyes. I am now doing the PE and my Cheesie Steam Special.

Here's mine:

IMG_3657

And no, I'm not that old. This was given to me in the mid to late fifties by my uncle from New Jersey. It was given to him when he was a boy by a relative that worked in the Lionel factory. I only ran it at Christmas and it hasn't been run in the last 50 years, but I've kept it all these years and have it on display in my train room.

Ken

Attachments

Images (1)
  • IMG_3657

Yep, the engine, at least. When I was 7, in 1976, for Christmas I got the 1976 Lionel Rock Island Line O27 set with the 0-4-0. beats me where the cars went but I'm thankful I still have the locomotive. I have bene wanting to make a shelf to hang on the wall of the layout room to place it where it can be seen.

It's a little corroded from being in storage in attics and sheds since the 1990s, but I bet it'd run if I had the track and transformer. I really didn't put a lot of miles on the thing back then as I never had a permanent place to run it as a kid.

I also have a wood locomotive toy my dad made for me long before that. I must have cherished it as a kid as I didn't beat it up much (something I usually did with toys I really loved as a kid)

Last edited by p51

Yes. I still have it and it still runs (like a rocket). I was 10-1/2 months old (1947) for Christmas when I got my first set (Marx) that until 20 years ago, ran under the Christmas tree.   Unlike me, it is only semi-retired.  We both show a lot of wear!

Dennis

The bottom picture shows the extra gondola I got at a train show.

DSCF4841DSCF4843DSCF4844

Attachments

Images (2)
  • DSCF4841
  • DSCF4844: This shows the extra gondola I got at a train show
Last edited by Hartman

Yes I do, I have all my sets I received at Christmas. 1954 Berkshire set with blue B&O double door boxcar, tuscan operating boxcar, 3 dome Sunoco tanker, black hopper, and tuscan PRR porthole caboose. Also have a 027 Macy's set with Burlington 44 tonner and three silver passenger cars, I think I received this in 1956. In 1957 I received the US Navy (blue) missile train with super O track, still have all this track.

Yes ... I received it Christmas morning 1965 . I display the loco but the cars are packed away deep in some box under the layout. The original suitcase style box it came in is long gone...It was a cheap 227 Canadian National Alco set I always wondered how a set that was supposedly meant for the Canadian market landed up for sale at a EJ Korvettes in North Brunswick NJ ???IMG_2450IMG_2445

Attachments

Images (2)
  • IMG_2450
  • IMG_2445
Last edited by taycotrains
BlueComet400 posted:

I sure do: my first train was the Lionel C&O loco / tender and my first complete set was the Lionel Kickapoo Valley & Northern. Both still run like new--and they have a lot of miles on them. 

John

The KV&N set is a favorite whipping boy of so many modern 3-railers--"Oooo, look how cheap MPC was and how much better things are today!"  And yet you enjoyed the set, it got you into a hobby that remains enjoyable to you, and it still runs well and looks good to boot.  I think your situation is an important object lesson in both the history of the hobby and its future.

Add Reply

Post

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×