Well,since they paid for them you could rightly say they had trains. I sure enjoyed playing with them.
Well, here is the story...
My Great Grand Father was a worker on the Pennsylvania Rail Road and my grandfather worked on the PRR for a time as well (I have both of their pension books..or I should say Mom does). We lived near the North East Corridor, because Great Grandpa Alieni took the train to work. Adams Station in now the MOW for AMTRAK in North Brunswick, NJ. So the ground work was laid for my interest in trains.
My Great Grandparents and my Grandparents lived within walking distance of the NEC. When we visited, them, myself and my 2 younger brothers would walk to the NEC (across US1! ) and find treasures beyond imagination...and yes, we did squash a few pennies.
I can't tell you whether my Dad scrimped and saved for any of the trains, but being in the Navy in 1960 and buying a house and 3 boys, I'd have to say that would be true.
We moved out of my Grandma & Grandpa's 2nd floor 1 bed apartment (my grandparents lived downstairs), in 1960, to a brand new 3 bed 1 bath home with a full basement. Eventually one half was finished and the other half was empty sans the washer and dryer and 12'X16' train table.
The perimeter had an oval of track and in the left back corner was the foam mountains and beacon and in the far right corner was a bascule bridge. On the front was 2 switches for a passing siding (for a passenger station). In the center was an elevated set of tracks. We had a few freight and flat cars, a 2037, 1061 and a Texas Special diesel. A 1644 rounded out the roster, but it would never move (more on that later...).
Whether it was day or night (and the lights on the Plasticville houses were installed from USN surplus from underneath) we spent lots of time with our Lionels. Summer or Winter, the basement was warm in winter and cool in the summer. Dad had constructed an aluminum console where the ZW was placed and lighted switches for all the lights on the layout. The ZW was accompanied by a smaller plastic transformer that ran the elevated section of the the train set.
In 1969, we moved and everything got packed up and put away. I had no idea where they went. Girls and cars (mostly cars) got in the way and the trains were left to memory.
Fast forward to 2003, where I had moved to Florida...land of no basements. I had saved my Christmas money for something special and I had remembered the trains we had. I purchased a NYC Flyer with Railsounds. I was amazed to say the least. I have purchased other sets (like the Pennsy Flyer) and added to my collection.
Along the way I met a gentleman that fueled my fire. Dave Caplan of The Train Works helped me greatly. We became friends and I eventually worked with him at his LHS until his death. He introduced me to Mel (HI, MEL!!!) and a few other influential people. All train nuts. Influential because I learned so much more from them than I could have on my own. From toy trains to Hi-Rail, I've seen and helped create a few layouts.
My Dad and Mom have since shown me where all the trains are...and I've cataloged them and know where everything is. And it is specifically written in the will that I get all things train related.
Oh, and that 1644? Well, it was the one thing that followed me to Florida. I replaced the E Unit and that was all it needed. I cleaned it and lubed it up and it ran like new. The first Christmas I was back, I set it up under Mom & Dad's Christmas tree. It hadn't run since the '60's.
I am the monster in your head...And I thought you'd learn by now, It seems you haven't yet.I am the venom in your skin --- Breaking Benjamin
I am really enjoying this thread.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
No.
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
If a parent is going to buy a starter set from LIONEL, wait until near Christmas day and after Christmas for the best prices.
Andrew
Nope. My parents worked in the textile mills and really didn't have any hobbies. We had a garden and went fishing, but that was for food, not fun. The only fun pastime I remember was going to the swimming hole or beach.
When I was way little, perhaps 4, my dad did win a Lionel train in a poker game. I never actually saw it run on any track and I think it was basically destroyed by me playing with it. I was too young to have a train without guidance.
I got my first train at around 8 or so and it was my only train until I got into the hobby of model trains as an adult about 15 or so years ago.
My father did not have trains as a boy growing up in The Great Depression. My older brother was born in 1948 and my parents made sure that he got a nice Lionel train set that Christmas. I myself never had Lionels as a child. I had an HO layout. My father did buy himself a Lionel 602 Seaboard switcher in 1957, I guess it was a sort of delayed chilhood gift to himself (he was 39). He gave that locomotive to me in 1973 or 74 when I was 16 or 17. That locomotive got me started in Lionel Trains.
Cobrabob.
Toy Trains, they are not just an adventure, they are a way of life !
No. I just got into it myself. I was fascinated by trains, born in '43 so I started life surrounded by trains.
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