kenw
5th Generation Texian
Last I tried, my original engine still runs fine. Athearn SW1500 (SW7). Purchased new in mid/late 60s.
I started in 1961
- Thread starter Larry
- Start date
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Last I tried, my original engine still runs fine. Athearn SW1500 (SW7). Purchased new in mid/late 60s.
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Last I tried, my original engine still runs fine. Athearn SW1500 (SW7). Purchased new in mid/late 60s.
Alcomotive
Grandson of an ALCO Builder
In Dec 1974 I received one around the o'l Christmas tree. It was and is for I still have it, a Mantua 0-4-0 Dockside switcher NYC with a tank car, reefer, boxcar, and the red caboose also NYC. Still have it and still runs.
I had few "board" layouts but nothing serious. My Godfather had one that was awesome. He even gave me his GP9 Northern Pacific loco by Lionel HO scale which was in the gold and black canoe scheme. Still have that but it does not run.
My first serious layout I built was in 1995 when I lived in Arkansas. Now all I have here in Florida is a shelf layout that is temporary at the size of 2 feet deep by 12 feet long.
I have been drawing up my future layout and revised many times which will include Soldiers Summit and Green River and Salt Lake City. It will be a while before that is started. I have a lot time for refinement in my planning stages.
I had few "board" layouts but nothing serious. My Godfather had one that was awesome. He even gave me his GP9 Northern Pacific loco by Lionel HO scale which was in the gold and black canoe scheme. Still have that but it does not run.
My first serious layout I built was in 1995 when I lived in Arkansas. Now all I have here in Florida is a shelf layout that is temporary at the size of 2 feet deep by 12 feet long.
I have been drawing up my future layout and revised many times which will include Soldiers Summit and Green River and Salt Lake City. It will be a while before that is started. I have a lot time for refinement in my planning stages.
For Christmas in 1949 I got an American Flyer set. It would be set up on the dining room table and at 3 years old I was allowed to watch as my dad and uncles took turns running it. I wondered just whose trains they really were. 
When my folks bought their house a few years later it was permanently set up on a 4x8 sheet of plywood up in the attic. As I got older and had a few cents to spend I began adding more track and the Plasticville buildings along with some scratch built stuff I made from cereal and cracker boxes. Crude but it kept the firing glowing for me.
High School, girls, cars, girls, military service, girls, race cars and girls shouldered aside the trains until 1975 when I decided to get involved again with HO. After buying our house I began a 6x12 foot L shape HO railroad. Worked on it for 3 or 4 years and then tore it down to build the present 14 x 12 folded dog bone shape. In 1985 other interests stopped all progress and operation until about a year ago. Happy to say I'm glad I'm back on track again and not planning any more stops along the way.
When my folks bought their house a few years later it was permanently set up on a 4x8 sheet of plywood up in the attic. As I got older and had a few cents to spend I began adding more track and the Plasticville buildings along with some scratch built stuff I made from cereal and cracker boxes. Crude but it kept the firing glowing for me.High School, girls, cars, girls, military service, girls, race cars and girls shouldered aside the trains until 1975 when I decided to get involved again with HO. After buying our house I began a 6x12 foot L shape HO railroad. Worked on it for 3 or 4 years and then tore it down to build the present 14 x 12 folded dog bone shape. In 1985 other interests stopped all progress and operation until about a year ago. Happy to say I'm glad I'm back on track again and not planning any more stops along the way.
CharlesH.
Member
The first layout I had started around 1997, in a small shop in our backyard. Father took care of the technical aspects, that is, benchwork, tracklaying and wiring, while I built the scenery. Because of his engineer's perfectionism, it took the better part of a year just to lay the track, and the wiring was never finished since he took an excessively high-tech approach to a simple control panel. The layout was later moved to the living room, where mother objected to it as an eyesore (especially when I started the scenery) and it finally ended up in my bedroom where it was partially dismantled in 2002. Only the benchwork remains.
Old 97
Hogger
Just got my Athearn SD-7 from 1967 running again. It was the first engine I "super detailed", including the SP light clusters, MU cables, drop steps, lift rings, and separate ladder for the nose. It was quite something back in the day. Looks like a piece of junk compared to a mdoern P2K or Atlas now, but I keep it for sentimental reasons.
Trussrod
Well-Known Member
I guess I can truely say I grew up with trains, even prior to my birth in Dec. 1945 as my mothers' sister was also expecting my nephew, Grand dad bought us both a very nice Lionel train set which at about 5 was put on a 4x8 table and I ran that until I was about 8 and Dad would bring home Ulrich HO kits from work as some guy would come around selling them and as fast as he would bring them home, often one every couple of nights I would build them up as I've always loved to build kits, both cars and locomotives too. Then I acquired a Mantua 0-4-0 Shifter kit and tender and built that up and Dad and I built a small oval layout with very sharp curves and I later added a switch for a siding. Adventually I bought the Walchert valve gear and added that to the shifter and enjoyed that and then got a Mantua 0-6-0 Little Joe, I think it was called? I still have them both as well as all the car kits I built and added to them too for the next few years. The small oval layout gave way to a 4 x 6 where the train would climb up and loop over itself and I had a lot of fun with that till about the time I graduated High school in 1963. I had quite a string of cars, cattle, gondolas flat and a Central Valley Red Side door caboose that had a Trussrod braced underframe and I fell in love with the old truss rod equipment and older loco's in general. I think I even had Mantua 4 wheel Bobber caboose that runs on m current layout as does the Red Central valley caboose. Well as High school ended Dad had a couple of heart attacks and my priorities changed and everything got packed away for some years. We also moved to Coarsegold in 1967 and I designed the home we lived in and helped build it along with Dad and Mom, as he did what he could while he could. Then in 1975 I again got the train bug and started to by Model Die Casting Locomotive kits and the old trussrod car and build the up and made a tempory little layout on a sheet of plywood that folded up against the wall of my mobile home as I was living in Fresno, Ca but I got tired of that and in about 77 and built myself a 5' x 9' layout that I slept under for some time until my folkks again needed my help a lot more and I moved back up to Coarsegold. The 5x9 layout got moved into one side of a double car garage as the other side was taken up with my Dark room and a hobby work desk finished of the rest of that side.
As it seems with all of us I got dismayed with my 5 x 9' layout as I built it to have double track main line and actually had it completely operational using Atlas track and switches but again got dismayed with the non-realistic look of the larger size of the rail and the smaller old engines and cars and started redoing all the track at once, big mistake. Actually this happened prior to moving back to my mountain home here, and hand laying laying all my track and making my own switches after I was shown how to build switches by an SP Engineer friend who modeled in N scale and was also completely hand layed everything too in code 55 & 40.
Well again things got in the way for a while as Dad was quite sick with heart problems so MRR took a back seat. Then in 1989 shortly after Dad's passing I began designing a new single track main line layout and after several revisions and completely dismanteling the old 5 x 9 layout that opened up the complete one side of of the garage and allows me to construct my current 10' x 21' C & S West Short Line which is the first layout that has every had a name associated with it and is a work in progress at present and the first shelf layout I've ever built as well as being the first to utilize L girders and opoen frame bench work. So I couldn't be more thrilled to be working on it as well as being associated with such a great group of folks as on this forum!
As it seems with all of us I got dismayed with my 5 x 9' layout as I built it to have double track main line and actually had it completely operational using Atlas track and switches but again got dismayed with the non-realistic look of the larger size of the rail and the smaller old engines and cars and started redoing all the track at once, big mistake. Actually this happened prior to moving back to my mountain home here, and hand laying laying all my track and making my own switches after I was shown how to build switches by an SP Engineer friend who modeled in N scale and was also completely hand layed everything too in code 55 & 40.
Well again things got in the way for a while as Dad was quite sick with heart problems so MRR took a back seat. Then in 1989 shortly after Dad's passing I began designing a new single track main line layout and after several revisions and completely dismanteling the old 5 x 9 layout that opened up the complete one side of of the garage and allows me to construct my current 10' x 21' C & S West Short Line which is the first layout that has every had a name associated with it and is a work in progress at present and the first shelf layout I've ever built as well as being the first to utilize L girders and opoen frame bench work. So I couldn't be more thrilled to be working on it as well as being associated with such a great group of folks as on this forum!
Trussrod
Well-Known Member
Take a little time to work on your own MRR!
Say Larry,
Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will a RR layout so start small. Design a layout you think you'd like to have, use the L girder method for table work for a shelf type of layout and build one table at a time. My tables are 2.5' in depth and about 5' to 7' in length and fairly light weight and easy to move around. You can actually build each table like a module so others can be added later as you want but at least it will allow you to secnic and run a train a little bit untill you build anther table to join to the first and then a third table etc.
The photos I've taken are on the site here under bench work will give you a good idea of how to build it. If you need any help just ask.
All you have to do is take the first step and I think your more than ready and if you've read any of my other posts I've even mentioned about to get free wood materials to use. No, not bye a finger discount. LoL Lumber yards often have scrap boxes and the stuff is free for the taking, plywood or OSB and even 2x4's at times.
Remember, where there's a Will, there's a Way. How about construction sites most they most always have a scrap pile.
Yeap. Me too Dude, me too.........
Say Larry,
Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will a RR layout so start small. Design a layout you think you'd like to have, use the L girder method for table work for a shelf type of layout and build one table at a time. My tables are 2.5' in depth and about 5' to 7' in length and fairly light weight and easy to move around. You can actually build each table like a module so others can be added later as you want but at least it will allow you to secnic and run a train a little bit untill you build anther table to join to the first and then a third table etc.
The photos I've taken are on the site here under bench work will give you a good idea of how to build it. If you need any help just ask.
All you have to do is take the first step and I think your more than ready and if you've read any of my other posts I've even mentioned about to get free wood materials to use. No, not bye a finger discount. LoL Lumber yards often have scrap boxes and the stuff is free for the taking, plywood or OSB and even 2x4's at times.
Remember, where there's a Will, there's a Way. How about construction sites most they most always have a scrap pile.
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