Hobbies and Pastimes

[Rey]

Interesting you brought up Lionel trains. My grandfather died when I was very young, all I remember of him are from old photographs. I did inherit some of his old Lionel trains, what was left of them anyway, three cars and a black steam engine. When I was about five years old, we set up a track but the old engine didn’t work anymore. It was a bit beat up with the front boiler piece missing. But I remember playing with the engine by pushing it around on the floor. Over the years the cars were saved in a box but the engine was hopelessly lost.

Years later when I got my own house I found the box with the three old cars. I was very curious about them and got a book about Lionel trains to learn about them. Turns out they were pretty common cars from the 1950’s and not worth very much, but they were worth a lot to me because I felt they were a connection to my grandfather. The wheels were all rusted and some bent and missing, so I bought some new replacement Lionel wheel sets from a hobby shop, and got the cars rolling again. I knew the engine was gone, but I wanted to try and find the same model engine to complete the set. I went crazy trying to remember which one it was, what the number on the side of it was. Then by chance my aunt found an old photograph of me at five years old holding the engine. I was able to use a computer to scan and zoom in on the image, and although I still couldn’t read the number, I could identify the model by the design of it and comparing it to other photographs (it was a 2025 type). I then found the correct vintage engine on Ebay, and I had finally completed the set.

I set up a track in the basement to run it. Even though its so old it still runs and the smoke even still comes out of the stack as it goes around. I just really like the old Lionel trains from the 50’s, the way they look, the growling sound they make, and the smell of the smoke. And it was a fun little quest to get my grandpas train working again.

-Rey

(08-13-2010 10:12 AM)VincentUlyssis Wrote:  Once the first frost arrives and the gardening weather comes to an end, our attention can turn indoors. Besides studying and playing music, I have accumulated a few interests, many of which began during childhood with the encouragement of my grandparents and parents.
One in particular is Lionel Trains. My collection is primarily American Pre-War with companies such as American Flyer, Lionel and Ives. This represents the golden age of American manufacturing: Shiny, colorful, heavy metal works of art! I also love stamp, coin, political button, pocket watch and postcard collecting. I rarely have the time to really devote myself to such collecting as I did in the past. For me, many of these items are a testament to either the great period of early 20th Century or my own personal history. Unfortunately my kids lean more toward videogames and TV. There's not much interest in these old relics anymore I suppose.