what was everyones frist train set

[Trainmastermike]

My first train set was a Lionel "O" Scale Red & Silver Santa Fe Diesel loco and some operating  cars and it took up two ping pong tables in the basement.  That was in 1953 when I was about 6 or 7. Wish I still had it as it would be worth lots of $.

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

My first train set was a Lionel "O" Scale Red & Silver Santa Fe Diesel loco and some operating  cars and it took up two ping pong tables in the basement.  That was in 1953 when I was about 6 or 7. Wish I still had it as it would be worth lots of $.

And I'll bet the memories of the fun you had with that train are priceless. 

[M1FredQ]

I found this thread and am enjoying reading everyone's stories.

I hope folks who view this site take time to contribute. We really have a great hobby!!

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

You mean this magnetraction Li-0-27-nel doorstop Gramps gave me on Christmas 45 years ago
(Gramps 1st train was a USED marklin tin Og steamer. A depression Christmas gift. Still runs)

I actually first got a L. Super-O track with US Army missile launching engine, land,sea,air,(extra-missle transportcar, helicopter launcher car, submarine car, derreck-crane car, spotlight car & white red cross rescue caboose. But I destroyed the plastic bodied engine in just weeks. Worst pulling engine ever AND often derailed in turnouts. Even slow & solo it was sketchy. That next month was my birthday (only my 4th) and this 2037 Adriatic, 2046 whistle tender, and extra rolling stock arrived. "Bet you dont break this one" Gramps said. He was right. Original pill smoke unit, it still smokes like wet leaves on a campfire. Nice! The magnetized wheels are STILL strong enough to hold on to a piece of track in the air. Casey Jones got nothin on me, & this one often pulls passengers merrily along at 120mph scale speed thru 27" bends. Im more likely to loose a light caboose to a bump, than roll this loco in a turn. I run fast b'cause I can. Besides the old school whistle motor LOVES the extra voltage. Whheeeoooooo Whheeeoooooo Whheeeoooooo!!!!

5 years later my brother got HIS first. A "santa fe" hudson with boiler-door top feedwater heater. Pulls 5 more cars but will roll off a turn at 90mph. We both got many more cars on Christmas & birthdays. My brother went DCC. THEN..there was a great train robbery,... BY ME! (he can have it back if he wants it) (maybe)

Engines(2) and about 20pc. of rolling stock survived fairly intact. Some wrecks became kit bashed and live on, some are only memories. I got 3 more locos, over 40yr span. And Ive finally added some more over the last year, 15 engines now, 80+ on rolling stock. My first Adult purchase? W/Bchmn tuskan red, 5 stripe, small keystone, dual can GG1, and k-line fleet of modernism tuskan/gold-stripes passenger cars. Never loved a train more. Now if I could only find a redhead named Gigi in a dark red dress who has gold I'd be all set...Naaah...Setteled on another train, my 1st N-guage ever, a Bachmann f-9, A-A unit Alaska.,Mt McKinley Explorer full-vista dome passener set bought 60 days ago!

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

I run fast b'cause I can.

I always say, inside every adult who tries to operate his trains prototypically is a little kid who just wants his trains to go fast!  

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

I run fast b'cause I can.

I always say, inside every adult who tries to operate his trains prototypically is a little kid who just wants this trains to go fast!  

"of course why else would a grown man play with trains"
(A slightly misused, but never overused, quote by my childhood hero Gomez Addams)(as if you didnt know)

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

"of course why else would a grown man play with trains"
(A slightly misused, but never overused, quote by my childhood hero Gomez Adams)(as if you didnt know)

Now, excuse me while I get the mail from Thing. And ring for Lurch. 

[Jhanecker2]

Just to be pedantic :  The Family Name is  "Addams" , I believe ,  and say  HI to Cousin  IT . J2.

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

Just to be pedantic :  The Family Name is  "Addams" , I believe ,  and say  HI to Cousin  IT . J2.

You are right. Duh! Corrections have been made. My spelling always stunk, wait till you read some more of my phonetic spelling nightmares(as well as lousy sentence structure). I do prefer to know of my mistakes rather than continue them, so thanks!

[Doneldon]

Just to be pedantic :  The Family Name is  "Addams" , I believe ,  and say  HI to Cousin  IT . J2.

J2-

And to be even more pedantic, I believe I count eight errors in your sentence.

                                                                                                          -- D

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

Another early train, also from my grandpa (and I'm sure purchased used and cheap because the engine mechanism was broken) was a Gilbert American Flyer HO "Pacific Clipper" Northern Pacific passenger train--engine, combine, dome car, and observation--in the beautiful "North Coast Limited" two-tone green paint scheme. It came with an oval of Gilbert's "Pikemaster" track, an early form of roadbed track. The set was supposed to have a power pack, but it wasn't included in the set as given to me.

This train remained in practically like-new condition, as it wasn't used all that much during my childhood. My grandpa had replaced the broken Flyer engine mechanism with one of those old Athearn rubber-band drives, and it simply wasn't strong enough to pull those long, heavy passenger cars. About 20-odd years ago, as a Christmas surprise, my dad took the engine to the LHS where we had done train business since I was a kid, and the owner fitted the Flyer shell to an Athearn "super-power" gear-drive mechanism--so finally, after about 25 years, the train finally ran decently!

Recently, my dad had to spend a few days in the hospital to get his ticker checked out. While he was in the hospital, his house was burglarized, and--you guessed it--the Flyer set was among the items stolen. It was the only part of my vast assemblage of HO trains still under the parental roof. Dad thought the train had survived the burglary, but when I was visiting him for Christmas and went to set it up to run, I knew immediately that it was gone because the box was way too light in weight when I lifted it off the shelf in the closet where it was stored. The thief took the train and the "Pikemaster" track but left the original set box.

I will miss that train. Running it at Christmas at my dad's place had become something of a tradition for us over the past few years.

I can't seem to find a post updating this, so please forgive me if I'm repeating myself, but I do want to report that miracles do still happen: Wonder of wonders, this summer we got the stolen American Flyer "North Coast Limited" set back!

One day back in July I was making my daily eBay check, and I always searched under American Flyer HO for "North Coast Limited" equipment. My jaw nearly hit my desk when I came across a listing for what I was reasonably certain had to be the purloined train; there were several things that suggested to me that it was our stolen "Limited," but the main one was that seller gave its location as my home town!

I immediately got on the horn to my dad, and got from him the phone number for the police detective who was in charge of investigating the burglary at my dad's home. I spoke to the detective and explained why I thought it was our train. Then at the detective's suggestion, I pulled something a little sneaky: I used eBay's messaging feature to contact the seller to ask if I could inspect the set before I bid on it! He replied that I could, and sent me his phone number. I then googled the phone number, which gave me his name and address. I passed the name and address on to the detective, who paid a visited and checked things out.

Turned out the seller had bought the train from someone whom we now presume was the burglar. The detective felt the guy was honest and was caught in a bad place, and the detective suggested I contact the seller, offer to reimburse him what he had paid the presumed burglar for the train, and retrieve the set. I did just that , and the "North Coast Limited" is once again safe at home.

Incidentally, someone has been charged with the burglary of my dad's home, as well as several other homes in the neighborhood.

Now, if they'd just let me alone with her--yes, it's a "her"--in a locked room for a short while, we'd find out what she did with my grandmother's silver. ... 

[jbrock27]

That's a great story/ending JBJ!!.  I am so happy for you, that's great!  One of the unthought of benefits of EBay I guess.

[Skarloey Railway]

One of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HO-OO-Triang-Wind-Up-Shunter-Switcher-Clockwork-Model-Railway-/160990314733?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item257bc540ed, a custard and cream carriage (passenger car) and a handful of freight wagons on an oval of track. The 'square' dome on the the loco's boiler hides the clockwork spring.

[Desertdweller]

JBJ,

What a great happy ending!

Congratulations.

Les

[rogertra]

Just to be pedantic :  The Family Name is  "Addams" , I believe ,  and say  HI to Cousin  IT . J2.

You are right. Duh! Corrections have been made. My spelling always stunk, wait till you read some more of my phonetic spelling nightmares(as well as lousy sentence structure). I do prefer to know of my mistakes rather than continue them, so thanks!

Not being critical but there is a spell checker that I run every time I post here.  The same spell check also under lines in red any spelling errors, or what it thinks are spelling errors.  It thinks "Bachmann" for example, is a spelling error. 

Having said that, I don't know how many times I use the "modify" button to correct grammar errors in posts I've made earlier that I notice only when I log back on later.