The recent "How did you get into O" thread contained several postings from people who got into miniature railroading because their parents already had an interest. I'd be curious to know how many of us on this forum came from families in which their parents had Lionel/Flyer/Marx before them.
In my own case, my father had a Lionel 252 with three passenger cars, which was given to him on Christmas, 1928 (we think). And my mother (and her sisters) had a Christmas layout with a Lionel #1400 streamliner set. I still have all of the above, and they both have a place of honor on my display shelves right now.
I didn't get my own Lionel until 1951, but I've been slowly accumulating equipment ever since.
Nope, but my maternal grandfather had early postwar Flyer and my uncle had prewar Marx. All my Uncle's Marx and some of my grandfather's S are in my basement.
Bob Keller
My parents didn't, but I think my mom's younger brother did. One time I saw a couple of old photos taken during Christmas when my mom and uncle were young, around the early to mid forties. The pix weren't all that clear but I did see a frieght consist set up under the tree. I should ask my uncle about that, see if he remembers.
Dad and my Uncle had Lionel Pre&Postwar Dad's are mine he went to HO for lac of space and my Uncle sets his up at Christmas
Dave
It's a TOY, A child's PLAYTHING!!! (Woody from Toy Story)
No
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
Well, my grandpa had a Lionel Postwar 1513S set (2037 steamer) and a 2055 4-6-4 as a kid that he and his two brothers shared. They got passed down to my dad when he was a kid and now I have them.
Nope. Dad was #2 of 8 kids and mom was #2 of 10! So neither family ever had any money! In fact, my dad was sent away from the family farm at age 10 to live with one of his aunts because my grandparents couldn't afford to feed so many kids anymore. Dad was born in 1902. Can you imagine what kind of toys I'd have in my collection if he did have and save them? Oh well, at least he was one of the first Boy Scouts in the USA! Mom was born in 1940, and had similar issues of having to work practically from the day she was born. Usually picking beans!
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
After my dad came back from WW2 and married my mother he pick up several American Flyer sets from the late 40's. This was prior to my older sister or me appearing on the scene. When we were young he would set up carpet layouts multiple times through out the year. He continue to purchase additional sets through the mid 50's. When He gave me the trains he had two steam and three diesel locomotives, 32 Freight and 3 passenger cars. We actually never had a train under the Christmas tree at all when I was young but on the plus side I didn't have to wait until December each year to run the trains.
Yes, my dad had a smattering of Lionel - a 248 and other tinplate - which occasionally appeared to run around the Christmas tree. I didn't really notice it. He did build my brothers and me a nice HO figure-8 on a large ping-pong table - but that disappeared when my sister was born. So the trains were 'around' but I didn't really pick up on them. Not until I was an adult many years later and actively looking for a hobby.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
Dad received his set in '52. Twin Erie FAs with horn, stock car, two dome tanker, hopper and lighted caboose. He also had the cattle car and corral. Dad was the 4th of 5 kids, and I have to think it was a big sacrifice for grandpa, on a carpenter's wages, to buy such a nice set. The set is still around, and everything still works. Though the train mostly rides the shelf nowadays, the cattle corral has found a permanent place on our layout.
My parents had trains, American Flyer, American Flyer O-guage, and later lionel. my first train set was a Marx, but not sure what type.
My dad's train set was an American Flyer "Trail Blazer" set from 1953. A real nice Pennsy K-5 loco with mail pick-up and 3 heavyweight passenger cars. This set was under our Christmas tree every year and afterwards it would go down to the basement on the ping pong table for a few more months.
Ray
Bayville, NJ
Life is what happens to youWhile you're busy making other plans - John Lennon
My Dad was the guy that insisted all little boys get a train for their first Christmas, a tradition my Mom carried on after his death, so I know he very much liked trains. However, I have never heard or seen any evidence to suggest he had them himself. I like to think he did, but there is no one left to ask. Despite his passing 10 years before my first son was born, both my boys know it was my father's idea to get them the trains that run around our house.
Scramble and all. You stirred up a lot of thoughts on this topic. Good ones.
My Dad (R.I.P.) had American Flyer growing up in the 1920s. The Great Depression turned things upside down, and the trains were sold off to put food on the dinner table, except for a water tower which he kept and passed on to me. It sits proudly displayed in my wife's china cabinet, and it looks somewhat out of place to some.....but not to me! Thanks to Northwoods Flyer (check out his stellar thread), I got some history on the water tower, and a connection to my Dad's past.
During and after WWII, my father started a family, with a stint in the military thrown in for good measure. Two daughters later, he must have anticipated having a son and felt the odds were now in his favor. So he started picking up some Lionel pieces, one at a time.
The first was a Lionel 2046 Hudson (1950) and the second was a 2031 Rock Island ALCO AA pair (1952). $40 was real money back in those times, so I can just imagine how my Mom reacted when she saw that first engine, a year before I was in the picture. No, these engines were not the top end nor were they the bottom end. But it was what he thought he could afford to slip in somewhat under the radar.
He never spoke much about his long gone "sacrificed" trains as I can recall, but it was evident he was an enthusiast from the outset. He knew every hobby/model/train shop within a 30 miles radius. I suppose his master plan was to launch or relaunch a love for toy trains, and then sew the seed should he be blessed with a son. Our family of 6 was living in a two bedroom apartment when this all began, so a layout was not a possibility. Housing was extremely tight back after WWII, so one had to make do and live where they could find a place. But eventually a house was in the cards, with that all important basement to someday launch a layout.
Fast forward to the discussion at hand, starter train sets and sewing the seed.
Back in "the day" families did not have a lot of "things.". Today's concept of buy it and throw it away was unheard of. There were three channels on the TV (if you had one) and there were no gadgets. And no all-consuming time wasters that go with the gadgets..
Families did things together and spent time together. Meals were a "must be there on time" event. And if Dad decided toy trains were the ticket, that was my ticket because I had little else.......nor did my friends for that matter. Dad was working 6-7 day weeks, so his schedule was my schedule. I was glad to have the little time he had to spend with me. So when I awakened Christmas morning 1955 to a "real" train set up and waiting to go around the tree, I was in heaven.
My point is this. Today too many folks buy their kids toys, games, and gadgets and then they walk away. They don't get and stay involved, and they "let" technology set the tone. Kids think they want "things" because they are brainwashed by consumerism and their friends. But what they really want is time, quality time. With us. Nothing could be better for parents and parenting than a good power outage and being trapped in the house to ride out some storm.
If I can, without asking her, con my granddaughter into playing with the trains and with me (my passion, not hers), by including her in the what and the how, letting her direct the play, I think that the investment in a starter train set is short money.
Kids have found themselves exactly where we have placed them, trapped on this continuous treadmill, with schedules and activities and gadgets, leaving too little time for their imaginations to run wild, to develop critical thinking, to wonder, to question, to learn about the world around them, and to find some semblance of an anchor in their families and in their (the) past.
You might be surprised. When I leave the "gang" gathered in my home and I start running the trains by myself around the Christmas tree in the living room during the holidays, why is it that all of the gadgets and the TV are abandoned by all of the kids and the adults to see what is going on?
And then they stay in the room, watching the trains run in circles and actually begin talking to one another without interruption. I have to admit, some of the adults can't tear themselves away from their "connected" phones, choosing to exercise their thumbs instead of putting the phone away and spending some quality time with the very people they moan they wish they had more time for. I need to invest in a call phone jammer. "Hmmmmm, no signal? Mine doesn't work either. Must be a problem with the local cell tower."
I'll get off my soapbox now. I have my Dad to thank for teaching me. The toy trains were his vehicle, starting with that first modest train. Die cast or plastic, switches/crossovers/sidings or no, scale or non-scale, realism or fantasy, low end or high end, simple or multi-featured. We are overthinking this.
The worst that can happen with a starter set is that one can start a family tradition, even if it is just a modest loop around the Christmas tree. Grow it from there. Or don't grow it. But run them!
Jack.
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
Jack
You hit the nail on the head. My only concern is for families to be able to afford a set these days, meaning of course young families. My best memories were not of the trains themselves but of my Dad's and Grandads ..encouragement and three generations of participation..playing with trains even though as kids they had none of their own. Brought out the kid in them.. My young buddies too, making up goofy scenarios using army men, toy trucks..our imaginations..Remember soap box racers, balsa wood planes..? Kids playing video games by themselves, folks talking on cell phones, I-Pads practically tripping over each other. A different world indeed..better in some ways, worse in others.
Bruce.
Wally........you are so right about the affordability factor. I didn't mean to gloss over the expense. But........ let me digress for a moment.
Very good friends of ours, a couple with two children, are having trouble making financial ends meet. They have chosen how they wish to spend their money......on the cars they drive, the upper end cell phones they purchase (with insurance), the unlimited talk and data plans they have selected, the upper digital level of service and the movie channels and sports packages they selected from their cable company, etc. They have had a beautiful 46" leading brand flatscreen HDTV long before I did, complete with DVR. The list goes on. What does a Polar Express set cost, a one time hit of $250?
When they come over to our house with their children, their boy remains glued to the running of the trains the entire time he is here. Then light bulb goes off in my head.
I came out and said to them plainly, "for all you have been and are to us," I offered to "give" them a "new in box" starter O gauge train set I had and didn't need/want so that they could give it to their son themselves for Christmas, told them they would be doing me a big favor by putting it to good use. They countered with an issue......the room in their house to set it up. OK, go smaller. I countered with a "new in box" starter HO gauge set I had and don't need/want (have 2 of them, never opened, their choice). More excuses. These are the nicest people you would ever have the privilege of meeting.
If they feel funny about taking my wife's and my gift, as a small token of thanks for what and whom they have been and continue to be to my family all these years, I can understand, appreciate, and accept that. But I can't get it out of my head how thrilled the boy would be to have a train of his own.
But they still have another choice......to find the money themselves by cutting back on some the crap which costs them a ton every month, buying, then making a modest layout that could be slid under his bed!!!! There. Problem solved. And the train could be relocated for duty around the Christmas tree during the holidays.
No, I think the problem is what I stated in my previous post. Trains don't interest them, even though they know trains float their son's boat. Maybe they feel toy trains are frivolous or a waste of time. I don't much enjoy playing Barbie Dolls with my granddaughter, but I do it.
wallyworld [...] My only concern is for families to be able to afford a set these days, meaning of course young families.
[...] My only concern is for families to be able to afford a set these days, meaning of course young families.
Well, I'd try to put that in perspective. My father, a WWII Army Air Corps vet, was going to school on the GI Bill when I was born. And our young family was broke. I mean, really broke. As in when the battery in our well-used '38 Plymouth died, Dad had to go to the police station to beg them not to ticket him for parking on the street overnight, until he could afford to buy a new battery from the paltry income of his gas-station night job.
All the same, in late summer 1951 he decided to get his 3-year-old kid an entry-level Lionel train. Though it only cost $12.50, he had to put it on layaway and pay it off in small installments so he could buy it by Christmas.
And yes, I understand about inflation and the relative value of the dollar. All the same, it makes me wonder how many "young families" actually can't afford a modern equivalent of that set. I'd suspect that other factors are coming into play.
Kids playing video games by themselves, folks talking on cell phones, I-Pads practically tripping over each other. A different world indeed..better in some ways, worse in others.
Amen to that. And by the way, thanks, Dad.
arkady wallyworld: [...] My only concern is for families to be able to afford a set these days, meaning of course young families. Well, I'd try to put that in perspective. My father, a WWII Army Air Corps vet, was going to school on the GI Bill when I was born. And our young family was broke. I mean, really broke. As in when the battery in our well-used '38 Plymouth died, Dad had to go to the police station to beg them not to ticket him for parking on the street overnight, until he could afford to buy a new battery from the paltry income of his gas-station night job. All the same, in late summer 1951 he decided to get his 3-year-old kid an entry-level Lionel train. Though it only cost $12.50, he had to put it on layaway and pay it off in small installments so he could buy it by Christmas. And yes, I understand about inflation and the relative value of the dollar. All the same, it makes me wonder how many "young families" actually can't afford a modern equivalent of that set. I'd suspect that other factors are coming into play. Kids playing video games by themselves, folks talking on cell phones, I-Pads practically tripping over each other. A different world indeed..better in some ways, worse in others. Amen to that. And by the way, thanks, Dad.
wallyworld: [...] My only concern is for families to be able to afford a set these days, meaning of course young families.
I am reluctant to stereotype all young families as rolling in dough and I don't think the economic picture supports that picture for the majority, although I agree that the wheels have come off the rails as far as what is important in a consumer society. My Dad was in the same situation as yours after WW2 and as I understand it, my grandfather bankrolled the train, and if it were for anything other than a gift for Xmas, well my Dad was a proud person, made his own way. That being said, when I was younger there was no such term as the working poor but in all honesty, we were in the sense of what we did not have we did not miss.and did have much. Sound familiar? Making an inexpensive O gauge toy train goes against the grain of more is better leaving less to the imagination. As I said in the beginning maybe my sense of nostalgia has overridden my critical thinking.. As for me personally planned obsolescence has gotten out of hand and there is still something to be said for simplicity. in more than toy trains, perhaps a lost way of life. I hope not.. I walked away from "new trains" simply for the reason they are not a necessity at $500-2000 a pop. For some it is which is fine by me. I think more folks are being crowded out of the hobby due to rapidly rising costs and I think most are reluctant to say so as if that is some sort of taboo. I happen to like tinplate but I hate to see the hobby largely evaporate.to a handful of old coots and no trains for Xmas for the young ones.The title of this question of this thread could become obsolete, and I think that's a shame. Cest La Vie.
Yes, that is him in my avatar picture with one of his GG1s.
Yes. Dad & his three brothers received a used 254E set for Christmas in the early '30's. Some how, as the next to the oldest, Dad ended up with it. A set of repro wheels got it going again. Here's a photo of him and his great-grandson during Christmas "07
Banks, Proud member of the OTTS TCA 12-67310
Banks, great picture, shows that electric trains are timeless and are passed from generation to generation.
Bill T.
You know I don’t know if my Dad or mom had trains but here is the story.
My dad was born in 1924 and when the depression hit it was not good to them.
Dad’s father passed away when dad was 7 years old from a fishing accident and years later his mom remarried but I don’t think that worked out.
I never knew any relatives on my dad’s side other than a stepsister. Both of his brothers were dead before I was born.
When dad got out of the Air Force after WWII his mom died 15 days later. Dad never spoke much to me about his childhood but I can’t think it was very good.
My mom grew up on a farm. She got cancer when I was 4 and died when I was 5 so I don’t remember her too much and even my older brother who was 7 when she passed doesn’t recall a lot about her.
My grandfather on mom’s side spent a lot of time with my brother and I and they never had trains. Too much to do on the farm.
On the Christmas after mom died my brother and I got our first train sets.
There were two sets. I remember crying to get the orange new diesel U.P. 202 set and my brother had to settle for the used steamer set. Back vision tells me he got the better train but heck I was just a dumb kid and wanted the train in the new box.
So that was the start. After Christmas dad set up a layout in the basement of the house we were renting and trains became a way for him to spend time with his two young boys.
When he remarried and we moved in 1961 we set up a layout in the attic of my step grandfather’s house with the help of my uncle who was 9 years older than me but still a kid. That layout was where we grew up on trains. It was the full length of the attic, 23’ x 4’ with a 4’ x 8’ switchyard on the one end. Dad helped with the build and kept getting trains as he could afford them, passing them out between my brother, half sister, and me.
Dad would spend hours at the train store, Emil & Ed’s in Joliet and I still have the 1961 Lionel catalog he got there. In 1961 I got a 218P and a 218C to go with my other stuff along with a new half-sister. Before long he had got me another 218C so I had a nice ABB unit engine. Many more trains and cars would follow. One is my Marx Williams Crooks Wells Fargo set.
Well as I got older and could drive I fell away from the trains as well as did the rest of us.
Dad never stopped picking up trains. He would give cars to my son every year at birthdays and Christmas. He would say, Hey got another nice one but we never knew how many or when. He seldom got top of the line O gauge trains because then as now the money was just too much and was not there
When dad passed in 1991 and my brother, sister and I split up the trains he had packed away we all ended up with about 90+ pieces of rolling stock each. So that kind of tells you where it came from.
He did score one nice O gauge train for me and that was the Lionel Pennsylvania Railroad 681 S-2 Turbine I found in the basement when I was cleaning up just last month.
I hope dad had a smile on his face when he saw me find it because I sure did.
Thanks Dad!!
Kevin
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
Great stories, all. I enjoyed them very much. I apologize for going bananas here with my posts, but it seems many of us share one thing in common: the trains have provided wonderful memories and a solid connection to our past.
Have we lost something in all of this with the current generation and our own children? I hope not. My son never got the train bug, and I don't have a grandson......yet. I think I will keep scheming until I can "help" just one more child get hooked like I was and am.
Jack,
You make a great point by saying that our children don't carry on the tradition of trains and it is a shame.
My son and daughter were always fond of trains, when they were younger.
Now, their interests have waned, but there's still a flicker of hope, as my son looks at some of my trains and admires their detailing and my daughter has spurred her oldest son to ask me about the trains.
I suppose, with our children's jobs, computers and economy, their minds aren't on the pleasant, simpler things.
When, I was younger and got home from work, I would play and tinker with my trains and my wife did not mind, because she's supportive of trains.
I'm lucky, because my wife would play with her brother's train set, more than he did, when they were younger and she still finds trains interesting.
When, we have extra pennies my wife makes sure I get a train goody.
I hope, things will turn around, for the good of our children, country and for the good of trains.
Take Care,
Ralph
Well, yes and no. My Dad was one of 8 kids, and times were tough for them, so he had no trains as a child.
On the other hand, I was "given" a wonderful set of S Gauge trains on my 1st Christmas, and I was not allowed to touch or operate them until I was 8. For those 8 years, they were his. He and my uncle built the "train table" & wired the layout and my Mom built paper structures and procured Plasticville structures for the layout that remained up year round. I was allowed to procure Marx & Tootsietoy people & cars and play with them on the table, but I didn't get to be the engineer until I was 8.
BTW, yes the engine still runs (very well) , and remains the flagship of fleet of trains some 61 years later.
LittleTommy
My Dad had lots of trains. They all ran on the main line of the New York Central behind our house between Erie, PA and Cleveland, OH. He worked in the Maintenance of Way department. I know that is not really the question that was asked at the beginning of this topic but I couldn't resist!!!
Mel Hazen; Jax, FL Ride Amtrak. It's the only way to fly!!!
Mel,
That sounds great to me!
No. While they supported my interest in trains and managed to save enough to have Santa bring me my first train, the "funds" just weren't there for them or my grandfolks to buy luxury items (like trains) for themselves. Thanks for asking.
My parents didn't. Growing up in the rural south, I don't think they even knew of or had any interest in toy trains, but I always suspected my Dad liked trains a little more than he let on. Even when I was a baby, I have seen pictures from vacations where we would ride trains, sometimes the same ones. Little did they know what it would spark.
My aunt (Maryland born, married my uncle on my dad's side) was the one who sparked my interest in Lionel trains. I had been duly supplied with Thomas the Tank Engine tapes and trains, but my aunt's Lionel always caught my attention. It had, I think, belonged to her dad, my great uncle who sadly passed away when I was very young. Anyway, I would help her set it up around her tree every Christmas. It was more for me to play with than a decoration. Now that I'm older, and don't have alot of time, there have been a few Lionel-less christmases at their house. Sad, but at least they still have it.
Anyway, flash forward to the present. I'm 20 years old and a busy college student, and have a few Lionel pieces which I run around the tree. I have a set my parents gave me when they thought I was old enough to take care of it: a brand new Lionel Erie Hudson freight set (2004 I think). I bought a Polar Express a few months later, but a year ago when I was short on money and had to pay some bills I sold it. I also had, briefly, some Lionel 0-27 postwar pieces and a 1050 Texas Special alco (I may be wrong on the number). I was never fond of them so I sold them and bought some new rolling stock.
The cream of the crop was a 2343 Santa Fe f3 A-A I bought at my LHS (sadly now closed) after Christmas. They were in alright condition externally, but needed some work. These two were sold, but in the hopes of buying one in better condition in the future.
My current roster os of Friday included my Erie Hudson which needs some serious maintinence, and a 2065 Hudson which belonged to my best friend's, late stepfather's, late father. It was in really rough condition but it has tons of sentimental value so its in a continual resoration. I had it repaird so it runs flawlessly, now it awaits a repaint.
This weekend there was a train show in town. I went on a whim and saw some nice things. The bug bit me again. I had been saving some money to buy myself something nice, so I walked away with a new loop of fastrack, several pieces of rolling stock (including 1 AMT and 3 KMT boxcars), and.......an MTH Chesapeake & Ohio Railking 4-6-4 Streamlined Hudson (One I had wanted for years). I paid less than $300 for the lot.
The Hudson is running as we speak, and now Im just itching to buy some more track, and wider radius curves so I can let this beauty fly. Oh, and a nice set of Blue and Yellow C&O streamliners, and, and,.....the list goes on lol.
Nick! :)
Banks Yes. Dad & his three brothers received a used 254E set for Christmas in the early '30's. Some how, as the next to the oldest, Dad ended up with it. A set of repro wheels got it going again. Here's a photo of him and his great-grandson during Christmas "07
What a terrific picture worth a million words.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month