My first locomotive was an ALCO C430 in a TYCO train set I got for my 13th birthday in 1972. I still have it. It is currently painted in the scheme of a local club, Saginaw River Valley. I am not using it on my new layout which is DCC.
Gilbert F3 in C&O blue. Birthday gift in 1960. Very jerky but it ran. My first loco that I ran into the ground was a black Athearn Hustler with RB drive.
Hornby Dublo 00, 0-6-0 Shunter in 1961 for my 4th birthday. Sold it to my brother in 1973. Current whereabouts unknown..
Maine central #470What was the first scale locomotive you bought when you started out in the hobby?
The first locomotive I got that was not a hand-me-down was a Rivarossi 4-4-0 Reno. That was 1966. Back when they still had real brass railings, domes, fittings, etc.
The first locomotive I remember buying for myself was in 1975. It was an N-scale Bachmann U-28-B Spirit of 1976.
The first HO locomotive I remember buying for myself was a 44 ton switcher painted for Bell System. That was 1979. 5 years before the Bell System was broken up.
A Lego 9volt "steam locomotive" closely followed by another Lego 9volt, a Santa Fe F3.
Got my first HO train For Christmas 1967 - and still have it ! ....
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
This thread brings up some nasty memories for me because as a toddler I could only watch my brothers play with their Marx O scale 0-4-0. They threatened me with untold doom if I ever attempted to touch it!
Fast forward to when the first Harry Potter movie came out. I expressed a tremendous interest in Hogwarts Express to my lovely wife, who magically made the Bachmann set appear under the Christmas Tree! That was my first locomotive! It now has sound and headlights (but I need to do something about the interior details in the passenger cars, and add some weight).
By the way, several years after my brothers had done with the Marx set I inherited it (with a burned out motor- just to rub salt in the wound). Luckily I found an engine at a swap meet which I was able to use to re-power the original, and every so often I set up some plywood in the garage to run it. I always make sure I give out an evil laugh when I am running it, as though to say "its mine now you ...... ...... brothers! Beware toddler revenge!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Gidday , first loco I was given was a clockwork Hornby OO 0-6-0 when I was five. Still have it, thanks to my mum who did not throw away anything.
First loco I bought was a Athearn BB GP7, which I also have cos I like it.
Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
My first locomotive was a Tyco Santa Fe Pacific. It still runs and the light still works. Dates back to Christmas in 1961. I did not start purchasing locomotives or cars until 1981 when the US Navy stationed me in Puerto Rico. I was a general medical officer and I would assemble Athearn Blue Box kits in my office during the night shift when things were quiet. So, the first loco I bought was an Athearn ATSF PA diesel. Most of the stuff I bought during the next three years came from Model Railway Post Office. - Mike
My first in HO was a Penn Line train set (Penn Line had just gone out of business and their stuff was being sold off very cheaply which I am sure is why my folks chose it). It was an F7 with one powered truck, in Southern Pacific freight colors. Over time I pretty much junked the drive and the shell but the huge lead weight still provides material for weighting down freight car kits, and I think I still have the motor around somewhere. A few of the freight cars from that train set still see service although they are perhaps the least accurate models on my roster. The flat cars were solid metal castings which actually makes quite a bit fo sense from a weight and center of gravity standpoint.
Dave Nelson
After I sold my Lionel trains in 1953 at the age of 13, my fiist locomotive was a Mantua shifter 0-4-0 to which I added valve gear and later sold.
Peter Smith, Memphis
All HO since I started in the mid-late 70s:
Mid/late-70s Tyco 0-4-0 (Think listed under Switcher and Tender), brought by my parents in a train set - eventually the sheet metal "valve gear" just bent, and that was that.
First locomotive I brought myself (w/ Birthday money), late 1970s, was a AHM GP18 ( had to be AHM - I distinctly remember a "Made in Yugoslavia" label cast into the frame bottom) SOO line livery, Dad drove me down to the former Mays on Rockaway Blvd in Woodmere (Mays has been gone a long time - that may be a Kohl's now, not sure).
Finally my first real locomotive (more or less) - Athearn BB GP9 in BN livery. Yay, a locomotive that didn't stall on the turnouts or derail at random!
You know, come to think of it...now I remember having a cheesy Lionel 3-railer trainset in I guess 1973 when I was 7 or so - heck, guess that was my first locomotive then...never mind.
My first loco was a Lionel 3 rail F unit for Christmas over 45 years ago. My first HO was a Tyco F unit about 40 years ago for Christmas.
The first loco I bought was back in 1996 and still have is an HO CSX C30-7 by Atlas, GREAT runner.
Richard
My first ever steam loco,was a 4-6-2 American Flyer,with smoke,for Christmas,1947,,,,,,,,1950,got a Varney train set with a diesel,it was a E or a F,hard to tell in those days..In 1952,I bought my own engine,made by Lindberg,a switcher,with spring drive...It was all down hill after that,,the snowball,just kept getting bigger..
Cheers to all,,
Frank
The first locomotive I bought was a Bachmann Plus run N&W Class J 4-8-4. This was my first HO scale locomotive. I had previously been involved briefly with American Flyer, due to the fact I had found a American Flyer Reading Atlantic thrown in a box with a train set. I was given the Atlantic, which I was able to repair and ran for a while. But when I found American Flyer made very little N&W stuff (as well as being more expensive than HO) that switched me to HO scale for good. I still have the Atlantic but it is on display.
lois
Hmmmm
My first, was a windup train set that I got for my birthday back in the early 1950s. The first one I bought was a Proto with sound SW8 in 2007 followed by a 2-8-0 consolidation. I'm probably split steam / diesel. Run what you "brung" and enjoy.
Lee
I received 2 HO steam locomotives in 1960 when I first started out. They were both 0-4-0s, one was a Varney "Little Joe" Dockside and the other was a Tyco saddle tank loco.
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
When I was about 7, my dad bought a Bachmann starter set for my brother and I, just spur of the moment. The locomotive was a GP40. I remember breaking some of the handrails and trying to fix them with masking tape.
Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.
www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
I sold her and her train recently but this was my first N scale loco, ATSF Northern and her 6 heavyweights.
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Santa brought me a Marx HO train set with the NYC hudson 6096 for Christmas 1963. My first purchase was an Athearn B&O switcher in the mid 1970's.
-Stan
Gosh, I wish I knew for nostalgia purposes. I was pretty young and my Dad bought me an HO train set that had an all black locomotive with white " CN" on the sides. I've often wondered if it was an early Walthers GP9? My first locomotive purchased as an adult was an Atlas GP40-2...still have it and always will.
Happy Modeling!
Don.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that both engines have failed, and we will be stuck here for some time. The good news is that you decided to take the train and not fly."
My first Loco? I think it was a Athearn Hustler-from the early 60's, which I received from my dad when I was 5-6 years old. Mine had the "Formula 1 drive train" powered courtesy of 2 rubber bands from your local newspaper. It couldn't crawl, but when it came time for "pole position qualifying" it was more then fine! A loop of track just wasn't enough for that speed demon, as it excelled on the road courses. Wish I could show you a picture of the beast, but sadly it became a victim of it's own success when It slid off the course (ok...track) when I was trying to initiate threshold braking into a industrial spur.
Nearly 50 years later I now appreciate the gearing my N scale locos have that enables them to crawl.
Jeff B
My first was this Tyco F unit that my folks gave me for Christmas, 1963. I still have it and it runs, but it's too tall for my layout (low bridges, etc.), so it resides in a box.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
Absolute first engine was a Marx windup 0-4-0 I got when I was 4. Next was another Marx 0-4-0, but it was electrically powered. The first HO loco was a Varney plastic F-3 in 1960 when I was 8. Been in HO ever since. I would still have the Varney but the disease got it's frame.
Carey
Keep it between the Rails
Alabama Central Homepage
Nara member #128
NMRA &SER Life member
Ulrich,
We must have started with the same Marklin set at close to the same time. My first loco is behind the service dock in the picture. Looks to be the same model as yours....
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
My first locomotive was a steam locomotive that came in a Märklin trainset that my dad bought for us. Sadly, that trainset and the Lionel trainsets that we got are long gone.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
An American Flyer Royal Blue steam locomotive set from A. C. Gilbert in 1946.
An Athearn rubber band drive lettered PRR. It was used but had the handrails on it, but didn't have track to run it on. Later on I hand painted and lettered it for Southern Pacific, a "very poor paint job". This was back in the mid 1960's, but don't remember what ever happened to it.
cacole An American Flyer Royal Blue steam locomotive set from A. C. Gilbert in 1946.
I got the same AF Royal Blue locomotive in 1948 and it is still in the family. All of the rest of the American Flyer train sets were delivered by the Illinois Central to Dieterich Illinois behind steam via the REA. We had steam on the branch line until mid 1957. I still have the UP 4-8-4 American Flyer.
CZ