Not really its first, also my older kid got his Thomas, but I had the bad idea of testing one of my old trains from the 70s. He noticed mine went more than double Thomas' speed. Thomas was retired on the spot.... . Here playing with his second / third one, a mixture of some of my old LIMAs from the 70s, and other second hand pieces.... Now (10 years later) he his doing good on his layout he started @ 4..... pictures later, I do not have them here at work.
Yup, Ritz Cracker boxes and toilet paper cardboard tubes for buildings and grain silos! My old Lincoln Logs made a nice station though!
I still used a lot of that stuff, as well as blocks of wood, card stock, cellophane tape and coat hanger wire, for stand ins while building NTRAK modules.
Not the actual locomotive. But it was this. I was probably about 9 or ten when I got my first Choo Choo. I played with this thing for hours on the floor. Then one day I went to school and my brother ( who was home on leave) had made me a 4x8 layout. I learned a little but it wasn't until 2005 when I built my son a small n scale setup that the bug got set back in me. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
My first two were Lionels, steamer and old diesel. Low income after the army but, then I tripled my income with a new job and the feds let us buy a house with no down payment. So the trains slept for almost 10 years.
Finally got the pics. The layout was started when he was about 4, he helped with carpentry and laid all the cork. We had to pause for almost 6 years, but when we came here in Germany he started back again, first in creating the platforms, building or refurbishing the buildings you see. But the result I am very proud of is how he created and carved the hill you see in the pics, adding the static grass and the small lake. He is messier than me but in the end he gets there better than I did when I was 13.... Everything in the picture, except the trains and buildings is scratch built (the warehouse up front is scratch built with 5mm foam, it still needs some work) Also different from me is that he enjoys building far more than playing. I put quite some switching ideas and possibilities on the layout, but he went as far as removing the tracks to make way for scenery (in front and on the back of the mountain you can see switches going to nowhere). On the top left the Z scale I was doing for the younger kid, but I realized he could not care less about building, so I will keep it as a project to complete later by myself or leave to the older kid.
As I mentioned earlier in this thread that I, along with Hank, and probably many guys had the Varney dockside. I think that was back in 1948 or '49. But here is the 1st one that I actually purchased. I had to mow many yards to afford it! It is a Mantua and I took this thing apart many times and painted details. Detail is not too bad for a manufactured 1950-'55ish loco. Wow this thing is 70+/- years old, now that really makes me feel my 80-1/2 on this globe. Be well, Carl
When I was a kid my first train set was a Tyco. My dad nailed the loop to some plywood and I played with that for hours and hours. When I got a couple of manual switches to make a siding I thought I died and went to heaven. I'm not sure what ever happened to that old set unfortunately. But fast forward 40 years and I'm at a train show in Saskatoon. Lo and behold, there is the exact set I had as a kid sitting on a table. In the box no less! I asked the fellow how much he wanted for it and he said $75. I got the money in his hand before he changed his mind. I told him my story and he said "so you would have paid a lot more than $75 wouldn't you have?" I admitted I would have and he just laughed. So I have my childhood train set again. And the loco still runs as crappy as I remember. Lol
As a kid: HO Atlas? Santa Fe GP20? As a teen: Bought for myself, 2-8-8-2 In my 20s: Con Cor PA1 in 'Daylight' colors.
I don't know the make and model. It wasn't the first but, the I still have it. Bought in 1991 it's an N gauge diesel. Round nose in front, four axles and with colors of and makings for 'Wisconsin Central LTD.' It was still running after 13 years of use and I kept it when releasing the rest of the N gauge stuff and started going to HO. Now thinking of going back to N.
Correction 'As a Teen' My father bought me a Minitrix starter set which included a UP round nosed 4 axil something.
This was my first loco-- you could push down on the steam dome to get a nice "toot" sound. G Scale, maybe? -Mike
