Model Railroading > Still have your first Model Train?

I was 10 years old in December 1975 when I purchased my first HO train. It was a Tyco Spirit of '76 train set from the Sears Christmas catalog. I picked up and sold enough pecans to pay for it myself. For Christmas that same year, Santa brought me two Bicentennial boxcars by Bachmann and a set of three Bicentennial passenger car kits by Roundhouse.

Over the next several years, I ran that Tyco Spirit of '76 locomotive until the wheels came off...yes, the wheels actually came off. Eventually, the '76 train was packed away in a box, where they remained for almost 30 years.

I have been in model railroading off and on through the years, but had not given much thought to the old '76 train until this past summer when I came across an Athearn SD45T-2 in Cotton Belt Bicentennial Paint. I purchased it, along with the matching caboose. With this new power, the Spirit of '76 would live again.

The old cars cleaned up pretty well, to my delight they almost appear new. The old truck mounted horn hook couplers and plastic wheels had to go. I installed body mounted Kadees, metal wheelsets and weighted the cars to NMRA standards.

I tested the train at the club yesterday. Seeing those cars going around the track brought back loads of memories from a December 35 years ago.

So, do you still have your first model train?

...or maybe a story you would like to share?

Nope, I don't have my first set which were Lionel. They were stolen from my Mother's house by unscrupulous movers.....

Unfortunately, no. I received it for Christmas at age 10 (1966). I gave it to a neighbor kid when I was about 13 after I had painted the plastic wheels with silver paint and drilled out the headlight on the loco...

It was a rare Marx HO set. The loco was a four wheel industrial switcher painted green and it ran like crap and had brass wheels.

The freight cars were pretty good inlcluding a NYC Pace Maker boxcar and a Western Pacific bay window caboose, and I think, a Lehigh Valley hopper car.

The throttle on the power back had a weird rheostat control that looked like a gear make from fiber board. It was kind of pain to operate. The sections of track had fiber board ties with I think steel rails (hollow?) and they fit together with a male-female connection not unlike Lionel track.

My first train equipment was from Lionel; 1661E 2-4-0, 2 coaches and a observation car. Santa Claus sent it to my Grandparents' house in Hanover, Kansas Dec. 25, 1936. Harley E.Wilcox was the St.J.& G.I. agent. As we are typing this post, the train is still with me and is presently less than 10 feet away. wag216

lynngrove Wrote:
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> So, do you still have your first model train?
>
> ...or maybe a story you would like to share?

Still have the cars from the first model train that Santa delivered, Tyco Virginia hopper, Burlington Northern box car, Rock Island caboose, and the original power pack. I remember accidentally dropping the ALCo C430 on a hardwood floor and parts flew out of the Powertorque mechanism, rendering it inoperable. I kept it for many years, but during one of the many moves, it got lost, and probably got thrown away. I did find a replacement ALCo 430 with handrails when I first signed on eBay more than 10 years ago, and that one still runs.

Still have the first train I bought with the money I earned from recycling newspapers, a Tyco Broadway trolley. I posted a picture of it here on TO in a thread that got deleted. :-)

Still have the first Athearn engine I bought, photo not deleted, still viewable:

http://www.trainorders.com/images2/view.php?463515

Me too, in 1975 received a Tyco set. it included some hideous 6 axle ICG diesel(I don't know what it was a U something). An oval of track, with 18" inch radius curves and four cars. The damn loco couldn't handle the tight radius and derailed nearly everytime. I became so frustrated I chucked that POS engine against the wall, and went out and bought me a couple Warbonnet F units. I never have looked back! To this day, I HATE the ICG!

Long gone. The first was an American Flyer B&O blue steam loco set sometime around the mid 50s. We sold 5 subscriptions to the Chicago Tribune to earn this. We followed up the next year with a Santa Fe PA set by selling 5 more subscriptions in the neighborhood.

scooter Wrote:
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> Me too, in 1975 received a Tyco set. it included
> some hideous 6 axle ICG diesel(I don't know what
> it was a U something). An oval of track, with 18"
> inch radius curves and four cars. The damn loco
> couldn't handle the tight radius and derailed
> nearly everytime. I became so frustrated I
> chucked that POS engine against the wall, and went
> out and bought me a couple Warbonnet F units. I
> never have looked back! To this day, I HATE the
> ICG!


Was it an Alco Super 630 like these http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/tycobrownboxdiesels/id9.html ?

My original Spirit of '76 locomotive was a six axle Alco Super 630. It ran at warp speed around those old brass track 18" curves. The only derailing problems I had were with the tyco switches that came with the set...I got some Atlas switches and solved that problem.

Yep an Athearn wide body SDP40 with AHM celestory passenger cars all in Mcginnis. Steve

Yep. Lionel set with a 2-4-2 slope back. It was the cheapest thing they made in 1965, but it still runs.

Scott

Scott Schifer
Torrance, CA
TinyTrains Website

Loved looking at those old Tyco and Mantua trains. Quality stuff. REasonable price. Made right here in the US of A!!

lynngrove Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> scooter Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Me too, in 1975 received a Tyco set. it
> included
> > some hideous 6 axle ICG diesel(I don't know
> what
> > it was a U something). An oval of track, with
> 18"
> > inch radius curves and four cars. The damn
> loco
> > couldn't handle the tight radius and derailed
> > nearly everytime. I became so frustrated I
> > chucked that POS engine against the wall, and
> went
> > out and bought me a couple Warbonnet F units.
> I
> > never have looked back! To this day, I HATE
> the
> > ICG!
>
>
> Was it an Alco Super 630 like these
> http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/tycobrownboxdiesels/
> id9.html ?
>
> My original Spirit of '76 locomotive was a six
> axle Alco Super 630. It ran at warp speed around
> those old brass track 18" curves. The only
> derailing problems I had were with the tyco
> switches that came with the set...I got some Atlas
> switches and solved that problem.


YEP! That's it! A 630 Alco. After I smashed that POS against the wall, I looked at the frame and trucks and they were still good, so being the youngster I was, I didn't care too much about authenticity, so I just took out the middle wheels and she ran perfect, but of course there was no body as it lie in 39 pieces on the floor!

Yes Sir, still have mine. Its and Alco 630 I believe with matching caboose. Bright Gold with blue letters that say "Golden Eagle". That was my first set early 80's. Not sure of the exact year but I was 5 or 6 yrs old. Its was from Tyco. It still runs.

No I don't... my first train (wish I had).
I do, however keep some of my old Varney, Athearn (blue box), Rivarossi trains including a few OK cars.
The old stuff, even if it no longer runs makes good backgrond scenes and provides some history of model roading.
One of the cars that I'll always keeep is a Varney gon made of paper (it doesn't track well but is a good foreground car with its detail).
This stuff would not sell for much at an auction or E-Bay so I just keep it like real railroads might do on their storage track.

Hal

My brother and I received a Lionel set for Xmas, probably 1960 or 1961 with the Pennsy green and gold striped GG1,
3 passenger cars, a steam engine with whistle tender (forget wheel arrangement) an exploding box car, a searchlight car, a tank car, a gon, and a caboose. Track was double oval with 4 switches.

We got some add-on track later an wore the wheels off those trains.
Sadly, they were sold later by my Mom and Dad.

My Dad switched from Lionel to HO when I was about 7 (1958). I still have his first locomotive, a Mantua 0-4-0 "Shifter". I however, no longer have my first, which was either an Athearn Hustler or a Revell F7 painted for the New Haven (can't remember which came first).

Tom Y

Ours was a Lionel O-27 from the early 1950s which I have along with the track and cars. I also have my uncle's American Flyer and Marx sets from the 1930s. Unfortunately my wife and I moved and I haven't sorted out where I put the later ones!! My brother gave me his Lionel HO stuff that dates to the early 60s as well. Some of that is used on my current HO layout (The Plywood Pacific) as part of the work train.

I still have a Tyco F7B lettered for B&O. I raked leaves for my Aunt and she took me to Trainarama to purchase it. I forget the exact year, but was probably around 1970/71 - 9 or 10 years old at the time.

One of the side frames on a truck came off and I used some string to hold it back on. It's still in that condition sitting in a drawer. I keep it because I always reminds me about my Aunt.

So, you ran your train with just a B unit?

tlong Wrote:
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> I still have a Tyco F7B lettered for B&O. I
> raked leaves for my Aunt and she took me to
> Trainarama to purchase it. I forget the exact
> year, but was probably around 1970/71 - 9 or 10
> years old at the time.
>
> One of the side frames on a truck came off and I
> used some string to hold it back on. It's still
> in that condition sitting in a drawer. I keep it
> because I always reminds me about my Aunt.

I still have one of those green WM flatcars from my first set but lost my first engine which if I remember correctly was an AHM 4 wheel switcher. The first engine I bought on my own was an Atlas WM GP40 and I think that was in 1977. Still have it, runs well - a bit noisy but for being over 30 yrs old I won't complain!