I started out with a Marx set in the late sixties. I graduated to HO in the early 70's and had many Tyco sets. I stayed in HO and aquired some athearn units in the mid to late 70's and had a nice little 4x8 table in my parents basement(boy were those winters cold). The mid 80's I lost interest in trains as I enlisted in the USAF and got married. In the late eighties I sold all my old HO collection and thats when I went hot and heavy into N scale. At one time I had no less than 35 engines and 400 pieces of rolling stock. Most of the engines were of atlas and Kato vintage with a couple LL's thrown in for good measure. The rolling stock was all either roundhouse or micro trains. I built a heated 12x12 outbuilding to house my layout. I never finished that layout as I got interested in RC cars. I raced RC cars for ten years and sold all my beloved trains to fund them. I won a lot of races but I truly missed the trains. Enter 1997. I purchased a walthers trainline HO set and was bitten full by the trainbug yet again. Today I have a 14x12.5 ft climate controlled basement room dedicated to my HO layout. I have provisions to extend into the rest of the 30x56 basement in the future should time and money allow. I have 30 engines either Kato,Atlas, or P2K all of which will have decoders installed. I use Easy DCC command control and will be upgrading to their radio throttle in the near future. How about everyone else sharing their story with us all?!!?
Welcome abord Dale. As others here will attest, if I told you my history, you wouldn't believe it! I'm 70 now, so it would read like War and Peace! I'm HO now. HA!
It will be 30 years on 22 August. I got a Lionel set for my third birthday (I have a picture somehere - if I can find it I will post it) A few years later I got a HO set for Chirstmas. Eventually an 4X8 in the basement which lasted until I discovered girls. After a few (15) years away from model trains I am now married to a wonderful woman who likes that I play with trains
Yep, started with an 0 gauge TIN PLATE at age 4, been at it ever since, Now nearly 65, and still playing with trains. Just a kid at heart. http://www.badger-creek.co.uk
I don't think I'd qualify for any sort of "longevity award" compared to some of the fine folks here, but I've been at it for about 20 years now (I'm approaching 27 years old). I inherited a Lionel set from my grandfather. I then got a Tyco HO set for my 11th birthday. Soon after that, my dad and I built a 4x8 out of scrap lumber from another household project. I now have a 12x9x12 "U-shaped" freestanding layout in my basment (and a very understanding wife!)
<font color="336633">I have been modeling HO since i was about 8 so thats about 15 years now. I also have a bit of N scale but thats just to run on my dads layout</font>
I got my first train set when I was 8- a basic circle of 3-rail track (O27) and a short train. Next year my Dad came home with a big box of Marx O27 trains, track & transformers. He helped me set it up in our living room, and I ran the heck out of it. In college I got into N scale- even had a layout in my dorm room. After I got out of school & started my career, I jumped back into HO scale, and have been there ever since (21 years). My wife is dropping hints that I should go back to N, but the sheer expense of replacing HO equipment (not to mention getting rid of my custom-painted Frisco locomotives & rolling stock) keeps me in HO. But what I've seen of N scale lately, my hat's off to those guys. So, how long have I done this- well, I'm 44 years old now, so I guess 36 years in the hobby. And I've liked trains ever since I was 4, so..... [ 20 February 2001: Message edited by: friscobob ]
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lefty: a very understanding wife! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hallelujah to that
Start with my fathers O Scale Ives set in 1961, got a Lionel set for Christmas in 1962 and made the move to HO in November 1969. What a long, long trip its been. Model trains have been a connecting thread of continuity in my life.
Got interested in trains at an early age too- father had American Flyer then HO. Folks split up when I was 7 got my own first train in 1961 for my 14th birthday (HO) still at it today taking up G-Scale about 8 yrs ago. My 12 yr old son following in my footsteps took up trains at age 8.
If you want to add up all of the times I've been in modelrailroading I'd say about 46 of my 56 years of living.The last 23 have been continous.My freelanced Grande Valley RR is over 20 years old. <marquee>North American Rail Alliance</marquee> [ 20 February 2001: Message edited by: Catt ] [ 20 February 2001: Message edited by: Catt ]
I got my first train in 1943. We were living in Capetown SA at the time. It was a Triang clockwork loco. It must have been around O gauge. A section of track allowed either a stop, or reverse. All very sudden. In 1947 My Dad gave me a Hornby dublo electric train. I had that until about 1953. It got packed away and I finished my education and went into the SAAF. Later I immigrated to Canada and joined the RCAF. I got married in 1959 and within a year, I was back into trains this time in HO That lasted until 1968 when I sold all my HO stuff and went into N gauge and the begining of the MAT in its various forms. The current MAT began four years ago. I admit, there are times a wish I had stayed with HO. Just look at the availability of reasonably priced steam locos! One of these days, we will move into one of those retirement housing areas. Some we have looked at have great basement areas and I may just go back to HO then as I am doubtful how much of the MAT could be moved.
Just happened to catch sight of this topic so I'll add my two-bits. I started out with my first N-Scale train set in back 1969 for Christmas, I was just about to turn 5 years old. It was one of those styro-foam layouts and to put it lightly, N-Scale SUCKED back then! My next set came two years later in the form of a TYCO HO trainset (Oh yeah, big improvement... ). It had the ALCO Super Century and four or five cars, I was off and running! I found out over time the TYCO stuff, except the cars, was crap. I moved on to Athern, Life-Like and Atlas Locomotives and built my own 4X8 layout. A few years down the road, a friend and I set up a couple different layouts using 4 4X8's. We would rearrange them about every 6 months or so, what a blast! To sum-up my HO time period, it was from 1971 to 1992, Twenty-One years! Of course, I took the short, yet MANDATORY, "GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS!" break that every High School aged Male Model Railroader takes, but it wasn't very long. Trains were less trouble at that stage of the game! A few years/women later in late 1991, I was given some old N-Scale stuff by a neighbor. I kept it in a box until I moved to Baton Rouge, LA. (Yes, the move was for one of those Women!) I soon discovered I no longer had the room to set up a HO Scale Layout. Joining the HO Club in Baton Rouge was out of the question , we'll leave it at that. I ran into the N-Scale Club, now a multi-scale club, and started down the road to total Model Railroading Happiness, I went back to N! BOY, had things changed! As we all know, it's now 2001. I've been in N-Scale for 10 years and I won't go back. I like HO, I like all scales for that matter, but N works the best for me. I've loved trains for as long as I can remember, I'm 37 so I guess that would be about 34 or 35 years. One last thing. Should we move this to "The Pit" so all Model Railroaders can get into this discussion? Just a thought...
My first train set was the HO scale Tyco Chatanooga Cho Cho at the age of 8. I had a couple of HO 4 by 8 layouts before I joined the Air Force. I lost interest in model railroading until a few years after I left the service. I then made another HO 4 by 8 layout but soon lost interest as I wanted more than a circle of track. Then came N scale. I started on a 10 by 12 around the walls N scale layout until I moved to another house with a bigger basement,or should I say train room. I was going to start another N scale layout but instead went back to HO scale as I had a lot more HO equipment sitting in boxes waiting to be used.
Got my first train set (American Flyer 3 rail O) in 1946, changed to American Flyer S in 1948, went into HO in 1953, started working for the real thing (PRR) in 1962, changed to N scale in 1968, involuntarily retired from the real thing (AN) in 1999. Still have my original N layout (2'x4'). Don't have a digital camera but have a website at http://www.gtcom.net/~mahlkov
I purchased my first model trains in 1958, aged 15. It was Hornby Dublo 3-rail. No permanent railway was built, and I soon moved on to 2-rail, and started scratchbuilding locomotives in brass and building a layout round the walls of my bedroom. Later, I changed to O scale, then gauge one. Then American HO, then Swiss HO, Belgian HO, before finally settling on American N! And here I will stay
As promised - here I am, on my third birthday with my very first train. (22/8/1971) I didn't even know where the caboose goes
Since I started. About 12 years ago a friend took me to an hobby shop that had trains planes and cars and boats. In the same strip center there was an "N" Scale only shop. He said when I walked into the N shop my eyes just about bugged out of my head. He knew then and there what scale I would model. And that is the beginning of the story.
I have been involved on model railroading from the time I could crawl. My older brother had a hornby set that I used to play with. It was the basic loop on a board. When I was 12 my mother helped me build my first layout. At the age of 16 I was employed as an apprentice Signal Electrician, during my apprenticeship I worked on the State Rail authorities model layout (I can say I was paid to do what I loved). I then found an interest in Women lol and forgot about modelling for 15 years until 4 years ago when I found the bug again. I now model N scale and the rest is history. [ 22 February 2001: Message edited by: Colonel ]
