My first engine was an Athearn HO PRR F7, I think. I was 13, and we made a special hour long trip to buy it from a toy store. I still remember the anticipation and excitement as I was heading for the store, and couldn't wait to get it home and set up the track to run it. However, not knowing anything about the power requirements and assuming that I could run it from my brother's American Flyer AC transformer, I was really disappointed when I read the instructions inside the box with the engine. An electrician friend of my father's found some old metal plate rectifiers and soldered some wires to it, and I could finally power up my train and run it. It looked so neat coming around the corner with its headlight beaming and passing by me just inches from my nose.
My first two trains were gifts from Santa when I was a boy.
After being put in storage for almost 30 years, I had no reason to buy anymore.
Until......it was time for Santa to bring my son a train, a Santa Fe Flyer by Lionel about 4 years ago. Many more purchases since then, I have definitely made up for lost time.
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Suppose I was a late bloomer (or suffered arrested development). I gave up trains for baseball, basketball, girls, cars, college, career, marriage and children, so I didn't buy this pair until I was 32 and on my way back downhill ... or was it under the guise they were for my son?
True love never dies, love is patient or something of that order. Speaking of love, my greatest love is calling me to supper. Gotta go.
What, me worry?
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Originally Posted by colorado hirailer:
A few years after I had received my Marx #999 freight set for Christmas, I was down
in the basement Woolworth's toy dept. with gift money from Christmas or birthday?
and spied a Marx #21 A-A for sale in the box. These were big tin diesels, that were
too big for 0-27, but I ran them for a while, after moving structures away from the
curves. I never liked them and eventually cut them in two and made a double ended
diesel, like the CNJ Baldwin?, that I painted bright blue. I still have it, and, it being
Marx, probably still runs. I still avoid #21 sets.
Funny, I did that with a Marx Santa Fe A-A set (the plastic ones) when I was 12. Painted it silver.
The first train I purchased was a mid 1960's "Scout" set with a 1062. It had to be an old stock piece, sitting around the hobby shop for a few years.
I good hooked by
The Polar Express.... just like in the movie, it's been downhill ever since.
Gilly
While my first 3 train sets and first two add-on cars were gifts from childhood, the first train I bought with my own money was a Lionel Great Train Robbery set (FasTrack version) with a UP 4-4-0. That was a little over 10 years ago.
Andy
About 1960. HO New Haven Diesel set.
great thread! my first purchase with my own money was an AHM lv snowbird, i bought it at the dover nj train meet,my father and neighbor, huge flyer collector took me to the show.
years later when my youngest son took interest in an i love toy trains video, i bought the 2003 version of the pennsy flyer at allentown while i bought n gauge for myself. once i put the lionel up around the tree i found myself digging out and cleaning up my old pw stuff that was gifted to me, a few weeks later at the gilbertsville show i bought a beat up 2018 on a whim. that was it! it's been all o gauge ever since.
Dave
Mth Railking Milwaukee Road Hiawatha; had no knowledge about this engine at all but like the proto 1 sound and it's distinctive colors.
Purchased from Jim's Train Shop in Homer City, pA.
First one I bought after getting back in the hobby was the 1995ish Lionel Commodore Vanderbilt. Still one of my favorites
The engines I had as a kid (2 Prairie types) were given to me by parents and relatives
