Who on this forum collect pre & postwar trains 1900 to 1969?

I have a mixture of all three Eddie , Pre-war , Post war and modern . I have all the Post war trains that were mine as a child . The collector in me has created my interest in Pre -war, both o-gauge and standard  and the operator in me loves the modern with all the bells and whistle's .My Pre-war and modern both share my shelving display  . The Post war are snug in their original box's .

I do, but focus on tin pretty much these days. Prewar Flyer (20's & 30's) and Lionel (1930's) and postwar Marx tin currently. Would like to expand that with prewar Marx and maybe some Ives and Dorfan someday.

I have 2 sets of pre war trains and a few pieces of pre war Lionel O gauge and some post war Lionel. Also have some American Flyer from the 1950's.

I don't know how true this is about Dorfan but I have heard that their stuff don't hold up well after many years, so if you find any Dorfan I would check it for metal integrity.

Lee Fritz

I am a prewar man at heart, but have many pieces that are transitional or postwar as well. Am getting rid of most of my modern pieces.

See below :-)

I once concentrated on building a collection of pre and post war trains, both "0" gauge and Standard gauge.  Finally realized that no matter how big my collection was, there were always going to be guys who had a much bigger, more comprehensive collection than what I had.  My layout was somewhat unique in that it was a T-Rail replica of the 1938 Lionel factory showroom layout, and building that was a lot of fun as well as being educational.

About that time the first Command Control systems came out and I got hooked.  i tore down the T-Rail layout and started building a high-rail layout using Gargraves.  I had first thought about doing the high-rail layout using the T-Rail but realized that T-Rail just didn't have the flexibility to build the kind of layout I wanted.  So in the ensuing years I began selling off the collectible trains except for those trains that I collected that were significant to me as I was growing up.  With the funds received from selling off the surplus trains, plus selling off about 800 sections and 16 switches of T-Rail track, I have been able to increase the size of the layout, add more track than ever possible with the T-Rail plus purchase many more of the new, Command Control engines to operate.

So, yes, I still have some trains on display but I also have a somewhat larger high-rail layout that I still enjoy operating.

Paul Fischer

I collected and operated late prewar and postwar in the 1970's. Today,I focus on operating scale steam and first generation diesels/electrics. I still maintain a smaller,more focused postwar collection of the better PW trains. 

Collect "1900 to 1969"?

Man, and I thought that I had a hard time focusing.

I collect postwar w/ some MPC stuff.   Only have about 5 modern sets w/ can motors.  I've also toyed w/ the idea of doing a very small prewar or AF display layout whenever I get some extra time/money, but I know that could be a slippery slope

There was a gentleman in a nearby town that died of cancer in 2012. For Christmas 1938, Santa Claus brought him not one, but two 224e sets. One freight and one passenger. Before he died, he asked his wife to locate a local train club and donate his trains. It was our honor to receive this donation.

His only request was that they be restored and displayed for the public. We routinely run them on our small modular layout. It is fun to get folks to try to guess how old they are. The last family's guesses combined were still short of 78 years old.

When we received them, both engines were in pieces in two shoe boxes. With deep appreciation to Adrian (retired owner of Chesterfield Hobbies), both were restored to operational condition. They run like little Swiss watches and are currently back with Adrian for a routine annual clean/lube.

Given the overall condition of these trains, this gentleman obviously cherished them. And now we do too....

You hit me exactly - I operate pre and postwar Lionel on a mostly postwar layout.

I have some Prewar, Postwar Lionel and Marx, some MPC and a few odd pieces of MTH and LTI.

I collect mostly post-war with a smattering of pre-war; most of it Lionel and Marx.  I have also have some MPC and several modern scale command control engines.  However, I have completely curtailed my forays into today's modern scale motive power.  Just to darn rich for my blood. 

Finally realized that no matter how big my collection was, there were always going to be guys who had a much bigger, more comprehensive collection than what I had. 

Its not a contest.

I have kept my dads Post War collection and display it,that was my introduction to trains in the late 40s.

Mikey

I focus on O gauge windup trains, so the 1900 - 1969 time frame is fair game.  Oldest locomotive is a 1912 Ives, and I have Marx windups made through the end of their production (1975).  Actually, I have some Durham stuff too, which would be a bit newer than the Marx.  I should probably narrow my focus a bit... 

My collection is 95% tin, so prewar and modern era tinplate.

Steve

I "collect" Lionel, Postwar thru 2000. My interest in Prewar is pretty much confined to the late, die-cast steamers. (I have followed with interest a Prewar American Flyer thread on another forum, but I have so many Lionel pieces I want to acquire already!)

I put "collect" in quotes because, unlike many collectors, I have no intention of completing my collection by getting one of everything. That said, I would like to have a complete collection of things that I like, so in that sense you could say I have a "focused collection"   Also, I own only things I can run and I run everything I own, so that is another reason why I could not be called collector in purest sense.

I have some and I run it but I don't 'collect' it.

i have mostly PW, one prewar set I made up, 3 modern locos and a few modern cars.  My PW loco roster is 30 locos total and about the same on rolling stock.

I collect postwar and some modern items. I think I have just one prewar caboose.

For me it is post war or nothing . Just love the precision of Lionel from that time in history.  When people cared about what they made

I have and run the family postwar, and used to collect it. Accumulated some modern era trains as well. Selling most of the non family trains so as to A), acquire some tinplate trains (pre and post war), and B), begin manufacturing a locomotive I have not seen in O gauge for a while, with my own twist.

Our collection is made up of 95 % or better Pre War Marx if that counts

Eddie,

I collected American Flyer "S" Gauge along time ago.

I collect/run Post war 1950's only.   I was not around then, and didn't get my first set until well into the late 60's, but the quality and workmanship of the era truly impresses me, and takes me back to a simpler time whenever I work on them.

I collect whatever I like, and I like a lot of prewar and postwar.