# What got you into G/Large scale trains?



## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

Hard to make a poll out of this one, but what got you into large scale trains? Exposure of one running overhead at a resturant, a trip to Europe, failing eyesite ect. I was exposed to LGB in my mid teens by an aunt and uncle. One one of their many trips to Europe and Germany to visit his relitives that live near Nuremberg, they brought me home much more that the usual pieces of money or my favorite Dark German Chocolate. Much to my supprise, I recieved a Stainz passenger starter set, they even made sure to collect the right 110v transformer from the factory. Prior to this exposure I had been modeling in HO scale at a local cluib and in 3rail Lionel at home using trains bought on my own and my father's train set. After recieving trains as gifts at a younger age, my folks never really supported my hobby in that way again. I bought all my own stuff with money I made mowing yards and clearing snow in the winter till I got old enough to get a full time job. I would set up that Stainz set under our family Christmas tree till the presents stacked up enough to prevent running. Mother wouldnt let me do a garden line in her garden but the elderly lady I mowed for accross the street loved the trains, so together we made a garden railway in her back yard, just a small loop, nothing real fancy. She would borrow my trains when her grandkids visited so they could see them run. LGB remained a very small part of my train hobby at that time. I was deep into Postwar Lionel and the local HO train club where I ran a sizeable fleet of PFM Brass shays I had collected. Fast forward to this past year. As I approach 40yrs old, its much harder for me to work on the smaller trains, Im to the point of needing bi focals but resisting it still. O scale is to noisy to my ears anymore, although I still have dads 1655 powered starter set that comes out at Christmas. So I came back to G scale and LGB on a full time modeling basis. My wife and I have an overhead loop around our living room ceiling, and untill this past week an indoor loop in a spare bedroom. Plans are afoot to change that room so I have moved into the garden as seen in my thread in the European forum. Probably the biggest factor in my exposure to large scale was right after I got that starter set, and needing more track, was walking into Watts Train Shop in Zionsville, Indiana. This was during Watts prime time as one of the largest dealers of LGB in the states. So it had the "WOW" factor, talk about being overwhelmed! I do most all my shopping at Watts, followed by ebay and train shows. Cheers Mike and Michele T


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

The Aster Live Steam "USRA Light Mikado". Nothing more, nothing less. It "looks" right, and "operates" right. If it were not for that engine, I probably would be in some larger scale or not in any scale, but still just a collector of RR memorabilia.


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

It was a odd accident, kind of. I never was into as a kid, other than my dad putting an HO layout around the tree. My son, now 21 was given some lgb and Bachmann starter sets by his grandfather. He never showed much interest, and the sets mostly just sat in the attic. One year my wife and I saw a g scale setup in downtown dc, at Christmas, and we decided "hey, let's get those train out of storage. We set it up in the garden at Christmas, all the neighbors loved it, we did it again next year, and then we decided to make it permanent.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

I got an HO scale Tyco trainset as a Christmas present when I was about 10 years old, circa 1979..
By the time I was 16 years old, it had evolved into an HO scale layout taking up 80% of my bedroom! 
I also joined the "Valley Railroad Museum" in Sayre PA as a teenager in the 1980's..

I left for college in 1987, and the HO trains got packed up..(still in boxes today, 25 years later)
I still enjoyed photographing prototype trains through my 20's, but being in college,
then in a series of small apartments after college, actual model railroading was on indefinite hold..

Then, in the Summer of 2001, (when I was in my early 30's) my Dad made an innocent comment along the lines of:
"I was in a store that had these big model trains running in a loop around the top of the wall, by the ceiling..
those are pretty cool! are those what they call "G gauge"?"..I had already been out to Ridge Road Station several times,
after I moved to Rochester, so I was well aware of "G Gauge" even though I hadn't considered buying any myself yet..
(I was still an apartment dweller, didn't own my own home yet)

My Dad had been building rock walls and path's around my parents yard for years, and the yard was perfect for a garden railroad!
So that comment of his, about thinking the G-gauge trains were interesting,
led to me getting a Bachman Big Hauler, some cars and track, for my Dad as a Christmas present in 2001:










and the die was cast..for him as well as me! 
I started getting into the hobby myself as well at that time..and for several years I would bring my trains to run
on his railroad, as I didn't have a garden railroad of my own, even though I was doing a lot of model building..

Then my Dad passed away in 2009, I inherited all his trains, and they will run soon on my own garden railroad..
which is named after my Dad's railroad, the Stonehedge Railway..
I'm in the hobby for life now! 

Scot


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Dad got me an American Flyer set in the late 40's which quickly out grew the 4x8 plywood sheet on sawhorses. Early 50's saw a conversion to HO tp try to emulate John Allen's stuff... Yeah, Right!?!?!!? 

Never got the hang of wiring so in the mid-50's, that gave wayto girls and cars..... 

Although the fascination with trains has been with me ever since I rode the Steam pulled passenger trains from Rockford to Chicago and back after WWII. 

Fast forward to 1998. 

Lived in San Diego and got involved in HO again with the San Diego Model Railroad Club in Balboa Park and was part of the Wednesday running team for awhile. While in San Diego, I visited Reed's Train Store in La Mesa and met Mike Pfulb who introduced me to Battery Powered G guage trains. No track wiring... Yea..... In fact, you didn't need track at all... Just run them across the porch deck.









Then the move to Prescott, AZ in 2000 and the evolution of the present Prescott Canyon Southern Garden Railroad.


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## Dennis Paulson (Jan 2, 2008)

Lifelong model railroader , off and on , ended up here , with zero room for a indoor layout , so outdoors G size trains was my only way to operate trains at home . Its been a great interest for myself and Helen also , I could not have built the layout without her help , and we have net a lot of great people shareing the LS hobby with outdoor trains . 
My small scale MRR opertions buddies still operate , but , they still are just the guys operating the trains .


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## digger (Jan 2, 2008)

My grandfather had a wind-up train around his Christmas tree, back in the mid-1940's. It threw sparks out of the smokestack and fascinated the heck out of me. One of my friends in grade school took me to his place, where his Dad had built an HO layout. I was hooked. My Dad bought us a used Lionel set, which was eventually traded in for a shiny Athearn HO-scale Santa Fe streamliner. I never succumbed to the phase where girls and cars took me away from my love of trains. Went through just about every gauge and scale over the years, but bought my first large scale Kalamazoo set in the early 80's so that my grandaughter would have something more robust to operate rather than my then-current On3 models would endure. Shortly thereafter, during a visit to Caboose Hobbies, I discovered LGB and as they say, "the rest was history". I sold off the On3 in 1986 and went totally into large scale and started my first garden railway. Have never regretted the move.


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## Ralph Berg (Jun 2, 2009)

For me, it was also a matter of not having space indoors.
I had looked into G-Scale outdoors, but the track was pretty costly. Then I ran across a closeout sale at AristoCraft. Aluminum sectional track, $52 for a case of 48 feet.
It was a deal I couldn't refuse. I bought 8 cases, in two seperate purchases.
Ralph


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Like others I too have been associated with model trains as long as I can remember. Lionel, Tyco, etc...but Large Scale? That goes back to my N days. I had a small 2x4 layout, then I discovered HOn30 and rebuilt a few small N engine and converted some HO stock. I always liked small dinkeys and critters But those little N motors left much to be desired - two speeds 0 or 200 mph. So I boxed everything and did other things. When we bought our house I realized I could do LS that but I was concerned I couldn't afford it but this was when LGB and other mfrs were offering low cost models so one LGB Porter, one HLW Mack and some HLW short car kits I was hooked.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Around the time I bought my home, I inherited a cat/kitten he's a wild thang. I converted on spare bedroom into my lapidary and metal working shop and decided to take my On3 outdoors. 
I bought several Trex boards and sliced them up on a used 8" table saw and made ladders, oh about 500' worth. The elevated parts along side the house were ok, but where the ladder was on the ground... not so good. After witnessing the first Monsoon there I knew my finescale On3 would never run outdoors. Seems like the top 2" of sand, rocks and silt moved to cover the ladder. 

I went to the Ace hardware store where I had seen over head trains, found out about a sister store that had everything I'd need to go G. I bought a little Aristo starter set, the 0-4-0 and 2 sierra cars. Took it home and saw the track, Took the train and power supply out, put the track back in the box and put it in storage. The next day I got a circle of 10' D and enough straight for a 30 X 20' tri oval, kinda like an old round top mailbox and my empire began. 









There's the old Railroad Baron now....


John


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

I've had trains in my life longer then I can remember. Yes, at 3 years old, I had an HO layout on the floor in my bedroom. Still have the early 50s Penn Line Blue Switcher. 

Then in 1965, my grandmother gave me my late twin uncles American Flyer trains. Still have them also. 

In the late 60s, I had Minitrix N gauge trains but lost interest when real cars and girls came along. 

In the 70s, I got back into American Flyer 

During the late 80s my father purchased some LGB equipment. I bought dad a Bachmann Big Hauler set and later a Bachmann 2-4-2 steam engine. 

Then in 2006 my father passed away from Alzheimers. 

My mother gave me my father's trains and from there I have immersed myself in the hobby. 

The best part of this hobby for me has been the friends I have made.


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Watching zillions and zillions and zillions of hours of Thomas the Tank Engine when our son was growing up.


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## JPCaputo (Jul 26, 2009)

I've been into trains since before I can remember. HO, N, I've always wanted Lionel and LGB. Never could afford the larger ones, till I worked across the street literally from Gold Coast Station. I was like a kid in a candy store. Saving up to buy as much as I could. I wish I bought more used track back then.


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

My big brother and I had an oval with siding on a ping pong table. It was set up every holiday season for a few months. Dad did all the work, of course. Naturally, every Christmas meant a trip to a local camera shop who was also an American Flyer dealer, to add something to our layout. One of our cousins also has A.F. Our grandfather was an upholsterer on the Pullmans (my brother claims he was a carpenter). I recently found his Pullman 30-year pin and his 1949 Brother of Railroad Carmen of American pin. In our grandparents' home I remember a pair of (I thought at the time) ugly living room chairs. Only a few years ago, I ran across a photo of two identical chairs in a Pullman Parlor car! Suddenly, I'd love to have them in my own living room. Last I saw them was 20-30 years ago, in my aunt's house. I should get ahold of my cousin and see if he has them.


On the other side of the family, we had cousins who had Lionel, and lots of it. We consoled ourselves with the fact that our A.F. had the realistic two-rail track.


Buffalo was reputed to be second only to Chicago in railroad activity back when we were kids, but mostly I just remember our folks continually warning us to "stay away from the tracks", which I did. I was a good boy. My brother, on the other hand, enjoyed walking up to the double-track 'round-Buffalo loop, just a block from where we lived, to see if anything was coming. He got into a lot of trouble for that. I'm sure I never snitched on him.


Then, nothing happened once career and females got in the way.


In my early 30s, I was dating the boss's sectretary. For some reason, one day he had an HO set running on his desk. I must've expressed some interest and received a Tyco HO set from my eventual first wife. I'm sure she regretted it because HO was a bit overpowering and grew to a 20x20 foot basement layout in our second house. The house sat on more than an acre of land and I often though it'd be neat if I could have a train (I must've been thinking O scale then) running around the outside. It'd be way cool. Once we moved into a new house, the HO stuff stayed in boxes, and various things happened.
In 2005, having few responsibilities, I found myself thinking that the house I now have would be a great place to run some big trains amongst the flowerbeds because I hate gardening and it would help me feel better about all the work around here. A few years of thinking, reading, and thinking some more, and I finally did it! 500 feet of track at the moment, maybe start the big 500 foot addition next year.










JackM


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Always liked trains. 

Had an '0-27' layout as a kid, but it got taken down before I moved out. 

Then, many years later, I built the house, followed by the attached garage. Because I took advantage of the building codes, I ended up 
with a 11x27 space above the garage for literally only a few hundred extra dollars. Didn't know quite what to do with said space, made a 
joke to myself that I now had room for a great big old train set. 

A few years after that, I came into a minor windfall and decided to set up another layout - something to keep me occupied during the 
long cold dark winters. Spent months looking through the catalogs, concentrating on the '0' scale stuff, but also noticed quite a bit of 
'G' guage sets and items available as well, for roughly comparable prices. Hmmm....bigger...no rail down the middle of the track...and I 
did have what I thought to be a fair amount of space. So 'G' won out by a narrow margin.


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## cape cod Todd (Jan 3, 2008)

Like many here I started with a LGB starter set loop around the Xmas tree and then discovered Ebay and it took off from there. 
I have always liked trains and had HO as a kid and teen. It all went away for women, school and jobs. 
The best thing about the large scale is the size and that it is good for outside. I run all year round and enjoy all aspects of it something you don't get when stuck inside in the basement.


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

First, I got old and handling my 1-1/2" scale ride-on equipment wasn't fun anymore. Then Accucraft came out with the 3-cylinder Shay. Now, five live steam engines later, I have built a raised steaming track at home, with friends over to steam on a regular basis. Building in 1:20 has turned out to be just as satisfying as building the big stuff, too. 

Larry


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

I always wanted a model railroad, especially after getting someone's castoff Model Railroader magazines and seeing John Allen's famous layout. When I was a teen my dad did some trading with someone and got an 8x10 foot plywood layout with a plastic mountain and green sawdust for grass. That was pretty cool and a good start, but the combination of cheap-o rolling stock and brass snap-track was too troublesome and trying to run the thing was an exercise in frustration. Never could afford any better track or equipment so eventually gave up on it. 

Later, as an adult I never had the space for a layout, and money was pretty tight anyway. I did some small dioramas though, because my favorite aspect of model railroading was building models. 

Finally, after I was married I had a house that wasn't rented and some room in the garage, so I started building an HOn30 narrow gauge layout. Got the framework put in, started handlaying track. Then we needed to remodel the house and everything had to be torn out. The framework was stored away, but by the time the house was put back together the garage space was being used for other things. At the same time I was getting pretty heavily into rocketry, so the layout never got rebuilt. Twenty years later I gave up on ever having a model RR, and had the old framework hauled away. 

Then... I saw a "G scale" Buddy L train set running in a store window. It had realistic sound, and was marked down to $99. I bought it, and set it up on the patio. Cris liked it too, and I started trying to figure out where I could build a permanent layout. The only piece of land we had that wasn't already in use was the steep hill in the back yard. I studied and studied it, figured out how to fit a decent layout into the restricted space, and sold Cris on the idea. The rest is history.


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## jnic (Jan 2, 2008)

My therapist said I needed a hobby


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

We were on vacation in England in the mid 70s, at Woburn Abbey, and they had an outdoor train display running LGB through the garden. It was raining, and my dad was impressed with the trains running in the rain. When we later saw the trains for sale at Hamley's in London, dad decided he had to have a set. When we got back home, dad sent his brother a check (he was stationed in the UK with the Air Force), with the instructions to head to Hamley's and send us a loco, a few cars, and some track. I've still got that loco sitting on the shelf in my workshop. (LGB Zillertalbahn 0-6-2). It's the one loco that will not get kitbashed. 

Later, 

K


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## Fred (Jan 2, 2008)

Been in HO since 1961 and always liked MR magazine. The April, 1991 issue came & had an article by Russ Larson on his outdoor garden railroad he & his wife recently built using a Bachman Big Hauler radio controlled battery locomotive. That day my wife & I were on the way to Toys R Us to get birthday presents for my 10 yr old son. There I found that Big Hauler set featured in MR. Since it was only $50 I picked it up, that's what got me started in large scale. In 2004 I sold off my HO to concentrate on largescale. The gon, flat, and caboose from that set is still in use today on my outdoor railroad. The eng has been o/s for years, figured one of these days I'd send it to Barry for conversion, just never did - kept buying diesels !


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## Bob Pero (Jan 13, 2008)

My wife got me into "G". She wanted to build a layout and told me HO was too small. We joined the FGRS and have been active for 17 years in the "scale". 
See www.liveoakrr.com


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## jaug (Oct 18, 2011)

Marx and American Flyer sets around the tree for Christmas as a very young boy around 1950 to about 1956 then Lionel gifts from my parents, and my Dad and I making several 027 basement layouts from about 1956 to 1962, then slot cars took over until the first pretty young girl caught my attention in 1964. Uncle Sam called in 1969 for a few years of running around in the jungle. Some serious HO and HOn3 modeling with a large basement layout in the mid 70's till late 90s along with a new family and home and a fairly large LGB and Kalamazoo layout for my two sons under the tree each Christmas. Then in 2004 a few years off for some personal stuff then the old eyes not being what they once were and loving finer detail sold off all the HO in 2010 and found Fn3, gotta love those big guys, the new layout plans are almost ready and construction will start this winter. Model trains have always been a part of my life and a close common thread and memories of times spent with my father and my sons.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

About 1994-ish I found an original Botchmann Bug Mauler (battery) set at a yard sale. That was $20 I'd still like back. It quit working after a week.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Too much money, not enough cents.... 
That too has passed. 
John


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## pete (Jan 2, 2008)

I always liked the lgb trains but never pulled the trigger. Six years ago my wife bought me a lgb set for chaistmas and the rest is history.


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Digressing from the original question like everyone else, my life with trains of many scales began because back in the day, they were the primary means of transportation and transit. And darned impressive to boot. Plus, as JackM says, Buffalo rivaled Chicago as one of the nation's top railroad towns (800 a day, is what I heard from the historical folks). At Christmas, the Sears store at the corner of Broadway and Fillmore--down where the streetcar bends, JackM--there was always a Lionel layout, which impressed the heck out of me. So I pestered and pestered and got an American Flyer train set, which went up each Christmas, under the tree. But the AF developed some wiring problem, which none of us could fix, so around 1950 or so, I pestered some more and got a Lionel NYC diesel, all the rage at the time, with an operating milk car, log car and others. Plus two switches and stuff. Things went well until I spotted an old Model Railroader at a neighbor's house (Sidebar: I thought this guy was way cool because he used to crew on a Ford V-8/60 midget, whose owner would come by every wednesday? night to pick him up for the races at Civic Stadium) and after seeing HO, I parked the Lionel. I built a couple of half-ass layouts, including a portable one I dragged off for Show-and-Tell day at Canisius High School (where the late Tim Russert went, although he was not a train guy even though he grew up in South Buffalo). During sophmore year in high school I suddenly decided I wanted to play the drums, because my best friend, whose dad was an engineeer on the NYC, was musically inclined. So I sold the Lionel for $200 (where was I when the brains were handed out?). But mom said, "No drums," even though Gene Krupa was Polish. "Drummers," she said,"smoke marijuana and abuse themselves." No matter, because boats and boat racing came along. And then cars and hot rodding, for which I am eternally grateful because I wouldn't be where I am today without 'em. Marrying a smart, loving woman with a good job helped too, but that's another sidebar. 

To the actual question: in 1999 or so I saw a Bachmann 10-wheeler in a store window and thought it would look great under the Christmas tree. I bought one set, then another, then more cars, switches, track, building kits, Aristo track because the Bachmann toy track sucked, more locos and the world's largest supply of styrene. When it was decided that 1:20.3 is the proper scale for narrow gauge, I went down that road, which is where I'm at now. No outdoor layout yet, though I have the track. Just a living room loop for when I want to hear the sound system in my two Barry-equipped 10-wheelers. I got a huge building collection though.  

Aren't you glad you asked?


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## RickV (May 25, 2012)

I started with an antique wooden train set that my Father gave to me (was given to him by his Father who got it from his Father as kid). After this I got into Lego trains for a number of years before graduating to proper scale models in the form of UK OO scale trains - mostly Hornby. 

I modeled these for a number of years and even exhibited my layout at the Brisbane Model Train Show which is where I developed a strong interest in N-Scale as I could fit a heck of lot more into the same space. Ironically, it was some years later and at the same annual train show that my Mother bought me the Aristocraft G-Scale Christmas starter set which kicked off my interest in large-scale outdoor modelling. This was also helped by moving to a new house and setting aside an area dedicated to the development of train garden.


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## W3NZL (Jan 2, 2008)

*Got my 1st electric train for xmas 1939, a Lionel, had a couple of wind-up trains before *
*that as best I can recollect... Got into the hobby on my own right after the war ended in 45, *
*been at it ever since... After the wars of the early 50s I got out of the service in 56, I had a *
*pretty good collection of Lionel going by then, but good old Mom had given all my trains *
*away while I was in the service, said I was too old to be playing with toy trains now !!!! So *
*into HO I went, where I dwelled for about 35 years, by the early 90s my eyes just wouldn't *
*allow me to deal with HO like I wanted to anymore, so I started switching over to LS in about *
*91... So **here I be for the duration...*
*Paul R...*


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Joe - 

I don't want to turn this thread into another rousing chorus of "Boost BUffalo - It's Good for You", but you must've grown up two blocks from where I did, and I went to Canisius HS too. Next time you get back east we should trade stories over a beef on weck and a few boilermakers. 

But I don't remember the streetcar bending at Bway & Fillmore. Didn't those two routes just cross at that point? The big Sears store was where Fillmore ended at Main, where the trolley barn was. I have the David Bregger book about BUffalo's bus and streetcar history. I'll see if I can figure out who's memory is better. 

Na Zdrowia (sp?) 

JackM


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Nothing like a 1939 map to bolster my opinion. According to the map, the Broadway bus did turn at Fillmore and jogged down to Paderewski to get to Central Terminal, but the streetcar didn't. The Fillmore streetcar had to jog around Humboldt Park, but that turn was at Genesee St. 

JackM


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

I'd always run N scale. I got my son (6 at the time) his first HO set for Christmas. Around Feb or March after christmas there was a modle train show close by so I took my son and one of his friends. As the boys looked everything over I saw the biggest dang trains I'd ever seen. I walked over to the running set up and watched these incerdibly detailes massive beauties run for fifteen minutes. As a consequence I met the membership of the Utah Garden Railway Society.... and became a member a few days later... It was all downhill from there.... I though I had hit rock bottom... Then I met Shad.. Game over.


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

I remember seeing the obligatory LGB starter set running under a Christmas tree in store somewhere and then a small oval running in a local hobby shop window for years. I knew I wanted to leap from N to G but as a teen it was cost prohibitive. Many years later becoming a home owner, parent and such and riding the CASS Shay I saw the first Bachmann Shay. I knew it was time. Funny enough when I went to make the purchase I was given some great advice from both the shop owner and a customer who was in the store at the time and I purchased a beautifully bashed used LGB Forney and some track. That chance meeting set me up with a reliable locomotive and an introduction to our local G scale club, Central Ontario Garden Railroad Association. As an aside, not buying that first Shay left me with the good fortune of waiting for the later generation improved Bach Shay which I also love. 

Robert


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## Bob in Kalamazoo (Apr 2, 2009)

I started off in HO then went to N then back to HO then to G and Z about the same time and now I have Z, N, HO, O, and G. If it's a train I love it. I have two Z layouts, one N one HO, One garden G and track in the basement for O and G. Most of the time I run in the winter, but sometimes it's not very nice out so I run one of the inside layouts. One of the Z layouts is a garden in the garden layout outside.
Bob


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## TonyLou (Sep 3, 2009)

Actually, I am a modeller in HO scale and N scale. Few years ago, one of my friend show me the G scale C44-9W with sound. Wowow.... then, I start my G scale collection.


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

Not what but who - Dr. Rivet back around 1996

Doc


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## FHER_operator (Sep 7, 2012)

I worked in N scale from when I was very little all through college, though dabbling in pretty much all the other scales. (People always seemed to rope me into their train projects, though I'm not really a huge rail nut.) I had some G, namely an LGB starter set, some Playmobile, and a bit of Aristo stuff. Yaknow, a kid's sort of Large-scale collection.

My starter drug to Large-Scale was actually Full-scale. Volunteering at a trolley museum through college was an unforgettable experience, and one I wanted to keep fresh in my mind. So when Aristo brought out its PCC car, I snatched one up. Now, four PCCs and three other streetcars later, I'm firmly into Large-scale electric railway modeling.










-Steven


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## backyardRR (Aug 14, 2012)

With me it was a question of when and not if. Since I was 12 I had HO trains (Lionel before that). When I got married and bought a house designing and building an HO layout was a priority (after painting, flooring, etc.). I was always into gardening and considered myself a bit of a backyard meglomaniac what with patios, walks, planters, benches, etc. Garden railroading was an interesting concept but the demands of my job (IT project management) along with 10-12 hour days made that impossible. Well, my wife and I retired this year so there is plenty of time to finally start a garden railway. Got a GR education on the Internet and started with a Bachmann starter set and a loop of Aristo Craft track around the patio. Been digging roadbed trenches this Summer along with building some bridges. Hope to start laying roadbed and track in the actual garden next year. I am already thinking about future expansion. Meanwhile, this Winter I will look out the back window and imagine seeing my trains wind through the backyard countryside.

*Knackered Valley Railroad*
*The route of the knackered mule*


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## Pete Chimney (Jan 12, 2008)

Like many others posting here I had Lionel trains as a chiuld. My father bought track, I beieve sold by Cargraves, that actually resembled real track, not the steel 3-rail Lionel type with the new black metal cross ties. We played with that for years as kids but in high school my two brothers and I lost interest in trains and my mother eventually sold the entire layout; locomotives, cars, buildings, table, transformer for $25. Oh the pain, the pain.

Fast forward to 1989 and my wife bought me an N-scale starter set. This morphed into HO-scale layout and then in 1994 I saw an ad in a Damark catalog. Damark is/was a clearing house for various mershcanidse, they may still be in business. The ad was for a Bachmann 4-6-0 Big Hauler set. I bought this set and loved the size. 

The older style Bachmann track (pressed steel) of course left much to be desired. At the time we lived in the SF Bay area, an ideal climate for outdoor trains and I built a nice layout with a set of loops and some passing sidings and a few spur tracks. Then a job transfer to Houston in 2003 meant the layout had to be torn out. Sadly, the climate in south Texas is not amenable to working on outdoor layouts, especially from May through October. But I still run G-scale indoors over the holidays, we have over 4200 square feet of living space in air conditioned comfort so I can run trains all throughout the house,though now on LGB Brass Code 332 track. 

The original Big Hauler 4-6-0 is still running just fine which has to be something of a record, most of them seemed to have died in a year or two.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By jnic on 17 Sep 2012 09:24 AM 
My therapist said I needed a hobby










Hehe. Same here


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