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.
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.
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!
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.
No
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
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)
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.
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
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.
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