Hi John:
Here goes...I'll lead off:
Well, I’ve been into O-gauge trains on and off since 1950 when my dad bought me my first Lionel outfit. No. 1463W Lionel “O-27" 3-car freight set.
I remember walking home from Cub Scouts and seeing the Lionel display and that set in the Pep Boys store window on Rockaway Blvd., in Queens NY.
Dad(Santa)and my brother Bob set up a Christmas
Garden Railroad under our Christmas Tree in the parlor and each and every year we added more and more to the layout until Mom complained it was taking up too much room and banished it to the basem*nt. Which was good for us kids, because we now could play with our trains year round!
Dad got into HO in the mid 1950s and our Lionel stuff was stored in cartons under the layout in favor of Fleischman and other brands of HO. We built some pretty cool things together, including a helix.
Our family moved to NJ in 1959 and each Christmas Mom agreed for us to build a small HO pike under the Christmas tree.
I joined the Navy in 1961 and was Honorably discharged in 1964. When I returned home, I asked my Mom what ever happened to our Lionel trains and she told me that she gave them away to a kid down the block.
Wedding bells tolled for us in 1965. Back then, I would take my wife grocery shopping at the now defunct Two Guys stores. While she shopped for groceries, I would visit the toy/model department and occasionally buy one of their deeply discounted Lionel items.
In 1969 we bought our first home and I began building a 18' x 8' L shape Lionel layout. Nothing fancy, about it, but it was fun. At that time train shows were called train meets and they were few and far between and were really swop-meets. I began selling at train shows and did quite well. In my quest for more trains I placed want to buy ads in the local newspapers and even in our Church Bulletin.
In 1973,a small store front shop became available for the bargain price of $100 a month. I had a sign painter paint the window: “We Buy Lionel Trains” with our home phone number under it. The sign brought in loads of trains. Later we expanded the sign to read dolls as my wife is a doll collector. Which we bought at bargain prices and resold at shows, keeping the best for ourselves.
Over the years I continued train collecting and continued adding pieces to my collection.
I enjoy restoring old trains and toys, when I have the time. I have a few cartons of Lionel tin-plate stations and other stuff I put aside for when I retire to keep me busy. My favorite pre-war Lionel are their 800 series cars as well as Lionel Standard Gauge 200 series cars. Marx is also well represented in my collection.
I’m really not a ‘Collector,’ rather I consider myself to be an ‘Operator’ or someone who amasses a lot of stuff!
I was delighted when Williams came on the scene and even more happier when Mike Wolf gave the old tired Lion a run for the money. Now that doesn’t mean I don’t buy current Lionel, I certainly do. But I’d say the ratio is around five to one in favor of MTH. Also, all the other manufacturers are well represented in my collection.
PW size engines and rolling stock are my favorites. I enjoy them because they fit in well with my pw stuff and look well in consists.
My last layout was L shape and measured approx 28' x 8' and had a 12' dog leg or L on it. I also made up a bunch of Dual Gauge 5 Rail Tin-Plate track and ran that on an elevated dog bone on the rear of the layout so I could run both O-Gauge and Standard Gauge on the same track!
Now my granddaughters enjoy trains with me the way their mothers used to. They helped me build my last layout and helped me take it down and pack all my trains away for the upcoming move to a new home.
In fact, my oldest granddaughter enjoys accompanying me to train shows. She gets a special kick when one of the old timers walks up to her and says: “Young lady, I remember when your mommy was your age and your mommy used to help your grandfather at train shows.”
Now what can be better than that?
Bill Lango
