how long i have been in this hobby

[cprailhomodeltrainenginop]

i have been in ho model railroad for the last 10 years.

[Atlantic Central]

Since 1968 for me.

Sheldon

[JM]

Started in 1978.....on and off in the hobby till 2001,  then I got back into it in earnest.

[Terry Toenges]

Physically or mentally?
Started with wind-up around the Christmas tree in earlier fifties when I was below 5 and Dad had an O-27 layout. That was up until I was about 8.
No trains then until about 62', when I met a kid down the block who had an HO layout. I guess I was 12. Dabbled with HO through high school.
When I moved to NY in '70, I painted up my O-27 in black-light colors and ran  it in my black-light room.
In '74, I moved back to STL and didn't mess with trains again for about 20 years.  Not that I wasn't thinking about them and building layouts in my mind. In 95, my grandson was born and there just had to be a train around our tree. And each year I've gotten back in deeper.
I just took him to a model railroad clinic in Farmington Mo. this past Saturday.

[Stephen Warrington]

  I have been in the hobby since 1977 when I was 2 years old and got my first Tyco Chattanooga CHOO CHOO set then it was to Lionel then back to HO now it is HO, Large Scale and 1:1 scale with a fairmont motorcar.

Stephen

[jayl1]

Railfan since I was in the cab of a Pennsy steamer at a very young age .(Modeling since 1970.)

[chucknlead]

My father bought my daughter a Spectrum Russian decapod in the WM paint scheme (HO) scale with some track and rolling stock. It was her Chritmas present in 2005; I've been hooked since. It has now taken over the basement; I'm now looking at building an addition.

[Jim Banner]

Hmmm. 
Trains since 1948 (Hafner windup.)
Electric trains since 1950 (Marx and later Lionel)
H0 trains since 1966 (Tyco. followed by many others)
G-scale trains since 1987 (Bachmann, of course)
12" to the foot since 1988 (Saskatchewan's only operaing steam locomotive)
And when I die, I hope they cremate me, mix my ashes with a shovel full of sand, and use them to clean the flues on the steam locomotive of their choice.

[Bill Baker]

Ahhh, a trip down memory lane.  Around the early 50s I had a Lionel 027 on a large board. Big oval with track running down the middle. I had the automated milk car, one gondola, one flat car, one box car and one caboose.  During this time my dad gave me three brown (Lionel?) passenger cars.  Then in the mid 50s I got a Lionel Rock Island PA with three passenger cars. Then there was the fire.  Started again in HO in the late 60s. Built a 4-6-2 from a kit and had about 10 or so freight cars. Lost all of that in a divorce....I still can't figure out what she wanted with the train set, but she got it!  Then started my 2nd HO layout in the 70's in the garage, tore it down when I moved in the 80s.  Had about 5 engines and 20 or so freight and passenger cars at that time.  Started my 3rd layout in the mid 90s with around 10 engines both diesels and steam and 50 or so freight and 10 passenger cars.  Currently in the process of disassemblying that and am starting my 4th layout in a 16 x 24 shed built in my back yard.  It will be mostly steam with a little diesel every now and then.  I'll be modeling the transition era in a free lanced "Central Arkansas" theme.

[John C]

Railfanning with my Dad since I can remember - mid '50's
First electric train Hornby Dublo - OO Scale - 1957 Xmas
Stopped in High School for motorcycles, cars & girls
Started again in HO early 70's

[brad]

Received my first train set in 1973, TYCO. Played with that until about 1979. Went away to boarding school, university, tech school, started my career. Started again in 1996, a couple years after I bought my first house  After decades of building static models that just sat collecting dust the lure  of watching my handiwork move and my memories of being a kid working on the model railroad with my Dad got the better of me . Have been in neck deep ever since. Met tons of great people, improved my modelling skills greatly.  Belong to 2 clubs, in the middle orginising 2 shows, one local, one NMRA. Won't give up this hobby till I'm forced

brad

[Guilford Guy]

All my life, All 13 years of it.

[Jim Banner]

John C, was that Hornby Dublo by chance 3 rail?  Our group recently had a set donated to us.  It is in pristine conditon, not even a spec of rust on the tin plate track, and it is hard to tell that the trains have ever been played with.  We presently have it on static display at our local museum.

I was surprised to see how much of this 00-3 rail is being bought and sold on eBay.

[John C]

Hi Jim,  Yes, it was 3 rail tinplate.  I got a Canadian Pacific - pacific locomotive and 3 coaches in the blood & custard paint scheme.  They were really British prototypes, but back then I didn't know that.  For my next birthday I got a Royal Mail coach that actually picked up and dropped off lead bundles of mail at a Post station.  Alas, it and I parted company many years ago.  I've often though of trying to purchase another one, but the prices are huge!  British Hornby collectors pay in pounds what us Canuks pay in dollars for them (at 2.25 to 1 last I checked).  I do have wonderful memories of it though.

Cheers!

[Dr EMD]

I received my first Lionel 027 in 1960.
You do the math.