what was everyones frist train set

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

So I've actually got something that's worth a little money? Cool! Selling it, however, is the last on my mind.

Yep, that's the mail car.
http://www.postwarlionel.com/cgi-bin/postwar?ITEM=628

That's a classic switcher all right.
Well you're not gonna get rich, but the boats, and other such "brittle toys" aren't exactly falling out of trees. If you can afford it, best to shelve to goodies, and "play" with the re-pops. Glad to hear they are worth more than money to you Morgun.

[Brewman]

My first train set was my uncles American Flyer that was handed down to me. I wish I still had it even though the loco quit working. It didn't make it on a move between Michigan and Oklahoma when I was younger

[wiley209]

My first train set was, believe it or not, a LIFE-LIKE set! To be precise, it was the Toys R' Us Express, from when I was a kid in the 1990s, which I got as a Christmas present:

(Our local Toys R' Us used to sell a lot of HO train products, mostly Bachmann and Life-Like.)
Rather basic, but a nice little set, and for a kid my age, the Power-Loc track was pretty good for playing with it on the floor. During this time, I wasn't really interested in setting up a real model railroad yet, but I did get some extra track so it wouldn't just go in a circle every time.
But what REALLY made my layout take off was what I got for Christmas 2000:

Set it up on a 4x8 sheet of plywood, along with some additional accessories I got. A lot like those older high-end Tyco train sets of the 1970s.

Of course now I have moved up from most of the Power-Loc track and those low-end "retro" Life-Like locomotives.