A Child at Heart, Still Plays With Trains...

[sixdogs]

I don't know if I'm the only one here who still plays with trains, but growing up in the 1950's trains were the toy for children.
I collect pre-WW II Tinplate trains, both electric and mechanical/wind-up. I have at the present Hafner, Marx & Lionel trains
manufactured between the 1920's & 1940's. I got my first train in 1956, which began my lifelong love of trains.
I do have others that I play with in G scale, N scale and O scale by various manufacturers, but the Tinplate are my treasures.

Happy Rails.
sixdogs

 

[GeorgeinSC]

I think that most youngsters play with trains for a short period of time and then forget them. There are those however who fall in love with every aspect of trains and that begins a lifetime of enjoyment.

Are they really "toys" or Working Models. Folks who fly toy airplanes call their crafts "Models". I do not see the difference between a working model railroad and a RC aircraft.

 

[sixdogs]

GeorgeinSC,
in the train world we have a term for those folks who insist that the toy trains they play with are "scale models", we call them "Rivet Counters".
More power to them, if making sure that every exact detail of their "model" is an exact scale reproduction of the prototype makes them happy.
Myself & my friends in the train world aren't quite so anal, to quote a friend:
"Scale, we don't need no stinkin' scale! We're playing with Marx toy trains!"

 

[John(H)]

...I still play with trains.....i grew up in the mid 60's and most boys my age had a train set.....I got one too in the late 1960's ...one neighbor of mine had a huge train lay out in their upper rooom ....one was a locomotive and the other one was a diesel....lots of track set up on stands on a plywood deck....even haad had a mountain and tunnel....I still collect today....just the trains and the various boxcars....I do not have room for the actual set lay up.....

 

[brucebotti]

I also grew up in the 50's and 60's with American Flyer Trains. Now my interest is in outdoor G-Scale (1/29) trains. I've been collecting for a few years and hope to finally set up a layout in the next few years. Of course, it doesn't help that I am starting a new addiction with MD'ing.
Bruce

 

[snoopythebeagle]

O scale layout. 14 long, 6 feet wide. Mostly Mike's Train House (MTH). For those reading this, but not sure what that means, MTH is the same size as those Lionel trains you see from the 50s and 60s. Lionel is still around and makes some nice stuff. I just like MTH better.

Have 3 ovals of O scale (concentric loops - we here understand that term!). None are switched with the others. The 2 outer loops are conventional operation (using power pack to regulate speed), the third, inner loop is DCS (it is a digital command system that allows one to operate trains like a real railroad). Within the inner loop are 2 more loops of Super Streets/EZ Streets. Also O scale. These are cars, trucks and a trolley that make it look like they are operating on the street in my "town" on the layout.

And I forgot to mention, between the Outer-most loop and Middle loop is a loop of N scale. I had the space, so why not?!

I am not a modeler. If I can buy a building or something already made, that is for me.

I will say this: everyone relates to toy trains. If I say "I have a train layout", it evokes all kinds of comments from kids, adults, male and female. If I say "I have a metal detector", I have gotten statements such as "Did you get that at the airport?" (they think it's the one you walk through) to "I lost my keys in 10 feet of water; can you find them with that?". And some just look at me as if they are lost.

 

[airburst93]

Don,t grow up,it,s a trap!