How did your model train hobby start of?

[capeklr]

Hi everybody,
lets share how we got started in this fantastic and versatile hobby.

I was only 2 years and a few month old when I found two Märklin trains under the Christmas tree.
This was when we where still living in Germany, in one of the suburbs of Stuttgart.
My parents had bought a complete second hand layout that was set up in the kids bedroom that I shared with my younger sister.
The layout as so popular then was a simple double oval of track with a few points to connect the two ovals. Only one transformer so both trains ran at the same speed.
A few weeks after Christmas the layout was taken down again for the year and stored in the cellar of the apartment block that we lived in only to be set up again next Christmas.
Unfortunately we don't have any photo's of the layout, but I can still remember the track layout after all these years.
When we left Germany in 69 to come to Cape Town my parents sold the layout again and the one train.
One train, transformer and a few tracks came with us and the rest is history.

So lets hear your stories.
Regards.

[BigEd]

I have my first memories as a human around 3/4 years old (I still remember my 4th birthday) while we lived in a railway house on Malmesbury station. If I moved to the back corner of our backyard (it sloped up) I could see the lovely steam locos shunting the little yard back of the station. Well, my dad was a fireman at the time and I spent much time on the footplate and travelling with my dad.

Model trains was too expensive for us back then, but I have an uncle (not the one assisting me at shows smokkeling) who as a 16 year old bought me my first trains set. Lima SAR Plymouth diesels (yeah right) and a Lima Swiss electric were my first items.

Then the normal hiatus between 14 and 26 and back eve since...

[ColWer]

Hi there,

I started at the age of 5 and I do remember the day very well. Tried to pull the transformer 15A plug out of the socket and the fingers touched the two main pins! Had lovely blisters on my fingers and instant respect for 220 V.

Below a photo of my Dad and myself in 1968 whilst posing for a photo shoot.



I still have all the locomotives and running stock. The M-track is history. The castle and Black forest house (not visible) will be on the new layout. I still have the Faller catalogue going back to sixties.



Here a pic of my late boet Bernie and myself. We spent many hours with the layout. 

Cheers

[BigEd]

Bernie!! Handsome lad him...

[LooVille]

Nice Stories  And the hear where we all start.

Here is my Story.

My grandfather use to have Model Trains. He did HO Marklin in the beginning, when my uncle and mom was still small.
Then they moved to Bellville and he changed over to N Scale. I was still small, Sub A or B. He eventually sold everything except a Atlas Diesel and a MiniTrix Electrical Loco. He also kept the Clipper DC controller I'm currently still using. When I was in Std5 or 6 about my grandfather gave me the n scale things he had left. 2 locos, controller, about 4 Lima coaches. And then some random scenery things.

As a boy I wanted to play so we went to Barry Jackson in Cape Town (at the station) and bought a few lengths of track. But it was still school so it was all packed away again.

When I finally started to work I packed everything out again, but never got into it.
Then in 2011 my grandfather passed away and I decided to really pack it out and do something, so yea, you all know what I have now and I'm totally addicted 

[capeklr]

Some nice stories so far, thanks for sharing. 
Hope that some more members will share their story.

[ColWer]

Thanks Ed. Bernie was an awesome boet. We had great fun running our trains. Miss him a lot.

Great stories guys. Some more. 

[trainmaster]

Hey guys
here is my first statement of my model railway career: http://www.modeltraintalk.co.za/index.php?topic=80.0
What I can tell more? Maybe some details:
My first train was a 0-gauge tinplate-train. Not new, but for hard playing just the right one.

Later a retailer organisation (Coop) had as a premium available only with discount brands, a three phase train set. Once one of them was mine! A tinplate 0-gauge train again…

This tin toy was not attractive enough for a long time. I remember, that Father Christmas brought me a transformer, a steam loco and two simple wagons (a 2 axle yellow tank and a 4 axle wagon with a wood load) when I was six or seven. The steamengine was heavy and hardly of damaging (I proofed it) in the cvast housing. The make was TRIX-EXPRESS. The rails I had to procure with my pocket money, piece by peace. At the neighbour village it was a toys store. So often I cud, I tuc the bycicle to go there for the next 20 centimetres of track…
no pic available
Later models from Fleischmann and LIMA was the better choice. My first layout was on a board, mountains was built with boxes and a huge linnen. This “layout” had a short live, the next possibility to run with model trains was a board-to-board track along the wall. My fervor was  and is till today model building. Later then, I bought more than 650 H0-models in small series for a retailer. This was even a division of my own company, for a while.
As a sample:

1985 I had the big chance, mowing from H0 to IIm, scale 1:22,5 narrow gauge (1000mm = 45mm).
Today I am working on a garden layout (since 10 years). Building models is still my fervor, still in 1:22,5 scale. Mainly occur with prototypical models from RhB and SAR.
That’s my modest model train career over more then 60 years…
for pics see my home page: www.trainmaster48.net

[BigEd]

60 years!!! Well done to keep at it

[ColWer]

Awesome! A hobby that's (unendlich) never ending. 

[trainmaster]

Dear ColWer,
Our hobby ends (in H0 gauge or smaller) with the age - when the hands, the fingers, the eyes are loosing the power. As a good alternative, I found IIm 
Thanks for your comment!
Cheers
trainmaster