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First Train Set - Where did you start?


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Hornby R1072 Flying Scotsman set for my 5th birthday. The carriages still form the backbone of my expresses, however the loco has seen less and less use since I got a super detail A1 and realised just how poor the old tooling looks, especially the tender. That said, I did replace the gears earlier in the year after they'd split so that I can continue to use it.

 

A Hornby 0-4-0 in Highland Railway livery and some wagons were bought with birthday money at the same time. My first 'proper' (super detail) loco was a Hornby R2339 Mallard for Christmas of (I think) the same year.

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I too, had the Old Smoky train set, and that same year, 1965.  Dad had bought a train set some time before for my elder sister. He wanted it really, and my sister never let me forget it. Still, I inherited it.  Life moves on, and I often look on 'Bay with a view to re-purchase the constituent parts.  The first railway -related item I bought myself was a H&M Duette, which came from John Hall Tools in Cardiff. I still have the Duette stowed away somewhere, plus one of the very first Hornby black 5's . 

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What ever was the equivalent of a smokey joe set, back in the mid 60s, an oval of track an 0-4-0 loco, and a couple of wagons..

 

The track's long gone, the loco and wagons are in a box somewhere, along with a Hornby hall class loco and a couple of the generic carriages of course in GWR colours, and the controller.  .. That all that remains of that eras railway hobby,,

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My very first train set....

 

image.png.705be8f6475701d29aed747a2f71c335.png

Image source: http://www.tri-ang.co.uk/rpcset.html

 

A Triang RP.C "Primary" set. Now long gone.  It was initially powered using the P.40 Battery Controller, but the folly of driving a train set using three EverReady 126 bell batteries at a time soon became apparent and a mains controller turned up!

 

 

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4 hours ago, TheQ said:

What ever was the equivalent of a smokey joe set, back in the mid 60s, an oval of track an 0-4-0 loco, and a couple of wagons..

 

The track's long gone, the loco and wagons are in a box somewhere, along with a Hornby hall class loco and a couple of the generic carriages of course in GWR colours, and the controller.  .. That all that remains of that eras railway hobby,,

Hi TheQ,

You need to get that Hall out and get it running. They can be made up into a really nice engine with a bit of work. This is one of mine.

black hall 8.jpg

black hall 9.jpg

black hall 7.jpg

black hall 11.jpg

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6 hours ago, Earwicker said:

This one. I have the Western and some of the rolling stock in storage. Looking at the pictures in the 1980 catalogue still gives me a thrill. I spent so long as a kid staring at that layout.

fa974a1ca484c6723e607de016d82fc5.jpg

This looks like an updated version of the original Frieghtmaster train set that I longed for as a 10 year old child.

Triang Frieghtmaster train set..jpg

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it will be, wheels pulled out to EM gauge 

5 minutes ago, cypherman said:

Hi TheQ,

You need to get that Hall out and get it running. They can be made up into a really nice engine with a bit of work. This is one of mine.

black hall 8.jpg

black hall 9.jpg

black hall 7.jpg

black hall 11.jpg

It will be,

The Wheels need replacement after all these years, along with new axles for EM gauge, Dingham couplings and of course the correct colour of Middle Chrome Green. Even if I'm modelling a  station station on a blue route and the Hall Class is red

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2 hours ago, cypherman said:

This looks like an updated version of the original Frieghtmaster train set that I longed for as a 10 year old child.

Triang Frieghtmaster train set..jpg

 

And was further updated (still with a load of colourful private owner wagons) in the late 80's/early 90's with a Railfreight Red-Stripe class 58 I believe :)

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3 hours ago, cypherman said:

This looks like an updated version of the original Frieghtmaster train set that I longed for as a 10 year old child.

Triang Frieghtmaster train set..jpg


My diesel was green as it was Christmas 1965 and BR blue hadn’t been invented yet!  Trucks were identical though . I’ve now re created the set through a series of eBay purchases . The excitement of coming  down the stairs very early on Christmas Day!

Edited by Legend
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On 27/09/2020 at 18:58, ikcdab said:

The triang RS24 Set.

More than 50 years ago now, but I still have most of the bit lying around...

Ian

rs24-nelly-locomotive-triang-hornby_360_

 

Same here! In 1966. Blue 'Nellie', white van, green open, brown guards van. I still have the loco's body and wheels in the loft - the rewheeled chassis went under a scratchbuilt Class 06 in the mid-70s. 

I also still have the first wagon I bought to go with the set, a brown single bolster wagon with 'prongs' (Elf n Safety did away with those later on), still boxed although not its original one. I recall it cost me three shillings and elevenpence...........or a fraction under 20p!!!

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13 minutes ago, Neil Phillips said:

 

Same here! In 1966. Blue 'Nellie', white van, green open, brown guards van. I still have the loco's body and wheels in the loft - the rewheeled chassis went under a scratchbuilt Class 06 in the mid-70s. 

I also still have the first wagon I bought to go with the set, a brown single bolster wagon with 'prongs' (Elf n Safety did away with those later on), still boxed although not its original one. I recall it cost me three shillings and elevenpence...........or a fraction under 20p!!!

I recently found my Nellie. Horribly repainted but I have now stripped it back to the blue. On original chassis.

This first set was later followed by 2 CKD coaches. Inconveniently both BCK but have also just refurbished them too.

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8 minutes ago, ikcdab said:

I recently found my Nellie. Horribly repainted but I have now stripped it back to the blue. On original chassis.

This first set was later followed by 2 CKD coaches. Inconveniently both BCK but have also just refurbished them too.

 

Mine is still blue although it has a 'brass' dome and chimney top! And no name as those never lasted long.......just like the yellow panels on the Hymek. I also progressed to a pair of CKD Mark 1 CKs in maroon - I think they were numbered 15917 & 15918, on sticky labels. Shame they weren't supplied as CK and BSK though! The brass nuts and bolts supplied with CKD kits to attach the bogies were incredibly useful, I managed to buy some as spares and used them in all kinds of projects over the years.

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My first train set was a Märklin H0 clockwork set like this:

s870-1.jpg.3c2fc17d73ea62950154264e63234beb.jpg

 

The picture is not my set, since my set was destroyed by playing with it. The box when still there can be seen in the next picture where my brother and I were playing with our toys (1956/7):

Speelgoed.jpg.9fc15c5bd21fd3fa1b44534fd04a878e.jpg

Of course you recognize our other toys.

 

Regards

Fred

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Me with my grandad, christmas 1979.

 

021DEBA2-5D75-4DDA-8CFE-D08EB1DA3F89.jpeg.0d9f38f578fb0b2a61e4df854068ed06.jpeg

My grandad was an electrical engineer at Metro Vick in Manchester, had history with South African electric locomotives, and their power stations (and wanted to relocate out there in the 1930’s), Apprenticed on LULs stock. Bombed out 3 times in the war, he was seconded to Barrow to work on a captured uboat (hush hush stuff) but he had some bits of it I took to school as a kid. Wired the electrics in his own house and worked on the CoBos. Retired in the 1960’s through ill health. He had heaps of papers from Metro Vik and his father, whom was a Metal Planer with the L&Y at Horwich. My own father was a founder of the ELR, involved in the early days of the BLS, and BWRE, later a model railway rep until 2013.

 

I still have 37130 and its 3x coaches in my heritage fleet, which includes 101 & 3 coaches, a Triang DMU, 13012 a class 08, HST and my fathers 80054 and 6231 from his childhood.

In my life ive experienced working in model shops, at two model factories, been a repair specialist for a third... During that time ive handled conservatively over 10k model railway items, and by my mid 20s went to a career in IT instead, as the hobby hit a slump just as I finished uni in the 1990’s.
Today I own way too many models, a ridiculous amount of spares and my little one loves railways too.

 

its definitely in the family.. I should point out who’s hand is on the controller in that picture... it aint me ;-)

Edited by adb968008
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On 29/09/2020 at 16:35, Legend said:


My diesel was green as it was Christmas 1965 and BR blue hadn’t been invented yet!  Trucks were identical though . I’ve now re created the set through a series of eBay purchases . The excitement of coming  down the stairs very early on Christmas Day!

Hi Legend.

Your comment has made me wonder about the Brush type 2 in this set. When I wanted one it too had the 2 tone green engine. I wonder if this is a replacement engine in this set. As I cannot remember if it ever was released with the BR blue scheme

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7 hours ago, cypherman said:

Hi Legend.

Your comment has made me wonder about the Brush type 2 in this set. When I wanted one it too had the 2 tone green engine. I wonder if this is a replacement engine in this set. As I cannot remember if it ever was released with the BR blue scheme

 

BR blue between 1969 and 1971. Then only available in green until withdrawn in 1976 and replaced by the Class 25.

 

 

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hi all


Christmas 1968, Triang New Zealand clockwork set. 
 

C9B88FF6-C020-4B95-8E83-676414649EBB.png.bdcac86643e6bb9c83eb996c1343e643.png


 

Back in its original box now. 

 

34C5E114-CE79-442D-8062-681088213417.jpeg.6eae9a5ea62173c62bea4beda15aeee7.jpeg

 

And recreated 50 years later. 
 

 

E6B91595-CD0B-4FC6-8BB8-CD7BC6428378.jpeg.291535c7339b322e73483ad46417dad5.jpeg


 

Roger 

AD957A95-0FCD-444D-9443-1303F3E9259C.jpeg

Edited by 21C123
Better photo
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Some great posts and memories in this thread.

 

For me it started with the Hornby 'Midnight Freight' set as a kid in the late 1980s. This comprised a Railfreight red stripe liveried Class 58 and a few random wagons which, of course, were not prototypical. I remember Mighty White and Red Arrows branded vans, but there were a few others too.

 

Up until the mid-90s I collected a few other OO pieces and joined the Blyth & District Model Railway Society (BDMRS) as a junior member when we lived in Northumberland. My favourite model was a Lima Class 47 that was fully resprayed into InterCity ScotRail livery as 47637 'Springburn' by Cramlington Models. I later sold the handful of locos and stock I had built up to fund my first holiday to Spain with friends when I was about 16. I took very little interest in trains during the late 90s and early 2000s.

 

In the late 2000s, and by now living abroad and in my late twenties, I fancied the idea of a N gauge layout in my apartment and happened upon the CJM Models website, where I saw the then recently completed Class 47/7 push-pull set in BR Large Logo blue with blue/grey MK3s and DBSO that someone had commissioned. I ended up ordering a set in the mid-80s full ScotRail livery and that was my first foray back into the hobby. I thought I might as well prove to myself that I was serious, as it certainly cost a few quid! Since then I've been building up a fair amount of N gauge locos and rolling stock and continue to do so. Maybe one day when I move back to the UK I'll even join a club again.

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19 hours ago, cypherman said:

Hi Legend.

Your comment has made me wonder about the Brush type 2 in this set. When I wanted one it too had the 2 tone green engine. I wonder if this is a replacement engine in this set. As I cannot remember if it ever was released with the BR blue scheme


Hi Cypherman

 

The set went blue for a while in the late 60s . On the box lid you can see even though the picture is green that it says the loco is in new livery . So it’s possible to have green or blue “Brush Type 2” depending on date. I must be older than you! 

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1 hour ago, Legend said:


Hi Cypherman

 

The set went blue for a while in the late 60s . On the box lid you can see even though the picture is green that it says the loco is in new livery . So it’s possible to have green or blue “Brush Type 2” depending on date. I must be older than you! 

I am a mere youngster at 61. My wife says I am still a child at heart.

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This. The 'ersatz' LNER loco and coaches from Trix Twin, the 'forrenner' arrived later. Rumour has it, that the set was bought the day I was born - 70 years ago.

 

DSCF0064.JPG.877c1b30ac2874356ba94a60ddc5cfe5.JPG

 

..... and they still 'work' after a fashion.

 

Still got the freight wagons too.

 

Cheers

 

Philip

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Thinking harder I can recall I had a clockwork 0 gauge Chad Valley trainset before I had the S/H Triang 00 stuff.

Can't remember much about it apart from the mainspring breaking and it being replaced under guarantee.

I was probably only 6 or 7 at the time.

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