What was the first scale locomotive you bought when you started out in the hobby?
Well, the very first would have been an American Flyer Hudson.
In HO I cannot recall very well, but I did have CNW road switcher that was built by Flishmann, I also had a German prototype also from them.
In the Modern Era (post 1983) me thinks one of my first locos was an Atheran SD40-2.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
A Marxs 4-6-4 Hudson lettered for New York Central for Christmas in about 1959 if I recall right. Still Have it and it still runs. It had puffing smoke and the headlight still works, God only knows how many miles that thing has traveled! It came in a train set my parents bought from Sears & Robuck and I still have all the cars and the power pack. The track was steel and I wore the finnish off of it.
Jim
My first locomotive was an Bachmann Spectrum 0-6-0st in HO scale. Unfortunately it took a dive off the table due to a misbehaving turnout and is being converted to a WW&F ry (Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington railway) 2-6-2 in On2 1/2
The first HO loco I had was given to me for Christmas by my uncle in 1960, when I was 12 years old & my dad and I were building a small 4 x 8 layout. It was a Lionel 0-4-0 switcher. As I recall, it was a noisy little cuss, but I loved it.
On the layout I'm building now, the first loco I purchased was a Proto 2000 Baldwin BL-2 in BAR colors.
Carl
"I could never belong to any club that would have me as a member."
Although now in HO, and have ben since I started collecting HO equipment in 1993, my first locomotive was a Lionel GP7 that I got for Christmas, probably about 1959. It was in the silver Burlington livery but I repainted it black and decaled it for PRR. I believe my first HO locomotive was an Athearn GP35.
I "owned" a Lionel set, probably starting with a steam engine of some sort, but the first ones I "bought" were these:
It's an Athearn set, and I apologize for any inaccuracies, as I did buy it over a half-century ago. It's running on my current layout, though, in this picture. Well, not running, exactly, as the engine, a rubber-band-drive GP-9, has been converted to a dummy.
That's it on the left. It's got a SoundBug decoder in it, so it's still an active member of the roster, although it can't pull it's own weight anymore. The handrails were an add-on.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
A Marx HO scale 0-4-0T in New York Central bought in 1962
A few years back I decided to get back in the hobby (in a new scale) after a long hiatus. I guess I was dragging my feet a bit about getting started, so one day my wife, out of the blue, came home with an Atlas Trainmaster Gold Series loco one day, and passed it over my shoulder while I was at the computer.
A couple of years later she came into the trainroom and saw it sitting on a siding and asked why I wasn't pulling my Rapido coaches with it. I told her that Trainmasters with that number didn't have a steam generator in them so they could only be used on my freight trains. I said "I'll get one with the right # and run them together to pull the coaches." A couple of days later she walks in with a second loco and says "this one has the right # ." You can now pull your coaches with your two engines.
What a Gal.
"> I must say that Atlas engine was a nice way to return to the hobby. It still is the best running engine I have.
I must say that Atlas engine was a nice way to return to the hobby. It still is the best running engine I have.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I remember it well..My Dad bought me a Athearn CB&Q GP9 (a GP7 really) for Christmas and much to my surprise and delight he repowered it with a Hobbytown GP9 drive..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
My Grandpa gave me a Tyco train set when I was 5. I think it had a CN F unit. The first one I bought in the early '70's was an Athearn F-45 in GN Sky Blue. I recently re-painted it in the Atsf "Blonde" scheme (blue & yellow warbonnet). Still runs like a champ with new trucks.
Mine doesn't move.......it's at the station!!!
An Athearn F7 rubber band drive in Rio Grande color. Bought in the mid fifties. I had no power pack or rails at the time. It was run on a cousin Triang train set.
Jack W.
My first train set was an old Lionel that had been in the family. It probably dated from the 1930s. My brother built a table that folded up against the cellar wall. It was a Christmas present; I was maybe 5 or 6 years old.
The first one I bought was an HO scale Revell SW7 that was UP. This was in the late 50s.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
A Triang F7 lettered for CP Rail. My parents bought it for me in 1971 and I still have it.
My first "scale" loco was part of a Marklin starter set I got for Christmas in 1963.
It did not follow any specific prototype, had no complete valve gear, but it was mine!
It was either a Tyco Sante Fe 4-6-0 or a Tyco PRR 2-6-2 or a Tyco PRR 0-6-0. It was 40 years ago and I don't remember which my wife gave me for Christmas 1971 and which I bought shortly after. But with these I started the hobby. Also in those early years I added an MDC Boxcab Diesel and a Rivarossi V&T 4-4-0.
Enjoy
Paul
My first locomotive would be the Bachmann F9 (in CN zebra stripes) that came in the first train set I got at Christmas when I was 8. That was followed by the next two train set locos, which included a Bachmann GP40 (also CN) and a Mechano CP 2-6-0 Camelback steamer (from a President's Choice train set).
The first locomotive I ever bought though was a Walthers Trainline F40PH, painted as VIA 6450. I remember how incredibly excited I was when I made that trip to the hobby shop - We were only able to make a trip to the nearest hobby shop about once a year, so it was always quite an occasion. I saved up the money I made from refereeing house-league soccer through the summer, and anxiously awaited that next trip. I had seen the VIA F40s there on the last trip (although then they were painted in the old scheme, before the "Canada" graphics and flags were added).
I remember how insanely excited I was when I walked down that aisle, saw the locomotive sitting there (just one, the last one!), and looked at the price tag to realize it was within my budget and with a bit extra to spare. The hour and a half drive home felt like many times that, as the only thing I really wanted to do was to get home and put it on the tracks!
That F40 has continued to hold a special place, as it was also the first locomotive I ever got up the nerve to superdetail. The old Bachmann train set F9 and GP40, by contrast, have been relegated to scrap-pile/spare parts duty ;)
-Tim
My first loco was a Varney L'il Joe, dockside 0-4-0, Xmas 1958. Ran it until the worm and wheel gears wore out. (late 60's)
Richard
If I can't fix it, I can fix it so it can't be fixed
First loco given to me was a used (set) pre-war Lionel 0-6-0 in the late 40's. First one I bought myself, a Lionel Hudson, c1954. First HO for my layout IHC 2-6-0, c1997. First DCC, BLI Pacific, 2013. Can't afford many more firsts.
Still have them all.
Have fun,
My first loco was the classic Lionel Santa Fe PA in the mid 1960s. It was handed down by an uncle. I sold it and the rest of the O-27 set with it and bought my first HO when I got serious about model railroading in 1969 and realized how much more space O took versus HO.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Being a newbie, my first locomotive is not very old at all. It is only six months old and is a Kato Union Pacific F3A. I bought it in January using my Christmas money from my in-laws.
Mine is an Atlas Trainman CSX GP-38 I got for Christmas a few years ago as set from my wife. Great running engine, it was busy, with another CSX GP-38 pulling a string of intermodal cars this weekend.
My 1st was a rubber band powered Lionel FA "Texas Special" loco. I've since added a B unit and another A, and repowered the entire lot with Walthers FA chassis! They run like new!!
Karl
NCE über alles!
Mine was a Varney NW-2 Hew Haven switcher.
My first locomotive was Marx O scale, Christmas as a four year old. My first locomotive bought back in the 1970's was a Rivarossi Pacific, getting back into the hobby seriously, my first purchase was a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0
My first locomotive was a Varney "Casey Jones" ten wheeler bought with money saved from my paper route. I ran it on a circle of brass track on plywood and powered it by a Marx transformer coupled to a selenium rectifier. Very little speed control but a lot of fun.
Joe
I don't still have my first locomotive, but its cousin is setting on a shelf just to the left of me. It was an S-scale Flyer 4-4-2 Atlantic, in Reading Lines livery.
Later when I got "serious" about model railroading, one Christmas I was given an Atlas N-Scale starter set. It had a pair of Fairbanks Morse "C-Liner"s, one powered and one dummy. Which was a lot of diesel power for 2 freight cars and a caboose!
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
The very first locomotive I "bought" was an N scale Bachmann SD40-2.
The first loco I bought when I got back into HO scale in 2006 (actually there were two within 1 hour) was an Atlas RS-1 and an Atlas MP15 with DCC and sound.
Dennis Blank Jr.
CEO,COO,CFO,CMO,Bossman,Slavedriver,Engineer,Trackforeman,Grunt. Birdsboro & Reading Railroad
narrow gauge nuclear My first loco was a Varney L'il Joe, dockside 0-4-0, Xmas 1958. Ran it until the worm and wheel gears wore out. (late 60's) Richard
Hey, me too! I was given mine in 1958 or 59 - part of a Varney train set at the time. I think my parents got tired of me asking for the Lionel train used at Christmas to be set up every couple of months. My Little Joe does still run, kind of. It took a couple of dives to the concrete back in the day, it's missing a pilot step and a corner of the cab. Here's a pic - the weathering is all natural!
Now, the first locomotive I purchased myself was a Varney SW-something or other, bought from the old AHC catalog in the mid-1960's . I realized after many weeks trying to make it run why it was so inexpensive.
George V.