Poll: my very first Lionel was a?

[Anonymous]

A scout, in 1951.  The first thing I bought, after  I had a paying job.

Still a good puller.

Bob

[Dave Farquhar]

Somehwere it was mentioned that Lionel didn't produce trains dureing the war. If my memory is correct, they did and these Scout set were the ones for lack of materials. There is also a war story behind this train also thats rather amuseing and illustrates the people and times back then. Perhaps I'll tell it sometime. Ken

Lionel didn't produce trains themselves during the war. Various theories surfaced over the years about trains that may have been produced covertly, but most experts agree that wouldn't have made any sense. Both Lionel and Gilbert had lucrative government contracts and it wouldn't have been worth putting those contracts at risk by producing a few toy trains.

Hafner, a minor player in the field, really struggled because of the ban on toy production. They secured permisision to make bottle caps out of the metal they had in stock. The metal wasn't suitable for any wartime purpose, so the government was OK with that. Making bottle caps kept them in business until the war was over.

Madison Hardware did produce some trains and sets during the war using Lionel parts. Since they were a retailer and not a manufacturer, the ban didn't apply to them. When they ran out of straight track, one of the owners developed a machine to straighten curved rails so they could assemble and sell straights.

Lionel sold the Scout sets as a response to Marx. Marx was seriously undercutting Lionel's prices and Lionel didn't want to completely cede the low end of the market to Marx, so they brought out the Scout line. The Scout sets were priced like Marx's mid-range and high-end sets, and they weren't as capable as the Marx sets at the same price point, but they had the prestige of the Lionel name on them.

My first Lionel was my dad's Lionel 1110 with a mixture of postwar cars. His parents (particularly his dad) were notorious for being wealthy but tight with money. They bought a Scout set and expanded it with Marx O27 track and switches. That way the doctor's sons had a "proper" Lionel layout to play with (if you can't afford a Lionel, you must not be a very good doctor, right?) but at a Marx price. They later got a 2026 and 2037, but those locomotives didn't work when I was young, and in 1985 we didn't know where to take those to get them fixed. His 1110 still worked (after a lot of tweaking), so we set up a bunch of track on the floor in the basement and ran his 1110 over that.

Since some of the cars had operating knuckle couplers and some had the old-style Scout couplers that weren't compatible, I wrapped thin wire around the couplers to attach dissimilar cars together so I could run a longer train.

[jefelectric]

I actually can't remember exactly what model it was, I was about 8, which puts it about 1946 or 47.  I know it had the electromagnetic couplers with the coil.  With my penchant for taking things apart and sometimes not being able to put them back together it did not survive very long.

[Buckeye Riveter]

My first Lionel (is there any other?) was a 1948 O-27 freight set headed by a 2026 engine with a 1032 transformer. Everything is still operational today includung the tender whistle, but except for the 2026. It is still here but after a few too many trips to the concrete it is no longer operational.

Wayne

Wayne, you need one of these!

[purduepete1]

My first Lionel (is there any other?) was a 1948 O-27 freight set headed by a 2026 engine with a 1032 transformer. Everything is still operational today includung the tender whistle, but except for the 2026. It is still here but after a few too many trips to the concrete it is no longer operational.

Wayne

[1688torpedo]

 Hi Carl-Alabama!   I see you like 1688 Torpedo's as well. If you need any parts or service for yours, Just let me know & I'll help you out & teach you how well 1688s can enhance the look of tubular track! Also, to the forum. Take Care.

[Anonymous]

I'm just getting started, first lionel i got earlier in the year was the wind-up rail zeppelin, and i think it is really cool. If that does not count, then it would be the 1688e "torpedo" . runs like a champ, so well infact, i figure you will know then what I am about to say, it flew off the curve and broke off one of the red lanterns, another something i'll have to repair. But not bad for a toy, something close to 70 years old.

[RRCharlie]

I got my first Lionel on Christmas morning, 1948: 2026 2-6-2 with SP smoke unit and whistle tender, sunoco tank car, Baby Ruth-PRR orange box car, Sp caboose-unlighed-no coupler on raer, 1033 Transformer- figure-8 of 0-27 track witha 6019 uncoupler-unloader track.

Holidays with presents attached were always things for the train. When I left home after college I had to tear down a layout that took about 35 to 40% of our basement: 4 loops connected under a tunnel on the far side of the layout- one went up and over the others. Everything still runs except for the tank car-all was repainted in my teenage years so collectors value is nil.

Mel hazen

Jacksonville, FL

[LS1Heli]

interesting that everyone who has 30-40-50 and older Lionel trains all report they still run them and some report they run "like a swiss watch".

WOnder if the same will be said for today's electonic trains come 2055 or so.

 

I have a Lionel 8374 from 1983 which was one of the first to offer an electronic E-unit.  24 years later it still runs the same: "like a swiss watch."

[Anonymous]

Somehwere it was mentioned that Lionel didn't produce trains dureing the war. If my memory is correct, they did and these Scout set were the ones for lack of materials. There is also a war story behind this train also thats rather amuseing and illustrates the people and times back then. Perhaps I'll tell it sometime. Ken

I'm afraid that what you have read about Lionel not producing any trains during the war is correct.  In 1942, the U.S. government outlawed the production of non-essential goods that used strategic materials, which included metal toy trains.  The only train set that Lionel produced during the war was made entirely out of cardboard.  Lionel's product line during the war consisted of military items, mostly for the navy (see this topic: http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/1167061/ShowPost.aspx ).  As the deadline for stopping train production loomed near, Lionel sent what unassembled parts they had to Madison Hardware in New York City, who assembled trains themselves and ended up creating a few unique items once they started to run out of parts.  During the war, Lionel spent plenty of time planning they postwar train line and once the war ended, they were able to quickly switch back to train production, getting a train set out by the 1945 Christmas season.  The set you describe is an early postwar set.  Plastic-bodied rolling stock like the two-dome tank car and the couplers you describe are uniquely postwar items.

I would be very interested in hearing the war story related to this set and I'm sure other forum members will be, too.  Please do tell us!

[Anonymous]

 My first was a 4907 GG-1 that my wife gave me a 5 years ago for my birthday.  Up till then I only had MTH.  Now because of my wifes gift, I have prewar, post war, and modern lionels.

[Eriediamond]

My first set was a "Scout" set back in 1946 as a Xmas present. It had a figure 8 track with an uncoupling track. The loco was a 242 with tin or metal tender with whistle. Had a gondola, a twin dome Sunoco tank car and a caboose. The transformer was a scuare box with throttle, reverse botton and a "Bakelight horn botton that had such a stiff spring on it it would wear a blister on your thumb. Sorry, I don't have a set number for it. I also remember the couplers had copper windings around the coupler shank and had a shoe on the trucks to activate them. The loco had wipers instead of rollers for the third rail. Also being a kid that had to see how things "ticked", it's no longer around. Somehwere it was mentioned that Lionel didn't produce trains dureing the war. If my memory is correct, they did and these Scout set were the ones for lack of materials. There is also a war story behind this train also thats rather amuseing and illustrates the people and times back then. Perhaps I'll tell it sometime. Ken

[thor]

W.E.Disney set from 2005. A 4-4-2 with two green passenger cars and one red observation(?) car with the rounded end and no rear coupler. Okay so I only got my first Lionel two years ago at age 58 but it still counts as MY first, right?

My now grownup children clubbed together to buy it for me as a Christmas present that encapsulated their happy childhood memories of Daddy playing trains with them (trains in question were made by Playmobil, roughly O gauge in size) and Daddy watching Disney cartoon movies with them.

I had the good fortune to have American boyhood friends from the airbases in East Anglia, growing up in England, so I could occasionally play with their Lionel trains but we couldn't afford them or find them except in London. The smoke and whistling tender really impressed me, no English trains had that at the time.

[billbarman]

My 1st set was the new york centrial flyer from 1999, its not old at all so of course i still have the engine and rolling stock. God I loved that set so much.

[Anonymous]

My first set was a Sears set from around 1967 or so.  I'm sorry I don't remember the set number right now.  It had a Scout engine with slope-back tender, a hopper that had a hard time staying on the track (the gauge of one of the trucks was a little too small), a green or blue gondola with a couple of white tanks, maybe a flatcar, and a red caboose.  I think it was a set that had two O-27 switches, so you could make an oval and another smaller oval.  From that, Dad really went to town, until our whole living room and dining room floors were covered with track every summer.  I still have the cars and engine; with all the "scaley" stuff I have now, I couldn't bear to give up my first trains.

Bob Blomberg

[trainboy414]

mine was a alco  with four amtrack passenger cars. Still have it with all the add on cars and the dummy A unit.

[gwg50]

My first was this 1688 Torpedo. Something (car) is missing but don't remeber what.

[Anonymous]

 My grandfathers trains were my first introduction to trains, he had alot of them. I had some marx and MPC plastic locos that I started out with as a todler. Used them as floor toys. Those are long gone. My first real set was given to me by my grandpa for christmas when I was three. It was a 1957 204alco set with the blue striped passenger cars. I also got track, an Rw transformer and MPC horn station. Interesting thing about that set though was, although I had my own little layout at my grandpa's house and visited him every weekend, It remained in a box in the basement of my house only to come out at Christmas. Still, getting that train set is my first memory of a child. My grandfather gave me lots of trains growing up and taught me most of what I know about trains. The foremost reason I am so passonate about this hobby is that I remember him and keep his spirit alive by doing so.

[ezmike]

Two actually.

My uncle gave me the 2 sets my parents bought for him as a present. I don't remember exactly when he gave them to me, I was born in 1956, but here's the story.

Sometime after 1952 when my parents got married, they bought him 2 used sets. They were a 2036 loco with it's 6466W tender, 2- 3472 milk cars with stand, a Sunoco tanker, black gondola and 6257 caboose and a Scout loco (I think it is a 1001) with sheet metal tender, gondols, Baby Ruth car and caboose. I don't have them in front of me and I don't remember all the numbers. These were the beginning. I still have them both. The 2036 runs great, the tender whistle is strong and both milk cars operate perfectly. The Scout has forward and reverse issues, runs in one direction no matter which way the switch is positioned but that's another story.

Wait there's more, the sets included 027 track, 2 sets of switches, a 90 degree cross-over, a silver metal Lionel bridge, a red pre-war trestle/bridge (has walkways on both sides and Lionel in an enamel oval), a 394 beacon, an automatic gateman (got lost in our last move), assorted Plasticville structures and pewter figures and let's not forget both a ZW and KW with a small AF transformer (all 3 still work and the ZW and KW have been serviced recently).

These laid dormant for almost 25 years before I became "addicted" this past Christmas. Now I can't stop.

Mike

[laz 57]

A LIONEL starter set back in 57 the year I was born, my father said we need a train set for this one to put around the tree.  Now my nephew is the proud owner of the set.

laz57

[traindaddy1]

SantaFe F3 Diesel AA with the Silver Bluff, Cloud, Range and Dawn.

PS  You did say 'Lionel'........What started it all was a Marx @ 1950 and Varney @ 1953.

[Prairietype]

It was for the kids, but my dad later admitted he bought it really for himself. I liked it most and inherited it.

It was Illinois Central #2363, and it included the cars shown on the front of the 1955 Lionel catalog, + a green Cities Service tank car, a gang hand car and a crossbuck signal "Lionel Lines." 

 

[dsmith]

I received my first Lionel train set in 1957 for Christmas when I was 7 years old.  It is set 1575, a 5 car 027 freight set that consists of a 205 Missouri Pacific A-A Alco Diesel, a red and grey 6111 log car, 6112 blue gondola with white containers, 6560 wrecking crane and 6119 work caboose.  It continues to run around my layout and is my favorite set.  I like to set it up under the Christmas tree every year, just like I did 50 years ago

[Anonymous]

My first 'O-gauge' set was my Father's 1949 Marx Sante Fe freight set.  The engine didn't run and when we took it to a hobby shop for repair they wouldn't touch it.  Since it didn't run I basicly put it in a box and it fell into oblivian.  For my 16th birthday, instead of a car, I wanted Lionel Trains, so my father told me to pick something out of the Trainworld add in the back of a Model Railroader magazine... I ended up with a Northern Pacific (I was born in Tacoma, WA), Lionel Sante Fe Auto Carrier, Rock Island Boxcar, NYC Flatcar, and a Northern Pacific Bay Window caboose (this was 1987).  Played with the stuff for a few years and then put it in a box and forgot about it till 2002.  I traded my Father's Marx stuff for a Lionel PostWar 2020... although I love the 2020 I wish I still had my Father's Marx stuff as I found a guy who would rewind the motor a few months after I traded the stuff ... lesson learned (never get rid of something you like just because it doesn't work... you will eventually find someone who can fix it!

I now have a boat load of stuff waiting for the new train room...

[Buckeye Riveter]

My first Lionel Train arrived for Christmas.  It was an uncatalogued set sold at Western Auto.  The engine is a Rio Grande 222.  The set included the red satellite car, now a collectors piece.  (Green ones are much easier to find.)  The engine still works great and the satellite car can still launch it to the ceiling.  In the photo below, the Rio Grande 222 is running on my layout of today being controlled by TMCC.

[lionel2986]

My first Lionel was a section of 0-27 track. Then I got more track and a PRR 2-4-2 from the MPC era, new in box during summer of 1990. I still remember the day my dad took me into the hobby shop. I was 4 and trying to decide between some sort of blue NW2 with a horn, or a gray PRR 2-4-2 with smoke. I picked smoke. For the most part, nothings changed. I still like buying the ones with smoke but now I can get railsounds :)

[Dave45681]

An MPC "Workin' on the Railroad" set from the late 70's. Had a steamer, blue manual dump car, yellow manual crane, and a red work caboose. Had stickers for the decorations. Also had the plastic "lumber loader" structure in red plastic and a few red plastic molded figures.

This was a DC set with the red power pack with the handle that you lifted up to move the throttle. (Think of an inverted U that rotates from table to vertical with the loop upwards).

-Dave

[darianj]

The Very first one?....I have no idea. I do remeber having a train when I was about 6 or 7, but being a kid, things broke, got thrown away, and the only thing that can be found at this time is a plastic tender with the word Lionel on it.

30 years later, I purchased the "Polar Express" set.

[Anonymous]

My first Lionel items were an MPC 9013 CN hopper car and a postwar 6017 caboose that I bought at an antique store when I was 10 or 11. A while later, I also bought a pink 6017 caboose from that same antique store. The antique store in question had a cabinet full of HO trains with just these 3 O gauge pieces. At that time, all my O gauge trains were Marx and these 3 cars sat on a siding on my Marx layout.

My first Lionel engine came when I was 12. At an antique sale, I found a 600 MKT NW-2 switcher (the rare version with the grey base and yellow hand rails) with two X6014 Baby Ruth boxcars, a 6456 LV hopper car, a 6121 flatcar, a 6017 caboose and a pile of O27 track. I was thrilled! I finally had a Lionel!

However, as my dad and I were driving away from the sale, I discovered that there was no transformer with it. My dad turned around and went back to see if the people who sold it had one. They didn't, but he did discover that they also had another Lionel for sale: a boxed set with a 221 Rio Grande Alco FA, 3349 turbo missile car, 6042 gondola car with cable reels, 6476 LV hopper car and unmarked yellow caboose. He bought it, but didn't tell me and I got it for my 13th birthday.

I haven't stopped collecting since!