Hello, I just wanted to get a feel of what the average age of the typical postwar operator/collector is. Myself, I am 39 and started collecting Lionel postwar two years ago. Are there many others out there that did not grow up in the postwar era but yet collect these beauties?
Darrell
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
"Lionel trains are the standard of the world" - Jousha Lionel Cowen
Although I just started collecting Postwar Lionel a few years ago. Train fever started when I was seven. HO was the thing back then. Very few of my trains survived my then young hands. About five years ago my dad gave me his HO collection of American Flyer, Athearn and Lionel. They all dated back to 58-59, and are still in like new condition, most with crisp boxes. While researching these items on the internet I stumbled across Postwar O Lionel...The rest is history.
I was born in '58. When I was a kid slot cars were the rage, then Hot Wheels, then my first train set was N gauge. N was the "new" scale in the late '60s.
Started in 1995 with a Lionel set for my sons first Christmas. I have trains in N, HO, S, O , and G. I have postwar, prewar, mpc, and modern trains. Most of my prewar is American Flyer.
Last year was my first experience with S Am. Flyer. Nice trains that operate really well. And their sound system is really great. Smoke up a storm too. Flyer S gauge is now the focus of my collecting along with prewar Flyer.
Bob Nelson
I'm 60 and just like Jeb Clampett, "Why would we want all that old furniture when we can afford new stuff?" He was talking about the pricless antiques in the mansion he bought in Beverly Hills.
I guess because I grew up with it and had a bunch, it hasn't caught me yet. I had a new 773 among others and today have know idea what happened to that stuff. I could still have it in the family. We have a NIB girls set. My cousin was supposed to be a boy (so they thought) and my uncle got it for her, but then never opened it.
Trains are trains, but I can see why people like different stuff.
I even have my daughters hooked on Postwar Lionel. My Seven year old has a Santa Fe 2243 and my nine year old has a Santa Fe 2343.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I have a mixture of stuff from 1946 to present.I do not consider myself to be a collector.I just like trains.
I use O-27 style track,42" diameter is the sharpest.
Oh,I'm 73.
I'm 43 and definitely a Postwar guy. I grew up in the slot car era and only found Postwar during my late twenties when I was given my Father-in-law locos. Made me dig out my Dad's 2056 right after.
MIke S.
Dave
It's a TOY, A child's PLAYTHING!!! (Woody from Toy Story)
I will be 52 in December, and started collecting AF postwar about 7 years ago. All S American Flyer.
Jim
57.I have been collecting as long as I can rememeber.
Ed
I'm 19, and will be 20 in January.
I got my first Lionel set when I was 6, and my first postwar engine(a 1066 Scout, bought with my own money) when I was 7.
A few years later, I got sidetracked with American Flyer, and was able to purchase several very nice pieces. My big purchases were a 312, 302, and 321, as well as a 799 Talking Station.
About 6 years ago, my interests shifted back to Lionel, and I was finally able to afford some of the nicer pieces I had always wanted.
Good Morning!
I just read all the previous postings and was surprised (and happy) that there are so many youngsters interested in the postwar era.
To make a long story short........ I'm 63 and started with Marx and bought my first Lionel when I was 11, and had a nice layout by 13. I was a total Lionel nut, but at 15 I traded them in for HO (got taken as so many others did), and then came motorbikes, cars, and girls....
While I stayed with HO and avoided "toy trains", I still remembered the wonderfulness of the Lionel of my youth. Then, when I was 41, my wife picked up a Lionel 2018 loco at DesPlaines Hobbies, and that started me to collect. Of course as soon as the fever kicked in again, the wife left me and with the kids grown there was no stopping me........
The collection grew rapidly in size, especially with the advent of Ebay (blessing & curse). I even built a couple of Christmas layouts in recent years. But I soon realized that having a 736 pulling a string of 6464 boxcars with a 3 or 4 year old at the throttle was not the smartest thing I have ever done. So the big dollar stuff went on the shelf and out came the "runners"..
Today, my interest has grown stronger in the HO collection and layout, and while the Lionel in the display cases still makes me happy, I just don't have the fever I once had. None of my 4 kids are interested in trains, and the grandkids are not either. So it looks like they eventually may hit Ebay again some day, but that's better than being thrown up into an attic or sold for pennies on the dollar to a buyer of collections.
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I am 34 and started my PW collection about 4 years ago with a 623 switcher. I have gotten a lot of nice stuff over the last 4 years, and very rarely buy anything from the modern era anymore.
Its nice to know I am not the only one who collects this stuff that didn't grow up with it.
Darrell,
I'm 42. Postwar trains were always around the house. Even though my father used to get me MPC stuff when I was growing up. We always ran the "good stuff". The MPC stuff was for the train crash re-inacatments.
I got even crazier into this stuff in 2001 when my father and I attened our first auction together and purchased Lionel postwar production documents. I started a small company to publish these documents and since then, we've done two books. Now it's trains everyday and spending a bunch of time with my father....it doesn't get much better than this!
Long live Lionel!
John Schmid
Author - Authoritative Guide to Lionel's Promotional Outfits 1960 - 1960
I'm 42. Started with a 1666, from flea markets with Dad when I was 12. Everyone called him 'train man'. Resurfaced in the last few years with the birth of my daughter(s).
Kurt
Bob Keller
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