Present nostalgia, future nostalgia.

[Neil]

A couple of days ago I posted this photo of my latest buy.

 

 

I bought it (for not much money) because it was the one thing in the Triang catalogue that I lusted after as a boy, the one thing that I never managed to own back in the day. Fifty and a bit years on I found one on ebay and succumbed to temptation.

 

Now given that this was one of the most liked posts in the thread I guess that many others of around my age also feel the draw of nostalgia and can understand and empathise with an impulse purchase that has nothing in common with my current plans.

 

If I'm right, and I think I am, then it poses a couple of interesting questions. The first is  simple, what model from the past would you like to own? The second a bit more difficult, what current model might have the same nostalgic pull in fifty years? 

[Nearholmer]

Luckily, I have one of the ones I would have, the green No.27 version of yours, but the other I’m still on the look out for, being an 0 gauge Bassett Lowke 2-6-4T in BR livery.

 

I wonder whether toy trains will feature much at all in the nostalgia of the future, because toy trains aren’t anything like such a big part of childhood (mostly for boys) as they were between say WW2 and c1970. Possibly something Thomas related?

[MarkSG]

Funnily enough, I had one of those as a kid! It was my favourite of my two locos (the other was a Hornby Dublo Standard 4MT), because it went faster 🙂

 

What I would have liked to own, but never did, was the giraffe wagon. If I ever see one of those going cheap at a second hand stall, I might buy it just for the sake of it.

 

On a similar line, and another reminder of just how much the animations, to use Kathy Millat's term from GMRC, are to younger modellers, a favourite that I did own was the Travelling Post Office coach that collected and ejected a mailbag. I could play with that all day, it was just so much fun.

 

As for the nostalgia of the future, I really don't know. The models I'm nostalgic about are the models from my childhood, not from when I matured into a "proper" modeller (although I do have a bit of a thing for the Mainline J72, as it was the first loco I ever bought with my own money). I don't think that market is really catered for at the moment. There's Thomas for the younger train fans, but there isn't really anything aimed at the older, but still pre-teen children (which is when I first got a train set). Hornby's Railroad range isn't quite that, it's cheap enough but it's aimed at being a budget range rather than a fun range. We need a helicopter wagon back on sale, or even another working TPO.

[Bernard Lamb]

At a very early age I had a HD 80xxx. I thought that this was the dogs whatsits at the time. Partly because they were used on the local service to London. About ten years later I took it apart and rebuilt the valve gear nearer to scale, and converted it to 2 rail. Some years later, in my teenage years, I sold all my HD 3 rail. I often have an idea of getting hold of some more.

Modern stuff that will last? Much more difficult. Accurascle Deltic?

Nothing, from the main players in recent times. generates any emotional feelings for me

Bernard

[Captain Kernow]

The main item that invokes nostalgia from my childhood trainsets are undoubtedly the Hornby Dublo R1 tank and the old Triang B12. I acquired an R1 years ago and gave it a make-over (round under-boiler, coal space in bunker, turned Romford drivers, handrails and new livery in lined BR black (I know they were never lined).

 

I once thought about buying the newer Hornby B12 when visiting the North Norfolk Railway a few years ago, but they didn't have any (it might not have been available at the time).

 

Difficult to imagine what future model nostalgia might look like, though...

 

[Fair Oak Junction]

Is it strange that I have no nostalgia for the model railway items of my youth? I liked them at the time because they were all there was, and they were better than what had come before.

But now I can't help but look at them as poorly detailed lumps. I don't seem to have the same problem in other hobbies though. Warhammer, for example, where the modern figures are vastly better sculpted and detailed than the ones from my childhood, but I'll take the old ones any day. Odd how these things differ.

[DaveF]

It may seem like an odd choice but a Bassett Lowke O gauge live steam Enterprise 4-4-0 as below.

It is a loco I can just remember seeing working on Dad's 0 gauge layout when I was very small before he changed to 00 gauge.  So it is simply nostalgia.   I had a Chad Valley 0-4-0  "Bullied spamcam" at the time.  I think it was clockwork.

 

There were 00 gauge locos I wanted when I was young but over the years have owned just about all the ones I wanted as a child.

 

As for current models.  Could it be the 800s?  Children now might want one but not be able to have them now, but when they grow older and the 800s reach the end of their lives will there be a nostalgia for them as some people have for HSTs?  Or would it be Class 66?

 

David

[TT-Pete]

My first model trains were from the O gauge Rovex "Big Big Trains" range, the battery-operated 0-4-0 diesel and 0-4-0 steam loco, a couple of wagons, a brake van and a pile of the bright-red clip together track with a couple of points.

http://www.bigbigtrain.org.uk/

 

I would create heath-robinson circuits on the living room carpet, under chairs and around sundry furniture, using the contents of the bookshelf to make bridges and tunnels. I remember there was no speed control on the locos being simple on/off, but a clip-on track accessory could be used to made the locos change direction and a semaphore signal would make them stop. I'd fill the two 16t open mineral wagons with my 1/32 scale soldiers and spend hours and hours playing invasions. After Action Man it was my second most favourite toy until a "proper" OO model railway came along.

 

But as much as I loved it, there was one item that I coveted above all else, that I dreamed of, hankered after, desired, yearned for -  the Hymek! :

http://www.bigbigtrain.org.uk/BlHymek.htm

 

But it was not to be. :^(

 

But having signed up for eBay in 1997 I searched for Big Big and saw the later "Novo" branded Hymek and MkII coaches set advertised! Never was an eBay purchase so doggedly persued and so eagerly anticipated! Then it arrived.

 

Oh.

 

What is it they say that you should never meet your heroes? :^(

(It went back on eBay a short time after.)

 

 

Edited February 13 by TT-Pete
I keep repeating myself, it's me age you know. (And carn't spell neither.)

[Steamport Southport]

Three come to mind straight away, all in the Hornby catalogue in the early to mid 1970s.

 

London Transport Pannier, Lord Westwood and the "Nellie" tank 25550.

 

I think I realise what I liked about them, must have been the colour!

 

 

 

 

Never got any of them but I did get a proper liveried Pannier and Hall not long after, and have now got a Bachmann LT Pannier. I never had a Nellie type though, but I have still got my GWR 101.

 

Would I buy them for nostalgic reasons? Quite possibly but they would have to be in extremely good condition.

 

 

 

Jason

[John B]

As a kid, my most-thumbed-through book must have been the Triang-Hornby Book of Trains. So anything that starred in that is a core part of my nostalgic leanings. I always wanted (but never managed to obtain) a "Hiawatha" or a "Davy Crockett", for reasons best known to 6 year-old me. Nellie and her kin are cornerstones of that era, and I must admit to being somewhat excited (and then terribly let down) on seeing the 2024 Hornby announcements and realising that the Nellie, Connie and Polly "reissues" were not to be the original 60's tooling.

 

I also loved the non-railway items of that era - the "ModelLand" buildings, and Minic vehicles. 

 

Future nostalgia? Probably the early days of MRJ, first steps in finescale, and classic exhibition layouts. 

[298]

On the other hand, to me these abominations represent the absolute nadir of 1970s nostalgia. They were in a box from the in-Law's loft and belonged to my Brother in Law (anything useable went to my Nephew), who probably can't be persuaded to re-enter the hobby if this is what he remembers.

 

 

My first loco was actually a LNER J50, I wanted a Pannier but my parents somehow thought I had to have something to go with my Brother's Flying Scotsman (no prizes for guessing who the favourite child was...). I later did swap it at school for a Pannier.

 

I still have my second loco, the infamous GWR Holden tank. I brought another GWR150 one at that time and a GWR175 one in 2010. Hopefully Hornby will still have the moulds in eleven years time...

 

 

 

 

[sncf231e]

My first train, a Märklin H0 clockwork train, I received around 1956. It was played with and then it broke and was lost. When later I started collecting trains I looked for this Märklin train, but many Märklin collectors also wanted it, so the price was too high. Last year I found a reasonable priced one:

 

 

I wonder whether any recent train would be collectable in 2090. I want be there to see it anyway.

 

Regards

Fred 

[Halvarras]

15 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

Three come to mind straight away, all in the Hornby catalogue in the early to mid 1970s.

 

London Transport Pannier, Lord Westwood and the "Nellie" tank 25550.

 

I think I realise what I liked about them, must have been the colour!

 

 

 

 

Never got any of them but I did get a proper liveried Pannier and Hall not long after, and have now got a Bachmann LT Pannier. I never had a Nellie type though, but I have still got my GWR 101.

 

Would I buy them for nostalgic reasons? Quite possibly but they would have to be in extremely good condition.

 

 

 

Jason

 

Funny you should mention 'Lord Westwood', just minutes before reading this thread I'd spotted this up for grabs at Howes Models.....

 

https://howesmodels.co.uk/product/Hornby-railways-r765-the-lord-westwood-25555-4-6-0-hall-class-locomotive-boxed/

 

Loco looks near mint but the box apparently not so. I note that the wheels differ between this one and the example you've presented - perhaps the result of a chassis swap?

 

What do you reckon though? First of three?! 😜

[Nearholmer]

I mentioned No.27 back up thread, and here she is. This was the first loco I bought new myself, with money earned from my first paper round, having previously got by on presents, and things from jumble sales, 40/- iirc. The Dock Authority is actually my youngest brother’s nostalgielok, and the two of them, plus a jumble sale HD R1, very badly repainted into SECR livery, operated a sort of chipboard and dowel-rod wharf-side layout that we built.

 

 

I keep thinking about, and have once or twice nearly bought, a HD 3-rail ‘Silver King’ set, because that was my very first, bought for me on the day I was born (which was possibly a bit too soon!), and I’m definitely in the market for one of these:

 

 

One of our uncles passed down to us his 0 gauge, all Hornby No1 range other than this, which our dad fairly quickly identified that we were about to destroy with over enthusiasm (given that I was <5yo, he was right), so he gave it to one of his pals who was a “proper enthusiast” (he was, his HD layout was loft-size, and fully scenic). 
 

The more I think about it, the more I’m sure that the nostalgia toys of boys who are 5yo now won’t be trains. My youngest nephew is that age, and he and his mates are all into various forms of superhero action figures, so I’d invest in and carefully store some of those for 25+ years if I were you!

 

 

 

Edited February 14 by Nearholmer

[Neil]

1 hour ago, John B said:

..... and I must admit to being somewhat excited (and then terribly let down) on seeing the 2024 Hornby announcements and realising that the Nellie, Connie and Polly "reissues" were not to be the original 60's tooling. ..... 

 

Glad I'm not the only one to feel this way.

 

I do wonder what happened to the tooling. Some time ago I bought a cheap push along Nellie, Connie, Polly look alike. I'd swear that it was the same tool used (or a very good copy) but it was moulded in a sludge green shade in the sort of plastic that washing up bowls are made from and had plastic wheels without flanges.

Edited February 14 by Neil

[Nearholmer]

If you are really keen to find out, there’s an article about the horrible things that were done with and to the tooling in the 1980s in issue No.69 (12/2023) of Train Collector (TCS magazine). Your soapy-plastic loco was almost certainly part of that sad demise.

 

I’m another one who is deeply disturbed, traumatised almost, by the fact that they haven’t re-tooled to create proper ones. Maybe a good thing they haven’t though, because if one was released with a good, modern mechanism (able to run reliably at <90mph), I might accidentally overdose on them.

 

 

 

Edited February 14 by Nearholmer

[Michael Hodgson]

20 hours ago, Neil said:

A couple of days ago I posted this photo of my latest buy.

 

 

I bought it (for not much money) because it was the one thing in the Triang catalogue that I lusted after as a boy, the one thing that I never managed to own back in the day. Fifty and a bit years on I found one on ebay and succumbed to temptation.

 

 

Modelmaster/Jackson Evans do a brass nameplate if you want to superdetail that ...

 

https://modelmaster.uk/4mm-industrial-freelance-nameplates-plain-capitals/24228-nellie.html?search_query=nellie&results=2

[Steamport Southport]

2 hours ago, Halvarras said:

 

Funny you should mention 'Lord Westwood', just minutes before reading this thread I'd spotted this up for grabs at Howes Models.....

 

https://howesmodels.co.uk/product/Hornby-railways-r765-the-lord-westwood-25555-4-6-0-hall-class-locomotive-boxed/

 

Loco looks near mint but the box apparently not so. I note that the wheels differ between this one and the example you've presented - perhaps the result of a chassis swap?

 

What do you reckon though? First of three?! 😜

 

I'm unconvinced the one that I posted has the correct tender wheels either. I thought it was from the era of "Silver Seal" wheels which suggests the bogie wheels are correct.

 

 

Jason

[Steamport Southport]

28 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Modelmaster/Jackson Evans do a brass nameplate if you want to superdetail that ...

 

https://modelmaster.uk/4mm-industrial-freelance-nameplates-plain-capitals/24228-nellie.html?search_query=nellie&results=2

 

As does Brian at 247 Developments. More chance they might actually turn up!

 

 

Jason

[Captain Kernow]

2 hours ago, Neil said:

Glad I'm not the only one to feel this way.

You're certainly not!

 

I was also very interested in the announcement, until it became clear that what was on offer was not what I initially thought it was...

 

I have very fond memories of the Nellie and Polly that we used to have as kids in our family.

 

Whatever happened to the small 0-4-0 diesel shunter, that shared the same chassis?

 

[Neil]

1 hour ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Modelmaster/Jackson Evans do a brass nameplate if you want to superdetail that ...

 

https://modelmaster.uk/4mm-industrial-freelance-nameplates-plain-capitals/24228-nellie.html?search_query=nellie&results=2

 

Cripes, the nameplates would cost more than the loco!

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

My nostalgic treasure is the H-D 8F.  For that alone I envied a schoolfriend's comprehensive 3 rail set, built up by the fortune of his having three older brothers. It was a heavy goods engine and it really worked, as I recall it the best performer of all the locos he had, and the only eight coupled then available. So when finally - not so long ago - the s/h price of H-D properly collapsed I bought one. The body now sits on a modern Hornby mechanism which thereby now possesses effective traction. The resulting machine is clearly a Hornby-Doubly...

 

Future nostalgia, what's making an impression on the young? One young friend who first saw my track around the garden when she was 3 always asks to see a 9F run when she visits...

[SM42]

Mainline peak for me. 

 

I've got two, one not very well and another I've not seen for years. 

 

Must dig it out one day. 

 

As for the OP, before my time, but my brother used to use them as a basis for conversions and it looks very tempting and just right in that photo. 

 

As for the future, perhaps anything  that came out in the last few years, on the same logic as Nellie or Polly, for today's younger modellers. 

 

I think however the simpler things will be more popular rather than the bells and whistles stuff, so Smokey Joe et al may  get a look in. 

 

 

 

Andy

[Craigw]

I still have my original Triang Jinty that was a present on my 5th Birthday plus my Peco jubilee I received on my 10th Birthday in 1974. A few years ago I was helping a friend sort through a huge collection of stuff. All 1960s and 1970s Triang stuff plus some Mainline and Airfix. I sold it in one lot because I just could not be bothered sorting it out. I kept a Rocket boxed set and another one of a Dean Single and a coach.

 

That was it, they are just curiosities really. No deep seated nostalgia for any of it really

[AyJay]

What an interesting question....

Well, what would I want from my childhood for nostalgia sake?

I guess it has to be the Triang Hornby 'Battlespace' range.  I remember that I had:

The exploding van,

A low slung bogie wagon carrying a single spring launched red missile.

Another launching wagon with a rotating head bearing four small white missiles.

A launching helecopter.

 

I also wanted that propeller driven thing with a ram on the front. 😈