Do You Have Your First Set Of Trains ?

Yep sure do.

Yes, my 1955, Lionel Set #1527. It will be running next week on the Christmas layout setup. I wish I had the original boxes for it, as that would be kind of neat.

Jeff

No. It was an S gauge, American Flyer steam engine set. Heck, I don't even have my 2nd set, a Lionel 027 Northern Pacific GP9 set with Super O track. 

Yes , I do...set 2227w  from the 1954 catalog.    

Image from Postwarlionel.com

No.

Still have my Marx tin plate and the Texas Special Alco. Usually run them some on my Christmas layout.

Yes ,a scout set led by a 1061 engine and 3 cars. Runs great !

Yes ,A 1950 scout set ,engine # 1101 & it still runs as good as always !!!!!!!!

Yep.

Sure do.  1951 Lionel 2026 and the four freight cars it came with.  And I still run it at Christmastime.

The boxes aren't in the best of condition any more, but I do still have them.

No, I do not (Marx & Lionel), but like many on this forum, I have more than made up for my flawed youthful thinking.

Nope.  Sold it when I was in 7th grade so that I could buy some Athearn HO blue box kits.

No, I had to save money to buy them when I was about 12.  It was an inexpensive Tyco HO set.  I packed them up when I moved away after college, and a few years later found the plastic was heat damaged, so I threw them out.

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.

Have my original Lionel Standard gauge, still runs, and the replacement engine in O gauge for my Scout first set plus one flat car. My nephew has the rest of the Scout set.

Still have it.  2037 engine and  4 cars .  Still runs and looks great after sooo long...

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!

Yep! Nice 027 freight set pulled by a 2035. Still a great runner.

No, I gave my 027 Pacific set to my nephews when I enlisted in the Navy. I kept my HO layout tho.

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? 

Well I did have to buy a replacement Marx 999 freight set. That was my first electric train. BUT I do have my first Lionel's, 1949-2025 passenger set and my 1951-NYC F3 freight set.

I do.  Lionel outfit no. 1527, delivered by Santa Claus for Christmas 1955.

Curt

Absolutely!!

As 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!

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.

Very nice !! A pre-war 671. You must have been a good boy and your dad had good taste in trains.

Fantastic thread! 

Great reading; great pictures.

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.

I do. Santa brought mine in 1954. It was set up running around the tree when I woke Christmas morning. It was the 682 Pennsylvania Turbine.

Rick

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.  

juniata guy posted:

I do.  Lionel outfit no. 1527, delivered by Santa Claus for Christmas 1955.

Curt

That is the same set I got in 1955, as I mentioned in my above post. Just wondering, what color is your work caboose from this set? My caboose is solid red, but some of these sets seem to have had different colors of cabooses.

Jeff

no I had a marx fright set I think aroun 1960 but I have my grandfather standard guage trans and i'm the 3rd generation to have it my son will be the 4th

kevin

Yes, with original shipping box!! 1952 via Montgomery Ward.........

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

No. Me and my brother got it for Christmas in 1963 and lost it in the flood of 64 that next sprint. It was a Marx from Sears sold under the Allstate name. I was 4 and my brother was 9. Never had another one until 4 years ago but I always remembered that train.

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. 

I still have my Hornby #31 clockwork set, just like in this picture, but with a much scrappier box. The bar across the straight track at the bottom of the pic is the sliding tab to engage the locomotive brake.

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.

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.

Unfortunately or maybe actually fortunately have two pieces that "Santa" brought the Christmas of 1947.

A 2025.

And a metal Lionel X2458 double door auto box car.

Better than nothing, especially since these were from the very first trains.

Ron

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.

Sure do. I was too little to understand how it worked and ended up seriously damaging it beyond repair (I was 5 after all).

Thankfully, it wasn't anything worth huge amounts of money but it still to this day my one and only MTH steamer. The set was a Pennsy 2-8-0 with baby madisons and Proto 2.0.

Yes, 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. 

My brother and I received a Märklin electric train around 1957. The locomotive ran for years but when it gave up it received a special livery and a place in the glass case with a sign "first loco":

Regards

Fred

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.

This is My first train, a Marx wind up set. It still sits proudly in my office

You bet! And I still get it out and run it. This shot is from Christmas several years ago.

Chris

LVHR

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.

Nope.  Was an American Flyer passenger set with the green New Haven cars and a 295 Pacific up front.  Parents gave it away when I ran off to join the Rock'n'Roll circus.  Had an "Air Chime Whistle," possibly the worst sounding toy train whistle ever made.

Pete

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

Yes, Christmas 1949

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.

Nope,

Sold my SuperO layout back in the 80's when I thought Lionel would soon be dead and I needed to pay college.   Post war736 berk, 773 hudson, NYC F3, BM GP9, all the rolling stock, accessories.  While I miss the Ozone smell I like my modern trains better.  No regrets

Santa brought it Christmas 58.....and it still runs like the day I got it!

Peter

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.

Santa brought an American Flyer 310 K5 freight set in 1949. Still have it.

Was always glad Santa liked the 2 rail trains...

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.

Sadly no. It was stolen by some "friends" of mine I tried to help. It was a 1451 WS set bought from Western Auto. Actually it was my late fathers, and it was mint.

Clarence Siman posted:

Sadly no. It was stolen by some "friends" of mine I tried to help. It was a 1451 WS set bought from Western Auto. Actually it was my late fathers, and it was mint.

That's a pity.  No good deed goes unpunished.  

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, Lionel Oga. set 11530 MPC 1966. Grandpop bought all the grandchildren train sets when we were born. Doesn't get much run time now. Like someone here said before, the diesel engine won't hardly pull its own shadow. Has largely been replaced by my Lionel 6220.

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.

          yes, this HO Santa Fe engine and four passenger cars at 1 year old, 1965....

Yes, my uncle's 2025 set from 1947, along with a 97 coal loader. Received in in 1976 when I turned 10 since I was the first nephew (he had a daughter). 

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.

Mine was a low end set, a pre war 1684 with the 2689T coffin tender with a tin 1679 Baby Ruth boxcar, a 1680 Sunoco tank car and a 1682 caboose.  I still have it and it still runs well.  My father pulled the set out of the neighbor's trash, had it serviced, and gave it to me for Christmas when I was 5.

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.

No, I had a Marx 027 battery powered steam engine and some cars on a figure 8.

Yep.  The Lionel 2026 freight set received Christmas 1948.  Rehabbed once and now my grandson has it.  Runs like a Lionel!

I still have some of my early trains.

Had a big set of Child Guidance trains with track, turn table switches and all. It's all long gone. Not sure if the Midgetoys or CG set was first anymore.

First electric train was Tyco Bicentennial HO set. Still have some of the cars.

Here's mine:

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

Yes, I do.

handyandy posted:

I still have some of my early trains.

 

Oh, wow!  I had a set just like the one at the top of the pic!  I haven't thought about that in years!  What kind did you say those are?

Yes...Lionel set 1591 USMC got it 24 Dec,1959.....

Yes a American flyer 322 Hudson (New York Central) with the smoke unit/diaphragm in the tender.
This was my first train set for Christmas and it was used but I did not care as it was a electric train.
After a couple of years went to Lionel and received a New Lionel Marine diesel set.
I was a happy kid

Yes I do.  Its Lionel Set #1423W made in 1948.  The entire set is in great condition and I also have the original set box along with the individual component boxes.  This set has a place of honor in my train room and I also run it at Christmas time. 

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)

I still have mine, my Dad's and even some of my Mom's stuff.  I have a picture of Mom and Grandma by the Christmas tree with the train running around underneath.(1948)

Packed away in my parents attic are my HO trains. My first set was a ATSF ALCO AB set with 5 aluminum coaches. Made by Lionel.
We still have my Dad's tinplates too.

Yep

i still have my original set with the 2037 engine, flatcar w/ dozer, flatcar w/ scraper. track maintenance car, fire fightiting instruction box car, crane car, and work caboose.

 Thanks 

Richard 

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.

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.

No to my first set which was a Hafner clockwork, but yes to my first Marx and Lionel which came a year or two later

Yes, Lionel Scout Set...

...with a "stocking stuffer" addition in the form of the tank car from grandma.

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 ???

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

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.

Yes Ho in 1970's and O scale in 2002

Set no, locomotive (MKT 600) yes ... sort of ... :-)

Yes.

The first was a Hafner (Wyandotte) yellow and turquoise wind up.

The first electric was the 1515WS set from Christmas 1954.

Lou N

I bought three KV&N sets complete with track and transformer when they first came out. They were $14.95 each. The buy of the century.

My first (top) was a Marx 396 set that I received in 1941.

My second (middle) was a Marx 999 set that I received in 1951.

My third (bottom) was a Lionel 671 set that I bought in 1955.

Yes, Lionel Erie Alco from 1953 - dad bought it at London Marine in London Ontario.  Also have all the cars and extras that were under the tree!

Of course I do.  Set consisted of a 627 LV 44 ton, a gondola with some canisters, a metal flatcar with some pipes and a caboose.  My uncle added an operating boxcar to the mix.  This set only saw the light of day the 2 weeks of Christmas season, my mother insisted it be packed away only to be seen at Christmas.  It emerged my first Christmas on my one after college and still runs around the tree every year.  

I got an HO set that didn't hold much interest. But I have my Dad's and my late Uncle's first trains.

Yes, the Lionel 224E freight set from 1939 including the extra 3659 dump car. Here's a photo showing part of the set.

Here is a photo of my first train set, that I mentioned in an earlier post. I just got it out today for operation on the Christmas layout. It is a 1955 Set #1527.

Yes, it was a Christmas gift from my parents when I was 5 or 6 years old around 1956. It was a Lionel set that included the 2065 baby Hudson and tender, operating milk car, operating log dump car, red gondola, yellow cattle car, and lighted Lionel Lines caboose with round portals. Not sure, but it might also have included the operating barrel car or the searchlight car. 

Everything is in good operating order, but no boxes, and everything is a little scuffed up, so those trains aren't worth much.

C'est la vie. But wouldn't want to sell them anyhow, so nothing is lost.

Well not exactly. I had a replacement locomotive in 1960 after my Dad dropped my AF 283 pacific putting it away. Everything else my younger brothers totally destroyed. Still have this one.

My father gave them to a poor family when I stopped playing with them when I was about 13 years old & started playing with girls which was a lot more interesting.

You bet!

From the wooden Skaneateles train, to the Lionel Scout set, to the Lionel 2161W Santa Fe freight set....and beyond.  Have it all.....including Dad's 366W set given to him in the mid 30's when he was a kid of 26 years!

Mom & Dad were not prone to selling off, donating, or trashing our childhood toys.  There was as much sentiment....and stretched money!....in those things for them as there were great memories for me and my two sisters.  Nope, they were carefully packed away during the teen/early adult years until we had homes of our own to take responsibility for the treasures.

And they ALL run perfectly......even the wooden push train!

KD

mowingman posted:

juniata guy posted:

I do.  Lionel outfit no. 1527, delivered by Santa Claus for Christmas 1955.

Curt

That is the same set I got in 1955, as I mentioned in my above post. Just wondering, what color is your work caboose from this set? My caboose is solid red, but some of these sets seem to have had different colors of cabooses.

Jeff

Jeff:

Just saw your question.  My caboose is the same solid red with a black frame as in the photo you posted above.  I've read someplace these weren't as common as the caboose that was red and gray.

One thing I have discovered that is fairly common with the 1615 switchers that came with these sets is at least one of the class lights is broken off.  

Mom was running mine in the early '60's for a neighbor kid while I was in school.  She took a turn too fast and the engine jumped the track and landed on the basement floor, breaking one of the class lights off.  That was the first and last time she ran one of my trains.  😲

Curt

Curt,

 My 1615 is missing a marker light too. It derailed on my elevated trestle and hit the floor. I was not a happy camper the day that happened, as it was my only engine way back then, and my "

pride and joy".

Jeff

dkdkrd posted:

 

Mom & Dad were not prone to selling off, donating, or trashing our childhood toys.  There was as much sentiment....and stretched money!....in those things for them as there were great memories for me and my two sisters.  Nope, they were carefully packed away during the teen/early adult years until we had homes of our own to take responsibility for the treasures.

And they ALL run perfectly...

Same here, my friend.  That's why my first train (Lionel 2026 and cars) is still running better-than-new today, and will continue to do so as long as I'm around to maintain it.  After which it will pass to my sister.

Still have my first set of electric trains  (American Flyer Set #5107 W Santa Fe Diesel Freight ) from my 1st Christmas, still runs well and gets run regularly 

Here's a video of a similar unit off the internet https://youtu.be/_oNt2wOh07E 

LittleTommy

Yes, still have my Marx #333 NYC Pacific freight set from 1950.  The only maintenance has been a drop of oil and a dab of grease, but it still runs well.  Also still have my small postwar Lionel collection from my youth.

Yes, my Lionel 1467w set from 1951.    Runs like a fine watch.    

palallin posted:

handyandy posted:

I still have some of my early trains.

 

Oh, wow!  I had a set just like the one at the top of the pic!  I haven't thought about that in years!  What kind did you say those are?

They were made by Midgetoy. They did a lot of toy cars too. Rivals to Tootsie Toy.

I wish I did. Years ago when I got married my father and myself took down my layout carefully putting all my Lionel trains and accessories in their original boxes for storage in my parents home.

A number of years later I decided to build another layout, this time in my home together with my two sons. I called my dad to inform him I was coming for my train, and when I looked in the storage area they were gone!  My father had no idea where they were so I called my younger brother. He informed me an elderly neighbor asked if he had any old toys to get rid of, that he would take them to an outdoor flea market and make him a bunch of money. My trains were sold and my brother received $20. 00 which at that time may have been a couple tanks of gas. Sad story , however there is not much you can say. He was my only brother.

My first set consisted of my father's pre war American flyer royal blue set and my uncles 1950 681 S-2 turbine set. The following accessories  were included, a 364 log loader, AF seaboard coal loader, AF magnetic crane, AF talking station, plus other track & rolling stock.

For now all their equipment and what I collected is in storage tubs..waiting for an addition to my house that will include an extension of the basement for my permanent layout.

I ran the S-2 for the first time in 25 years last Christmas. Lubed the critical points and the engine came to life as if no time had passed.

I was pretty lucky back in 1965. My uncle was going to sell everything, my dad said no way. $75.00 changed hands & the rest is history.

Ken

I sure do and it still runs like new.

Unfortunately not. We had a S-scale AF set under the tree growing up and when I was 10 my dad gave me a HO Santa Fe F3 A-A set.   The AF set was lost to time decades ago and the HO set stopped running about 5 years ago.

-Greg

I never got a train set for Christmas. I had to buy my own when I was 44...well I bought them for my kids ,when they were young...and now i run them...lol

I do, and now my kids play with it.

As for my 1st electric train set, I still have it too.  Here is the locomotive.

It's an old MARX that my grandpa fixed up and gave me.  The tender and freight cars were all plastic, and over the years playing with it, most of them got all broken up.  I still have them, but they are in a box.  Just the locomotive is on display.  I did find some tin cars on eBay a few years ago, and put them with it as you can see.  It still runs, for a bit until it gets hot, then it slows down and stops.  Once it cools down, it'll run again.  So I don't run it often as it only takes it like 5 minutes to get to hot to run.  That and the reverser sticks, mostly in reverse.  I've had it looked at by a couple people and none have been able to keep the reverser from sticking.  It's pretty old, and I did run it into the ground as a kid.  I'll keep it until the day I die.

kmacleod posted:

 Macleod?  That's an old Michigan name I know pretty well. Any relation to the loggers? Spend time on big Breavort?. Heck, I think the Mi.-U.P. Macleods owned a railroad line at one time, lol.

Yep

 Well mostly anyhow. a 2037 and the cars that survived my rambunctious youth.

Yes. My 210 Texas Special and the 1599 set. from when I was 1 or 2. 

Virginian Set from 1966, I think dad really bought if for him (I was born in 65) and then I received a Rio Grande F3 Service Station Set for my 9th birthday in 1974

Still got em

Even though I'm still a "young" railroader by many standards, I still have and will keep my #31960 Polar Express set for many years to come. It was my Christmas gift from 2006 to a 6 year old me, and even though mine is a little rough (Broken Decorative Whistle, Broken Bell and some flickering passenger lights) it still runs like a charm after 13 years.

Yes, my first train, my first camera, my first car but not my first wife........

Yes.  A 675 that ran around one of the Christmas trees this year.  It was much more my Dad's since I was 2 or 3 when he bought it.  Still have his handwritten LIONEL inventory.

Mike23 posted:

Yes. My 210 Texas Special and the 1599 set. from when I was 1 or 2. 

I also had the 1599 as my first set from Christmas 1958. Mine came with the red Ship-it-on-Frisco box car. 

Regards,

Steve

I do! Here is my first set that Santa brought in 1954, the 682 Pennsylvania Turbine,

I still have my lionel scout set from 1950 ,engine # 1101,& it still runs great ,when i first power up the track i usually have to wait a few minutes before it will run because the e-unit sticks but once it is warmed up it works perfectly ,i even bought spare on e-bay for $ 20.00 with the intention of changing the e-unit ,but since everything in my engine is original ,i decided to leave it alone ,as long as i can get running i am HAPPY !!!!!!!!!

No,

Marx 027 set with Battery power steam engine.

yes my 2046 runs like a champ, plus a dump car, hopper and 3 dome tank car, lighted SP style caboose

Sadly no. In the midwest (Chicago Il.), many basements were dirt floor. Houses used basements and attics for storage. Lots of moisture. After the first Christmas layout my dad packed everything up in cardboard boxes and put it all down in the "dry" basement on milk cartons. We had a wet summer, lots of rain and humidity. The following Christmas season everything came up from the basement. Lots of rust and mold. Dad gave them away to the next door neighbor, a machinist by trade. He spent the following summer restoring them and then had his own train layout.

No, yes, sort of...my original train set was a #25000 Marx 3/16 set that, unfortunately, was stored in the set box on my mother's basement floor when the water heater broke.  Much of it rusted but l still have pieces of it.  My brother's similar #25249 set was up on a shelf above the flood, and l have it pristine in the box.  I have long since found a duplicate set like mine with the spoke drivers and vertical transformer.

Yes, which was a 1947 2025 set, which I received in 1976 when I turned 10. Don't run it much now, though. Need to get it running again sometime.

Yes, a Chesapeake & Ohio Flyer set from 1976.  Sounds of steam.   Works great.

Yup, 1956 Lionel headed by 2243 AB.

Going with me when I go.  My family has instructions to load my ashes on board and run me around again.  I wonder if they will work in my coal loader?

Chris S.

Yep!   2065 hudson steamer/tender, automatic milk car, NYC Pacemaker boxcar with brakeman that slides back the door, automatic log car, and Sunoco triple dome tank car, with a Lionel Lines caboose and 1033 transformer.  Everything runs/works except the log car.   Got it new from Santa in 1957.  Love it!!  

I've got a few of my trains from my 2.9 yr old Christmas present of 1963. I still have my Lionel 2020 Steam Engine and 623 Switcher. They both still run. I've got the 336155 log car and 3456 N&W Coal Car and both still work. I am in the process of restoring my 164 Log Loader.

Yes.  Still have a complete 2026 steam set, a Union Pacific twin diesel passenger set in the original set box and a 626 switcher that I received as a birthday present.  Still have a scale milk car, crane car and searchlight car, water tower, freight station and KW transformer.  All in the original boxes.

Not exactly. My first train set was a Marx from the mid 60's. I had it for about a year and a half before moving on to a Lionel set that my parents bought from the people across the street. Those I still have.

perhaps others have experienced the same thing, but apparently "the trains" were bought for my older brother... you know, ... the one who keeps "those dirty things" in a closet across the country and last brought them out over a decade ago.

so, yes, i have my first train... the one i bought for myself shortly after i graduated college.

My first train no - it was an Tyco HO set that was Union Pacific.  i remember going with my parents in what was likely Christmas 1970 or 1971 to Toys R Us.  They had an entire aisle of toy trains and my parents said pick what set you like and we can ask Santa for it.

Fast forward that to the 1998.  My parents are selling their old house and all the stuff I never took with me when I moved out arrives at my house.  I decide to build a lionel train layout with the wood I have.  I went to a hobby shop and bought a Santa Fe GP9 some cars and track in what was called a set.  I still have that set.

Yes. And a forum member helped me recently with getting the yellow car that has been missing for years.

To anyone who's seen any of my other work, you know I'm a weathering nut.  However!  I made a point of leaving my very first train set pristine.  It still runs and smokes as good as it did on Christmas morning when I was 5.  Maybe a little battered from when I played with it but I always loved it and still do.  

Hey Forumites,  I still have my original Lionel train set.  I got the set when I was 2 years old for Christmas, it is a Lionel Wabash F3 AB, which I converted to a Wabash ABBA with about 5 or 6 aluminum passenger cars.  When I rediscovered it, it hadn't run in over 50 something years.  I connected it to some old track and it ran about 2 feet, so I took it to Trainland in Long Island for a service and now it runs like new.  I can only attach one picture right now because I'm at work and don't have many train photos here, but nonetheless here she is. 

Yes and No!!!

First the Yes. I have the same set that my Dad bought for us back in the middle 1960s.

Then the NO, It is not the original set that he first bought for us.

I have a picture of my Dad setting up the set under the Christmas tree. I can see in the pic all the rolling stock

and locomotive and tender. I wrote down the numbers, went on Ebay and purchased all the same cars and loco and tender.

The original set ended up in the trash years ago.

MARX 1666 w/ new York central slope back tender

51100 double decker autoloader.( I replaced the original Marx cars on the autoloader with plasticville cars).

X-246 chemical rocket fuel tank car

21429 LV Hopper Car

18326 NYC Caboose

Yes, set 2183ws with no boxes

MIKE23, that's a nice layout with your original Texas special FA. Cool video.

might you be able to post or send me the layout plan for it. Even a rough sketch would help, I can't entirely figure it out, I know it is multi leveled with return loops. I might want to make the same one for my grand daughter or even incorporate it in my being built PW layout.

my email is in my member  listing under Leroof.

thanks for posting the video.

MARSHELANGELO! One picture worth a thousand thoughts. The WABASH F3 was on my childhood wish lists. Never got one but Santa Fe and NYC  units were obtained as an adult. Your photo brings back memories.  Awesome front end photo! Thanks. 

I thought I had posted in this thread, but as it turned out, it was a similar thread from 2014, which I found with a google image search, and pulled up the original upload via hunting through the post's source code (no need to upload it again, I would think):

So, here be my first Lionel set, a 6-1661 Rock Island Line set, similar to what P51 described:

Acquired as a Christmas present in 1976, here it is posed upon my test track yard. It still runs, but ol' 8601 is in need of a driver transplant--its driver gears are worn to the point of slippage even when running by itself (it has already had its pinion gear replaced way back in the early 1980's). I have some drivers that could be installed in it, but I have to make a trip to Ridgefield Hobby, who is the closest shop I know of with the necessary presses to install them accurately.

I did once acquire a duplicate of this locomotive to act as a wheel donor, but found its wheels had plastic centers--mine are metal all the way through, so the donor simply joined the collection as it was otherwise complete.  

---PCJ

(Edit 3/1/2020: In February 2019 the 8601 has been resurrected, courtesy of Ridgefield Hobby. Within it's shell beats not just replacement drivers, but an entire MPC motor unit that was to serve as a parts donor. Even the driver centers were painted to match the original, and the loco now sports a headlight, as well as an E-unit).

PCJ I picked up two engines like that at an estate sale last fall. Both ran like new. Sold them on the for sale forum.

Still have the first locomotive I got for Christmas 1993 when I was 8 years old.

Nope, sold all mine

I have all of my childhood trains, accessories, transformers and track - all of it.  It is a 2055 steamer freight set from 1956.  My empire is a lot bigger now, but I remember my first set running on the living room rug with headlight and semaphore beaming.  The sound of that solenoid always brings back memories.  I don't know what it is, but that sound is magic.

I still own an sd70ace I got from “Santa” when I was 9 during Christmas. Still works great, although I am sad that I threw away the box when I was a train newbie at 9 years old.