I started with American Flyer in the late 50's, received a Lionel HO in the early 60's. Took a "vacation" from trains for about five years until 1969 when I started up modeling the Milwaukee. Left HO in 1994 for N and I guess that's where I'll stay.
I started in HO as a kid in the late 60's. My Father had a layout in the basement and at Xmas time, my Father had made a board with 2 tracks to keep my brother and I from fighting. Later in my teens, I built my own 4'x8' layout in my room and had that for a few years. When I was married to my first wife, she wouldn't allow me to set up my trains in our 3rd bedroom or around the tree at Xmas. We had a friend who gave me as a joke a nice N scale Minitrix Krocodile set and I fell in love. That was in 1989 and for 12 years I just kept collecting till last year I set up a layout in my basement of the house I now have with my present wife. Right now it is a 4'x7' and as soon as I finish finishing off the basement, I will have a 10'x14' room to start over again with. Thank God my wife encourages me to have a hobby.
Marx in the mid-1960s, then started playing with my brother's HO scale LifeLike layout in 1973 (my parents never got the message, bless their hearts ). Got into N for the first time in 1976, switched to HO in 1980, flirted with N from 1987-1988, back to HO, and finally back to N last year. Still have most of my HO stuff (especially the Frisco goodies), but missus wants me to stay in N scale. Hey, at least she encourages the hobby!
Bobcat, welcome to Trainboard Model Railroading is a great hobby, and should be encouraged by wives, at least they know where we are Good luck with the new layout. What road and era will it be?
Wow! What fascinating reading! As N-scale is a "younger" scale, I found it very interesting reading where everyone started. It appears that I am amoung the few who actually started in this scale. Yep, I'm pure N-scale - and I have never once strayed to another scale.
My first train set was a Lionel set back in the late fifties. I started in N scale in the late sixties, took about a 20 year haitus from model railroading, and got back into the hobby about 3 years ago. Bill
I've been with N scale all the way. I began as a seventh grader in 1970. So, its going on 32 years with N scale. Been thinking though, that I may end up switching to HO when I retire (still over 15 years away) and we move from our large two story house to a large ranch house with a huge basement!!! Daryl UPRR Rochelle Subdivision
I started with an HO 4 X8 layout growing up bakc in the late sixties and sventies. When my brother and I destroyed it (We really used it for more than trains.). My wife got me back into it with a Bachmann set. That was eleven years ago, and I've been down the slippery slope ever since. Nice thing, when my wife thinks I do to much trains, I just remind her who got me started. Kiddingly of course. Don't want to runin a good thing. Bob Stanek rstanek@nauticom.net UP Modeler Be Specific - Ship Union Pacific!
Along about 1967, at 6 years old, Santa delivered a Lionel set. We eventually got enough track to make a figure-8. I loved running the heck out of the engine and the smoke it made. I learned that if you shorted the two track wires together and turned up the juice, the wires glowed red and the insulation smoked-that's probably why I became a mechanical engineer and not an electrical engineer. I got my n-scale stuff about 1970, starting with the Atlas 0-6-0 tank loco and 4 cars. I've still got all my cars from those days, although the little 0-6-0 is long gone. I've kept my precious copy of the Atlas book "Nine N-Scale Layouts." tha's been my inspiration all these years. What a great hobby.
Hello Bob, glad to have you aboard! (Just realised who you are) Paul, welcome to you too You were in N scale quite early, the quality of models has sure improved since those days!
When I was born, my dad bought an American Flyer Katy Boxcar and three pieces of straight track. He always said that by the time I was six months old I would push it from one end to the other without knocking it off the track. He used this as a reason to get a NYC Hudson set for my first birthday. Around '57, I had gravitated to HO and my dad and my stepdad both (unknown to each other, of course) bought me the same B&O Varney set with F-7 power. I had built about 50 Athearn kits by the time that my stepfather was transfered (Air Force) to France in '60, but my mother gave them away. (Uncle Sam would ship only so many boxes.) In '68, after quitting college, and ltaking a break from trying to find a job, I stopped at a hobby shop and saw an Atlas PRR E-8 with 3 heavyweight passenger cars. The marked price was $25. I only had $23. 52, but the dealer said, "Gimme $23, I can't leave you broke." That's how I got into N. Paul PRR in Atlanta
Don't want to tell my life story here, but I was born at a very early age.... My first train was a Marx set that I received for Christmas--sometime in the early 1950's. I ran it until it wore out, which might have taken a year or two. Then I started pestering my parents to get me a Lionel train set since the wheel arrangements were so much more realisitic. I was finally successful in the late 1950's when I got a used Lionel set for Christmas. Around 1960 I had a friend whose father worked with my father (railroad employees) that had an HO set. I had never seen that scale before! It was awesome...so, naturally, I began thinking in terms of HO after that. From that time until about 1987 I was thouroughly happy with my HO trains. In 1987 I decided to trade my stamp collection that I had been building and saving for years to my cousin for his N-scale trains. He was into stamps and I was into trains, so it seemed like a good trade. (I'm afraid that he got the best of the deal, but that's another story.) Anyway, after the trade I began looking for someone to sell my N-scale trains to since I didn't want to start another scale. Besides, I always heard and believed that N-scale couldn't compare operationally with HO. So I found an eager buyer and foolishly (no eBay at that time) sold my N-scale collection. That made two trades (stamps and N-scale trains) that had made someone else very happy! I took the money from selling my N-scale collection and invested it in a diamond ring. Yes, I guess you can say I traded again; but, this time I got the better side of the trade. I have been happily married ever since 1988. I'm not really sure how or why I decided that I would buy a few N-scale trains in 1999, but that was the start of a whole new layout. I have for all practical purposes ignored HO ever since. It was probably a combination of things: Whereas: Kato started producing some excellent running engines in N-scale about that time (I had a few Kato HO engines that I was very happy with); Whereas: I had a large warehouse space that I couldn't find a renter for; Whereas: DCC was starting to make running trains so much more realistic; Whereas: I didn't want to convert my existing layout and engines to DCC; Whereas: I discovered eBay. It was therefore resolved: I started a new layout in a small scale, in a large area, with a new technology, IN A BIG WAY! So I have been an N-thusiastic N-scaler ever since. And I have lived happily ever after. [ 02 March 2002, 17:03: Message edited by: upguy ]
For me it was Lionel O-27 in 1955. My first N scale was the first Christmas after getting married. My wife gave me a set, and I was hooked. BoxcabE50
Looks like I should be awake when posting something. Oh well. It's Saturday. The set my wife gave to me was in 1972. So I started my N scaling over 30 years ago. Should have mentioned that along with my Lionel, I did also have some American Flyer. I'll never lose my love for the 1945-'69 tinplate. But nothing comes close to the experiences I've had in N scale! BoxcabE50
Rett, I enjoyed reading your "life story" Boxcab, welcome to Trainboard N Scale does tend to get people hooked, once they try it
I have my Mom and Uncle to thank for getting me started around 1978ish. They built my first layout that rolled out from under my bed when I was about 6 or 7. It was a nice, clean layout in HO. It wasn't until about 1985 that I switched to N-Scale for good. Still don't know what made me switch. However, I think it was mostly due to my brother being in HO and me just wanting to be different Brian
Thanks for the welcome, Alan. It's good to be here. And you are spot-on, the equipment and technology in N so far outshines what we had in the early years, it's amazing. Those old Atlas/AHM/Lima locomotives were pretty bad. It still amazes me that you can buy a new loco, put a tiny circuit board in it, and control it independently of all others without throwing a single switch! I forgot to mention the 4x8 unreinforced particle board table with folding legs that became my first layout. Had a bit of a valley in the middle until Dad reinforced it! More like the Grand Canyon in n-scale!
I'm probably the only person posting here who doesn't model in N as his primary scale! I started with a Tyco set on my 9th birthday, and have modeled primarily in HO ever since. I first acquired N scale trains on my wedding day (my best man installed an operating N train in my car!) and picked up a few here and there. I also dabble in Lionel O gauge, because my kids can play with these. I am planning on building a couple NTRAK modules this spring through our new model railroad club here in Petersburg, but I still plan on doing most of my modeling in HO. Because of the specific locale I want to model (Oregon Trunk in 1969), I find HO more practical. N scale equipment has certainly improved over the years, and if I wasn't already to attacted to the OT, I might be persuaded to switch! Pat
