Mine was O-guage Lionel on a 4x8 plywood sheet. I later expanded it with another 4x8 in an L.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
My very first layout was built on a piece of plywood and folded up against the side wall of the garage. I was very young, 6-7 years old. My dad built it. I have no pictures and do not remember much about it.
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I do remember that my best locomotive was a Canadian Pacific F unit. It ran great and all my other locomotives just sat on the shelf. The first lesson I had in model railroading was to buy quality over quantity.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I built "the rr that grows" in 1973 just got it done and had to move. Took the legs off and put it in the u-haul and took off. Set in up in the new house and we used it for 4-5 yrs. I just built a 12x7 in my shop at 76 yrs. Hope to use it for a good while.
I simply had one of those "Life Like Sets'" with that power loc track.
Mel, I can relate to much of what you said. My first train was a marx 027 steamer but it ran on the rug in the living room. Didnt get my first layout though til 1968 on plywood base. Glad I saved the pictures.
It was very much like some plywood on top of a table with a Snap Track overlay. Wiring was two wires between the power pack and track. Switches (4, as I recall) relied on the little sliding tab for manual activation. There was no scenery and none was contemplated at the time. There were a few Revell/Atlas building plopped where they looked appropriate. Plus one scratchbuilt shed.
Only "claim to fame" was that there was a 22" radius outer loop that would accept a 4-8-4. And did.
You asked.
Ed
I ran across some pictures of my first layout the other day & it really took me back. It was over 50 years ago & it was pitiful. It was on a piece of plywood 4x8,I t had 1 engine , a dummy athearn geep unit & about 6 cars. Its a good thing my engine didnt run cause the curves were about 7 inch radius. Couldnt run an engine anyway cause I didnt have a power pack. Lighting was a table lamp, scenery consisted of plaster over wire,dyed sawdust,telephone poles,piles of gravel,a few toy trucks matchbox?,that was about it. It looked like a train layout. I had bought model railroader magazines & that got me hooked. Well since those days I have advanced. I now have 7 cars!!!! Just kidding,I have 2 layouts ,one ho & one n scale. Remember, when you first get married you dont have a lot of money,at least I didnt. My career interupted my model train hobby & then in about 1968 I was reading about n scale trains. I didnt have a lot of space at the time & it seemed the way to go. I bought a rapido baldwin switcher set with power pack & I was off & running. Next I tried ho scale ,I loved it as much as n scale so I modeled both. Its funny how you try to make things more realistic,I remember cutting the doors on an atlas n scale car so it would have an open door. I even tried to put sound in a car, without success. The hobby has come a long way since those early years & I still love the hobby as much as I ever did. Looking over my layouts today I see the progress I have made thru the years & it makes me feel good. The layouts are not perfect but they operate & give me much satisfaction every day I run trains. At one time I tried to collect all the roadnames that kd offered in n scale box cars but they kept releasing new ones & after 400 cars I gave up trying . I wish I had kept those cars but I traded or sold them many years ago. We learn & grow in this hobby. Before you get rid of those engines or cars,think about it a long time cause 20 years from now you might want them back. Great hobby,great fun & great friends,thats what its all about.