# The one that started the sickness



## TONOFFUN80 (Jan 9, 2010)

Anyone eles still have there first train











this is mine had it 17 years


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## jbsmith966 (Jun 19, 2010)

Sure do!
A gift from my dad for X-mas,,about 1974ish.
An AHM/Rivarossi, FM C-Liner , Santa Fe, in the classic Silver&Red with
black and yellow trim warbonnet. Came in a train set and it Still works!


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Sort of?
I found a replacement Athern blue box engine that was from the same years and model from my childhood. 
U30C Southern Pacific.
It is been compleatly rebuilt with 7 pole motor, DCC, Sound, LED lights, LED strobe, and LED number boards.
Sean


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

In 1969 my dad picked up an AHM 4-4-0 Genoa that circled out Christmas tree every year. The machine turned fittings always dazzled me, the flag posts were drilled to receive flags even. Sadly, it was lost many years ago but, through an online friend, I was able to find another one...


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

I sure do ... a Tyco HO Santa Fe diesel and freight set from the early '70's. The coupler on the rear truck of the loco had broken off years ago from a fall, such that the loco couldn't easily attach to any cars. (I jury-rigged it with wire and rubber bands as a kid.)

Some months back, I got all nostalgic. I cruised ebay, and found an identical somewhat-beat-up Santa Fe loco ... I grab it for just a few dollars, and scarfed off its rear truck pieces to rebuilt the truck/coupler on my "original" loco.

I'm sure the net value and worth of my little Santa Fe is just about nothing. But I can't imagine ever, ever selling or getting rid of that little loco and train. It's a part of my past, and a part of me ... that's sounds a bit corny, perhaps, but it's the way I feel.

TJ


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## TONOFFUN80 (Jan 9, 2010)

It's neat to hear all the stories of the first

the one in the picture is just a bachmann that came in the silver lightning set
my mom bought me because grampa had a big layout and i wanted my own
train to run on it

that layout will be moving to my basement in the near future. i'lltry and get some pics soon


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

Sadly, all my suff was lost in a fire some years back. But I did find a pic of one identical to what I had in my set.










This came in a set with a basic oval layout, had a cattle car, boxcar, gondla with concrete culvert pipe, a auto transport car with six flimsy cars, a caboose and I think a tank car. Alos came with a truck terminal for loading/unloading and some telephone poles and signs.

My grandma bought this for me as a b-day present one year and it expanded all the way through highschool. She thought I'd like it since she had an old Lionel set that I used to play with even though it never worked. I dont think anybody would have ever thought that one gift would start a hobby that has lasted almost 20 years..........


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Dawg,

Fire? Sounds scary.

I like the grandama-gift story. It's funny how some small things in life can have such profound, lasting consequences.

TJ


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## SkyArcher (Oct 20, 2010)

I got this from my Mom and Dad when I was about a year old in 1962. Still have it along with a set of Plasticville buildings.


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> Dawg,
> 
> Fire? Sounds scary.
> 
> ...


Kinda was. About a year after I got married, my wife and I decided to move into a much smaler place that what we had to save on monthly bills. SO we had practically all our possesions in a storage unit. Two weeks later I went to go get my golf clubs for a round with the dad in law, and the fire dept was there hosing stuff down. Found out a guy two units over was storing his logging equipment and had a bunch of chainsaws, generators, oil, and gas crammed into this small unit. Spontanious combustion took over from there and we were left with pretty much nothing. Salvaged what we could, but the looters took care of anything still usable. We tried to sue the guy, but the fire marshall deemed it accidental, so then we went after the storage owner. But the fine print on the contract said he couldnt be held liable, so we were just out all our stuff. My train stuff and about 100lbs of LEGO's never made it.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

SkyArcher said:


> I got this from my Mom and Dad when I was about a year old in 1962. Still have it along with a set of Plasticville buildings.



Those are not plasticville are they?


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

cabledawg said:


> Kinda was. About a year after I got married, my wife and I decided to move into a much smaler place that what we had to save on monthly bills. SO we had practically all our possesions in a storage unit. Two weeks later I went to go get my golf clubs for a round with the dad in law, and the fire dept was there hosing stuff down. Found out a guy two units over was storing his logging equipment and had a bunch of chainsaws, generators, oil, and gas crammed into this small unit. Spontanious combustion took over from there and we were left with pretty much nothing. Salvaged what we could, but the looters took care of anything still usable. We tried to sue the guy, but the fire marshall deemed it accidental, so then we went after the storage owner. But the fine print on the contract said he couldnt be held liable, so we were just out all our stuff. My train stuff and about 100lbs of LEGO's never made it.



Man that is a lot of legos!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Dawg -- Very sorry to hear about the fire damage. Bummer. Too bad the schmuck didn't step up to the plate and try to right the wrong and damage that he caused. Not good.

Sky -- are those tinplate cookie tin buildings? I LOVE 'em! T-Man has several like that. Where do you guys get those? They'd look great to jazz up my little toylike Lionel layout a bit. Are they expensive? (Did I ask you about these one before? Sorry if I did ... my memory is slipping.)

EDIT -- ohh ... I Searched and see that you said those were Walmart cookie tins in the Scout thread. Neat ... I've gotta see if they still have 'em at Walmart.

Thanks, guys!

TJ


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

tjcruiser said:


> Dawg -- Very sorry to hear about the fire damage. Bummer. Too bad the schmuck didn't step up to the plate and try to right the wrong and damage that he caused. Not good.
> 
> Sky -- are those tinplate cookie tin buildings? I LOVE 'em! T-Man has several like that. Where do you guys get those? They'd look great to jazz up my little toylike Lionel layout a bit. Are they expensive? (Did I ask you about these one before? Sorry if I did ... my memory is slipping.)
> 
> ...



I searched and couldn't find any TJ.

The closest I found were these,
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Adverti...728?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a4420448

Slim pickens I tell you.


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## SkyArcher (Oct 20, 2010)

big ed said:


> Those are not plasticville are they?



Nope, Walmart Christmas 2010 Cookie Tins


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

My first train set was the Cox Armored Attack Express.....I still have it. My Dad even bought an extra F3 diesel so I could double head the train. I believe he bought it for me in 1976.....Holy S....35 years ago. Yikes.

http://ho-scaletrains.net/coxtrainsresource/id4.html

I want to change out all of the wheels to metal and convert it to Kadee couplers at some point. (I'd like to remotor both units as well to get them running nice and smooth.)

I'll have to take it out of the boxes and put it on the layout. Mine is individually boxed, not in the big set as pictured....I guess we've lost the big box over the years. My kids love this set.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Ed -- I appreciate the cookie / biscuit tin hunt.

Sky -- I'll check out my local Walmart.

I really like the simple, toylike look of these tin "buildings".

Cheers,

TJ


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## SkyArcher (Oct 20, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> Ed -- I appreciate the cookie / biscuit tin hunt.
> 
> Sky -- I'll check out my local Walmart.
> 
> ...


Good luck!! They're seasonal items so you may find them in the 1/2 price Christmas stuff.


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## Xnats (Dec 5, 2010)

He is mine, an old LifeLike. It this makes as much noise as it did back in the 70's  I seem to recall getting one new item ever Christmas from my Uncle. I'm afraid to post a pic of me looking at his HO layout in the cellar. Early 70's fashion styles sure were, awful back then lol.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Xnats said:


> He is mine, an old LifeLike. It this makes as much noise as it did back in the 70's  I seem to recall getting one new item ever Christmas from my Uncle. I'm afraid to post a pic of me looking at his HO layout in the cellar. Early 70's fashion styles sure were, awful back then lol.


something is off about that picture. Why do the rails seem to vansih under the train and be tooken over by brown at the end, was this done in a photo editior like gimp?


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## Xnats (Dec 5, 2010)

lol, just admit it looks cool, GC. That was a moving target I took a picture of. It came out pretty good I thought. I pulled the traction tires but it kept creeping forward a little, so it is a little blurry because of the slow aperture. 
The boring no working headlights, so no one thinks it was edited with software picture :laugh:


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## jzrouterman (Nov 27, 2010)

My wife bought my first train for me 31 years ago. The Santa Fe Chief. It consists of two F7A units, (one's powered and one's a dummy) the classic red and silver ones along with four silver passenger cars. Everything was made by Athearn, and it still runs just as well as it did 31 years ago. 

Of course, the one big difference in it now is the couplers. It's now equipt with knuckle couplers, whereas it originally came with horn hooked ones. I also have the sections of Atlas brass track and the little Athearn transformer that she bought with the train as well. The transformer still works, too.


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