First Train Set - Where did you start?

[MrWolf]

38 minutes ago, cypherman said:

Hi all,

I remember as a child attaching one of my friends sisters barbie doll with a home made hanky parachute to a rocket. Made a hell of a mess of the doll and the parachute burst into flames. My friend was really in the dog house. He was grounded for a month and had his pocket money stopped for that month. The things you remember....lol

 

Whilst messing about with a home made peashooter / pin dart device I accidentally shot my sister's friend in the a55.....

[Steamport Southport]

We used to go up the high rise flats by my nan's and throw the Action Man German Paratrooper off a balcony.

 

Funny thing was it actually worked!

 

You just had to make sure there was somebody at the bottom to catch it though and it had to be higher than about the eighth floor. It took about four floors to stop spinning and start being steady. Then it floated down.

 

Pity we didn't had modern technology as it would probably be a YouTube hit now.

 

 

[97406]

A Triang/Hornby Flying Scotsman trainset, with additions in the shape of a Wrenn Sir Nigel Gresley and a Jinty. Despite being firmly in the diesel and electric period, updated versions of the Gresley pacifics are on the list of future acquisitions. I have my Dad to thank for it all.

Edited February 21, 2021 by 97406
Slightly better wording

[ianmacc]

On the subject of train sets, you may be interested to know about the Kandy Toys range of train sets. Battery powered they are 16.5mm gauge / H0 and can be had for as little as 5-10 pounds. Consisting usually of an engine and some wagons plus an oval of plastic track. The trains run on ordinary Hornby or peco setrack etc so are a cheap way of giving the little ones access to the grown up layout with their own trains.  Maybe even some modelling potential if only for a source of a motor and wagon bogies...

 

Edit to say there are actually loads of designs on a google image search! 
 

Edited February 22, 2021 by ianmacc
Clarification.

[ianmacc]

On 21/02/2021 at 06:24, Steamport Southport said:

We used to go up the high rise flats by my nan's and throw the Action Man German Paratrooper off a balcony.

 

Funny thing was it actually worked!

 

You just had to make sure there was somebody at the bottom to catch it though and it had to be higher than about the eighth floor. It took about four floors to stop spinning and start being steady. Then it floated down.

 

Pity we didn't had modern technology as it would probably be a YouTube hit now.

 

 

https://m.facebook.com/UAMHQ/videos/action-man-paratrooper-armed-forces-day/718884081628943/  Already done. First streams but the second works!

[6990WitherslackHall]

My first train set was Hornby's Midland Flyer consisting of a class 264 Pug 0-4-0ST in MR maroon, a matching four wheel coach, a open wagon and a lowmac and ventilated van in BR bauxite. The latter aren't really appropriate for the set as they are in a different era to the other three items of rolling stock. It also included a water crane, several mileposts and a driver and fireman. 

[33C]

On 22/02/2021 at 21:30, ianmacc said:

On the subject of train sets, you may be interested to know about the Kandy Toys range of train sets. Battery powered they are 16.5mm gauge / H0 and can be had for as little as 5-10 pounds. Consisting usually of an engine and some wagons plus an oval of plastic track. The trains run on ordinary Hornby or peco setrack etc so are a cheap way of giving the little ones access to the grown up layout with their own trains.  Maybe even some modelling potential if only for a source of a motor and wagon bogies...

 

Edit to say there are actually loads of designs on a google image search! 
 

Your right about the modelling potential, i have a few sets and they are great for the money. Check out my "Cheapo train sets, get creative....." thread.

[Paleopotato09]

My first train set was a tomy thomas one
but my first Hornby set when i was 8 or 9 was the Southern Star 

[RedGemAlchemist]

The first model trains I owned were a random assortment of old Triang stock put together by my dad, of which I still own the Nellie, a signal box, and several wagons.

My first full train set was this gem, which sadly I no longer own any remnants of, and I got as a Christmas present from my late grandad in 1997 at the ripe old age of 4:
 

Edited March 31, 2021 by RedGemAlchemist

[Hunslet]

Does this count ?

[Colin_McLeod]

Hornby Dublo goods set consisting of 0-6-2T, two brown open wagons and a toad for Christmas 1957.

 

50 years on from a child's Christmas present, I recreated my first train set, with the original locomotive and wagons, on the original living room table protected with the original airforce blanket!

 

My N2 celebrated its 50th birthday December 2007 with a 250 mile trip back to Lisburn, Northern Ireland to my Mother's house for the celebratory run in its first home.

 

 

Hard to believe that this 50th birthday was 13 years ago!

 

Edited March 31, 2021 by Colin_McLeod

[DKGL]

I started back in the 60's with Playcraft, purchased then from Woolworths. But my first "Proper" set, came from Aircraft GMR.

I believe this was sometime during the 70's. I don't think it came with track, or a controller, which were purchased separately. This was the GWR Prairie & B Set. 

The Prairie still gets regular runs, but is now regulated to coal duties, and the coaches are used as a 2 or 4 coach set, depending on how busy

things are.

 

 

[Foulounoux]

Jouef Playcraft TEE set with  the wonderful casse-nez express loco and TEE coaches

It had directional lighting 

By 630am dad had been instructed by mum to take the transformer away until a more reasonable hour.

Only a circle of track but we played with it for hours on end 

 

Later a Hornby Jinty set...still have the loco and wagons

 

[33C]

Anybody get/have the Playcraft "Lakeside" set? And what a set! Trackmat, pre-dating Hornby and plenty of operating interest. Passenger and freight sets, tunnel, buildings, accessories.........Lovely stuff!!

[Chris116]

I had started with Lone Star push along and so my first electric set was the Lone Star Trebel-o-electric. A totally rubbish system with rubber bands to take the power from the motor to the powered axles. Soon got rid of it and moved on to Tri-ang TT, which was a great system as many in the 3mm Society will confirm. Then after using OO9 as 3 foot gauge for the TT I moved to OO as the TT was becoming harder to keep in good working order. Now I also have American HO and spend far too much time on RMweb! 

[The Pilotman]

I haven’t seen any pictures of my first train set here yet but it was a variation on the Hornby “Freightmaster” theme with a green Hymek and about half a dozen wagons (Arnold’s Sands, Norstand, Prime Pork, Texaco, brake van etc.) that I got for Christmas in about 1977. I ran it on the carpet until the loco gears became clogged with fluff. If anyone has a photo of the set in question I’d love to see it. 

[MrWolf]

You mean this one @Western Aviator? Made for 1977 only by the looks of it.

 

"Hornby Railways Collector Guide - Model - Freightmaster Set" http://www.hornbyguide.com/item_details.asp?itemid=370

[The Pilotman]

Thanks for posting that link  @MrWolf !  From that link I was able to find this picture of the set in question:

 

 

Strangely, I don’t remember the Bestwood open wagon at all; I thought it had been branded “Arnold’s Sands”, but pictures don’t lie. Perhaps it was a later acquisition.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Western Aviator

[Steamport Southport]

They did swap the wagons depending on stock levels.

 

In the set I got the tanker was different from the advertised one. ISTR it was the yellow Shell rather than a red Texaco one, or the other way around.

 

 

Jason

[BernardTPM]

So used to the Brush Type 2 in the Freightmaster set that I'd quite forgotten they did once use a Hymek.

[AndrueC]

I started with a layout my Dad built me and my brother back in the early 70s. He built it from rail and rolling stock he'd used before he was married. I think it was entirely Tri-Ang stuff. I was given a Jinty, a black Princess Elizabeth and another panier with semi-circular water tanks (no idea what it's called).

 

After a couple of years he gave us his two remaining higher quality locos - I got a green Princess Elizabeth.

 

When we moved house several years later it got taken down and I never saw it again. Last year I finally decided to build my own layout, some forty(ish) years since the one my Dad built. Sadly my Dad died before I made the decision.

[The Pilotman]

3 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

So used to the Brush Type 2 in the Freightmaster set that I'd quite forgotten they did once use a Hymek.

With hindsight, it was a shame that I got a set with a Hymek. By the time I became interested in trains and received the Hornby set as a Christmas present, the Hymeks had long since disappeared (in BR blue, never mind green). I don’t think I even saw one for real. A Brush type 2 would have been much more familiar to me growing up in the Thames Valley and seeing the Old Oak Common based locos on a frequent basis.

[cypherman]

13 hours ago, Western Aviator said:

Thanks for posting that link  @MrWolf !  From that link I was able to find this picture of the set in question:

 

 

Strangely, I don’t remember the Bestwood open wagon at all; I thought it had been branded “Arnold’s Sands”, but pictures don’t lie. Perhaps it was a later acquisition.

Hi all,

I think Hornby had started to try and save money by the time this set was released. The original Frieghtmaster set had a Class 31 and 7 wagons. I always wanted this set as a kid.

[BernardTPM]

Yes and no. They had added a siding instead. Of course seven wagons and a siding would have been good...

Edited April 20, 2021 by BernardTPM

[Legend]

21 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

So used to the Brush Type 2 in the Freightmaster set that I'd quite forgotten they did once use a Hymek.

 

The 31 last appeared in 76 and was replaced in the range in 1977 by the Class 25 , but during the transition (Class 25 sets appeared from 1978) they had to use Hymek .  The 37 was being used on the Inter - City  Express

 

The bottom set in that pic was the one that set me off in 1965 

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by Legend