Train Virus

[Budliner]

I caught it when I was at the Boston-Museum of Science, Museum had a layout and thats all it took in 1979 I loved it

what was it for you

[cacole]

Growing up right next to two railroads, the Illinois Central and Missouri Pacific, in the glory days of steam.

[ARTHILL]

My dad bought me an English Yard Bird in 1950 and I needed a layout model of an iron mine to run it on.

[youngengineer]

5 years old went to toys r us and thats all i wanted, but than again what else is there

[dinwitty]

yeh, that is sure a bad virus there 8-D

[Anonymous]

Well I was with my grandfolks and we were in my grandfather's truck and were comin up on a rr crossing when I heard the train horn and was hooked from the moment that I looked down the tracks. I was about 3 years old then.

[twcenterprises]

It's a virus with no known cure.....

My dad had Lionel when I was born, and had HO scale as I grew up in the 70's. We lived in the Chicago suburbs near The Rock line. What other outcome could there have been?

Brad

[CSXFan]

Classic case of receiving a Lionel set when I was 6. Ever since then I've had a one track mind (get it?[(-D][sigh]) I don't think my parents were expecting it to go so far.

[Hawkeye251]

The Great Northern HO scale layout at the Wenatchee Valley Museum in Wenatchee, WA. I'd had a Bachman train set for years, but before I saw that layout I thought of it as nothing more than a toy.

A few weeks after that I had a subscription to model railroader and had started on a 4x8.

[PennsyHoosier]

1) My dad bought me a Lionel set for Christmas when I was one. 2) As a kid I lived on the C&O Columbus, Ohio, Subdivision, which is near the PRR Columbus-Chicago main line, and the NYC (ex-Big 4) Galion-Cincinnati main line. 3) I spent A LOT of time at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry watching the old layout. Between those three things I didn't have a chance. [^][^][^][^]

[Virginian]

My Great Grandfather helped build the Virginian - he is mentioned in H. Reid's book. My Grandfather worked for the railroad too. My father loved trains but his Father told him to steer clear of the railroads because he didn't think they would prosper long term. (I have contacted Guiness to see where this ranks in the "Bad Advice" category) I went train watching with my father and played on his HO layout from my earliest memories. I guess I was born with it in my blood. First time I ever heard a J's whistle - it activated it.

[Paul3]

When I came home from the hospital, there was a wooden toy train made by my grandfather (an ex-railroad lineman) waiting for me. Also, my father has been a model railroader since the 1950's (Lionel), and when I was growing up, we always had an HO layout. Heck, even my mom had Marx trains when she was a kid. I guess you could say it was ingrained on me at a very early age. [:)]

Paul A. Cutler III
*****************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
*****************

[claycts]

Got a Lionel set in 1951 that did it. On a off since then. Back on now big time.

[tstage]

My brother's 4 x 8' American Flyer layout that we inherited from our older cousins. At 3, I'd grab a chair and climb up on top of the layout to pu***he cars (not locomotives) around the layout. It seemed so massive back then.

Came down with a relapse just a couple of years ago when I started building my first HO layout. Looks like there is no recovery and I'm going to be quarantined for life...

Tom

[ukguy]

All I wanted for Christmas when I was 6 was... either a train set or an "Action Man" (UK version of GI Joe) .... I got the train set, it was just an old diesel loco, one passenger car , and a circle of track, all second hand from the discount shelf at the LHS ( i have now learned ) but since then I have been bitten.

Last year my sister came to the US for a visit and I asked her to bring my old locos with her from her attic, after 25 years of not being run including 20 in an attic I put that first loco on the track and it 'moved'., after a clean up and a drop of oil (something I never did for the ten years I ran it) it was running better than it had ever done. I still run it when I want to feel that first buzz and remember when I was a kid again.

Have fun & be safe,
Karl.

[bnnrailroad]

Picked it up right after I was born. My father built me an HO pike. Both sets of grandparents had N along with my my mom's grandparents. My father brought out his 4x8 when I was 7. When I was 9, we connected his and mine together. Now the whole HO pike is 50+ years old and is 2 4x8's and a 2x5. It's still a playtoy and a joy torun the trains with my 7 year old daughter who now has the bug (much to the displeasure of the wife!). It's a hobby and a binding between generations. Wether it's a 4x8 or 40x80. Wether it is Z, N HO, S, O or G scale. Wether you model pre1900 to modern day. We need the younger generation to step away from the PC's and the TV's and build something. You don't need to be pefect to do this. Just take a vision and run with it. That's what this hobby is all about. It is also timeless!

Keep'em rollin' partner!

[eastcoast]

Caught it in 1985 when my uncle gave me an F7 and some HO scale stuff.
Been sick ever since and now have an entire area "quarantined" in my house
just for the virus to spread. The EastCoast is deadly ill with trains and have
widowed the wife too often when the sickness gets really bad some nights.
[2c][:)]

[Medina1128]

When I was about 4, my dad put a Marklin trainset on a sheet of plywood. Then, when I was about 8, a Lionel set for me and my little brother. He spend more time playing with a robot, and I played with trains. But, then again, when we grew up, I got into drag racing, and he played "geetar". I came full circle in the 80s when my son was born and we built the Medina Valley RR short line based on the Southern Pacific. Now, I'm modeling the Clinton-Golden Valley RR based on the "Screamin' Eagle". If you have to ask, ya just have NO clue...LOL

[Anonymous]

Playing with my dad's Marklin HO trains when I was a kid. And riding the Nut Tree Railroad at the now-defunct Nut Tree in Vacaville, CA. Oh, and listening to a cool cassette tape I had of classic steam trains.

[dgwinup]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Budliner

I caught it when I was at the Boston-Museum of Science, Museum had a layout and thats all it took in 1979 I loved it

what was it for you

My Dad worked for the MoPac for several years. Bought Lionel trains after my older brother was born. There was always the Lionel set-up when I was growing up until I took it down to make room for HO trains. The Lionel stuff is all gone, but I still have most of the HO stuff.

Great picture of Citgo signed. Darn near lived under that sign while going to college (BU). Remember the crowds of people in Kenmore Square when the Red Sox clinched the penant in '67!

Those were the days! Thanks for the memory!

Darrell, all teary-eyed with memories, and quiet...for now

[jwils1]

I was infected at the little Santa Fe station in Planada, CA about 1940. My friends dad was the station agent and we played around the station a lot. A lot of real hobos around the tracks in those days.....very interesting characters!

Jerry

[jeffrey-wimberly]

It was a Lionel train set that I got in 1964 that did it for me. In 1966, my dad built me a simple 4x8 HO layout with 2 mainlines, and interchange and 1 spur. One train was OO scale made by mantua and the other was HO scale made by Bachmann. Can anybody remember when Bachmann wasn't made in China? I can. The HO layout was finally trashed in 75 and I didn't really do much for several years after that. In 79 I got a HO trainset, just to mess around with, and it snowballed from there. The old mantua OO loco finally bit the big one in 83 when the motor shorted out. The Bachmann had gone to the trash can years before that. A friend got me hooked on Athearn in 81 and I've been using them ever since. Recently, I bought two LifeLike Proto2000's (a GP30 and a PA2) and I've been very happy with them. I expect that this bug will be the end of me someday, but if you can't enjoy yourself, what's the use of living? I'm currently working on a new layout (HO of course) that is 2 track, a mainline and a shorter branchline running in a loop inside the mainline. The two of them will be able to interchange rolling stock and share spurs and siding. It's strictly analog block control for now but I think I've been bitten by the DCC bug. I am seriously considering changing to DCC in the near future. I'm going to start with the Bachmann EZ command system to get the feel of it, then take the plunge with a better system, possibly Digitrax, when I can afford it.

[jbloch]

(1) My dad's Lionel 027 train set--that I steadily added to.

(2) Frisco freight and passenger trains ran thru downtown in my home town in Missouri--I rode the last passenger train through there(Rolla, MO) --ca. 1966 or 67.

Jim

[1train1]

Grew up 1/2 block from an industrial line. - got my first N scale Minitrix set for a Christmas present . - Grew up/married and bought a home on the CN mainline- joined two MR clubs and spent waaaay too much $
Still haven't shook the virus.

[Anonymous]

A picture is worth 1000 words. As a small boy standing on the station waiting for the train and seeing one of these come in. No one would be brave enough stand up close to the edge. But the virus was contagious.



I feel sorry for the kids today. They can only see these specimens in "captivity" preserved. Not running free like they did when I was a youngster.

[tomikawaTT]

My parents infected me early - my first Christmas (age 5 months) with a Lionel 027 tinplate (literally!) train. I teethed on a box car.

Chuck (who is presently drawing Social Security)

[jxtrrx]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bush9245

A picture is worth 1000 words. As a small boy standing on the station waiting for the train and seeing one of these come in. No one would be brave enough stand up close to the edge. But the virus was contagious.



I feel sorry for the kids today. They can only see these specimens in "captivity" preserved. Not running free like they did when I was a youngster.

John, I'm going to show my ignorance and ask what loco is that? Wow. I like.[:)]

[GAPPLEG]

Didn't catch it till I was 22 years old, believe it or not. When I got hired at GE out of the service, to build Locomotives, what a stupid job I said to myself. After about a year I became obsessed with them, and have been since. Now 58 and still working at GE.
Built all kinds over the years started with U-50's for the UP 23's 30's 33's 36's. Now have a job working on computers here but still like my choo-choo's.

[Anonymous]

Got a Lionel HO set in 1964 (sound familiar?) Added Varney F-units in 1969, and Tyco power in 1976. Ran the snot out of that stuff, so much that in 1979 we tore that layout down, and found that some of the curved sections of rail had the railheads almost worn off!!! Got married in 83 and went to n-scale on a sheet of foam under the bed, always worried that the steeple on the church might poke through at the worst time![:p] Went back to HO in 89, and will stay there til I'm old and decrepit.
I guess you could call this ferroequinitis ! The ex-wife might have called it grounds for divorce, frankly, I just call it fun![;)]

[Budliner]

QUOTE: [i]Originally posted by jxtrrx[/iwhat loco is that? Wow. I like.[:)]

looks like the crescent limited
but the bumpers on the front looks like its from the UK
someone know's

thanks guys for making this a great thread


K