How did your love of railroads start.

[corwinda]

I don't know. The first memories I have (from age 2 or3) were from train trips to visit an Aunt in Spokane WA (from Eugene OR.)

[corwinda]

I don't know. The first memories I have (from age 2 or3) were from train trips to visit an Aunt in Spokane WA (from Eugene OR.)

[Anonymous]

I guess my love of Railroads and Railroading started back in the '70's when I was a little kid. My grandpa was a railroadman and so were a lot of my relatives so I'd say that I've got railroad blood in me.

[Anonymous]

I guess my love of Railroads and Railroading started back in the '70's when I was a little kid. My grandpa was a railroadman and so were a lot of my relatives so I'd say that I've got railroad blood in me.

[AltonFan]

I'm not exactly sure when the bug bit, but it must have been very early on.

When I was two or three, my Dad used to take me out for walks, and one place I remember was a playground next to an elevated Milwaukee Road line in Chicago. I would ride on the see-saw and watch trains go by. I also remember passing a gray wooden building, I think it had a Milwaukee Road sign on it. I remember there being tracks behind and alongside the structure. The last time I was in the old neighborhood, the tracks were gone, the buidling had new siding and was a city recycling center. (This structure is located near an intersection with Fullerton in Chicago, but I don't believe it's actually on Fullerton.)

I had train toys from very early on. Got my first Lionel when I was about five or six. A liitle later I had an American Flyer set with a plastic layout. I graduated to HO, had a Life-Like styrofoam layout. Eventually moved on to N and built a 2'x4' layout when I was in high school.

When I was in high school I read Don Ball's America's Colorful Railroads and fell in love with the Gulf Mobile and Ohio. From there I developed a fascination with the Alton. During one summer I read a most of Lucius Beebe's books as well as The Mohawk That Refused to Abdicate. About this time I got interested in steam power.

Once the bug bites, it never goes away. It may lie dormant for a while, but it never goes away.

[AltonFan]

I'm not exactly sure when the bug bit, but it must have been very early on.

When I was two or three, my Dad used to take me out for walks, and one place I remember was a playground next to an elevated Milwaukee Road line in Chicago. I would ride on the see-saw and watch trains go by. I also remember passing a gray wooden building, I think it had a Milwaukee Road sign on it. I remember there being tracks behind and alongside the structure. The last time I was in the old neighborhood, the tracks were gone, the buidling had new siding and was a city recycling center. (This structure is located near an intersection with Fullerton in Chicago, but I don't believe it's actually on Fullerton.)

I had train toys from very early on. Got my first Lionel when I was about five or six. A liitle later I had an American Flyer set with a plastic layout. I graduated to HO, had a Life-Like styrofoam layout. Eventually moved on to N and built a 2'x4' layout when I was in high school.

When I was in high school I read Don Ball's America's Colorful Railroads and fell in love with the Gulf Mobile and Ohio. From there I developed a fascination with the Alton. During one summer I read a most of Lucius Beebe's books as well as The Mohawk That Refused to Abdicate. About this time I got interested in steam power.

Once the bug bites, it never goes away. It may lie dormant for a while, but it never goes away.

[Anonymous]

Dad was a CP operator in North Bay (Ontario). I remember visiting him at work in the 70s when I was young, and seeing the switcher shuffle cars around the yard. Now everything, except for the station is gone. I guess nostalgia is at the root of my interest in railways.

[Anonymous]

Dad was a CP operator in North Bay (Ontario). I remember visiting him at work in the 70s when I was young, and seeing the switcher shuffle cars around the yard. Now everything, except for the station is gone. I guess nostalgia is at the root of my interest in railways.

[slotracer]

On several occasions, several stories..........
As a real little one my family used to go to a place south of Buffalo NY on the lake erie shoreline called the lakeview inn, after dinner my grandfather would take me outside while he smoked his pipe and we would watch the trains of teh NYC, NKP and PRR that ran on both sides of teh place. He took me toa neat hobby store that at one time was famous in Buffalo....spoonley the trainman which operated out of a basement on Choate ave in South Buffalo to get my first lionel set.
He passed away and no one else had any interset so my attention to trains dwindled. In Nov 1967 BOYS LIFE had an article on model trains with a picture of a neat layou in the centerspread and I got hooked again. Was pretty active through high school with models and my prototype interset gave way to historical society involvement when Conrail took my interest in much of any railfanning atthat point.
Once I got a house with a good basement I started back into modeling in 1990, and built or started 3 different pikes because of moves. Actually started to take pictures again in Colorado as teh SP was going to be gone and I had easy access to Tennessee pass every weekend. With the merger, I lost prototype interest and stopped taking pictures all together, even sold teh 35mm's this time. I grew tired of moving and restarting pikes and the glut of equipment, and really got a distaste for railroads after working for Uncle Pete, and besides the thing that really motivated me.....the old northeastern lines in the green allegany foothills and Buffalo's congested rail system were a very distant memory so I got out.
I can't say the bug has bitten again, I happened into these forums due to a spurred curiousity when I heard the V&O was no more and again when I heard teh Kinzua bridge collapsed.
When the kids move to other things in a few years when they are old enough to drive a car and attend school sports, I will likely find running slot cars alone pretty boring so I could see me building another pike and getting into it again, but who knows. Today's railroads I do not find inspiring or motivating what so ever....but who knows.....

[slotracer]

On several occasions, several stories..........
As a real little one my family used to go to a place south of Buffalo NY on the lake erie shoreline called the lakeview inn, after dinner my grandfather would take me outside while he smoked his pipe and we would watch the trains of teh NYC, NKP and PRR that ran on both sides of teh place. He took me toa neat hobby store that at one time was famous in Buffalo....spoonley the trainman which operated out of a basement on Choate ave in South Buffalo to get my first lionel set.
He passed away and no one else had any interset so my attention to trains dwindled. In Nov 1967 BOYS LIFE had an article on model trains with a picture of a neat layou in the centerspread and I got hooked again. Was pretty active through high school with models and my prototype interset gave way to historical society involvement when Conrail took my interest in much of any railfanning atthat point.
Once I got a house with a good basement I started back into modeling in 1990, and built or started 3 different pikes because of moves. Actually started to take pictures again in Colorado as teh SP was going to be gone and I had easy access to Tennessee pass every weekend. With the merger, I lost prototype interest and stopped taking pictures all together, even sold teh 35mm's this time. I grew tired of moving and restarting pikes and the glut of equipment, and really got a distaste for railroads after working for Uncle Pete, and besides the thing that really motivated me.....the old northeastern lines in the green allegany foothills and Buffalo's congested rail system were a very distant memory so I got out.
I can't say the bug has bitten again, I happened into these forums due to a spurred curiousity when I heard the V&O was no more and again when I heard teh Kinzua bridge collapsed.
When the kids move to other things in a few years when they are old enough to drive a car and attend school sports, I will likely find running slot cars alone pretty boring so I could see me building another pike and getting into it again, but who knows. Today's railroads I do not find inspiring or motivating what so ever....but who knows.....

[UpNorthBob]

My family never worked for the railroad, and never travelled by train during my lifetime, but when my mother worked at the dime store in Rochester, MI in the early 1950's, my Grandfather would take me for a walk every day. It was about three blocks down to the NYC station to see either the late morning BD-2 freight or the mid afternoon Beeliner. I became a steadfast NYC "man", despite the fact that on the other side of town, the GTW was still running steam. My parents and grandparents all said that they were going to let me ride the Beeliner up to Lake Orion or Lapeer and back "some day." Unfortunately, that "some day" never came. For years the only train ride I took (other than at the Detroit Zoo) was a ride in a rail motor car from the Rochester depot to main street - about 200 yards. I've never ridden that many trains - a couple Algoma Central trips and and Amtrak from Jackson to Chicago, but my love of trains has remained strong. My only regret is that I wasted my high school years chasing girls instead of buying a good camera and photographing those things that are now gone. Every time I catch that wonderful aroma of creosote on a hot summer day, my mind goes back to the Rochester of my youth.

[UpNorthBob]

My family never worked for the railroad, and never travelled by train during my lifetime, but when my mother worked at the dime store in Rochester, MI in the early 1950's, my Grandfather would take me for a walk every day. It was about three blocks down to the NYC station to see either the late morning BD-2 freight or the mid afternoon Beeliner. I became a steadfast NYC "man", despite the fact that on the other side of town, the GTW was still running steam. My parents and grandparents all said that they were going to let me ride the Beeliner up to Lake Orion or Lapeer and back "some day." Unfortunately, that "some day" never came. For years the only train ride I took (other than at the Detroit Zoo) was a ride in a rail motor car from the Rochester depot to main street - about 200 yards. I've never ridden that many trains - a couple Algoma Central trips and and Amtrak from Jackson to Chicago, but my love of trains has remained strong. My only regret is that I wasted my high school years chasing girls instead of buying a good camera and photographing those things that are now gone. Every time I catch that wonderful aroma of creosote on a hot summer day, my mind goes back to the Rochester of my youth.