Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Christmas train sets

Are trains still a popular Christmas gift? I remember growing up in the late 50's and sixties and getting trains for Christmas. Lionel was THE train set to have. I had a different brand but don't recall the name. I remember some hobby shops that had the HO scale layouts. Seems like I could watch those trains for hours. The scenery with tunnels, train stations and trees was a sight to behold.

Waking up Christmas morning and seeing trains circling the tree was proof that Santa paid me a visit!

Wish I could have one of those Z scale briefcase layouts. Some sets get to 3000 bucks. I look at them every year but never pull the trigger. I also never won the lottery.

I remember the Christmas morning I came downstairs to see my father playing with a three rail Commodore Vanderbilt train. I still have it.

Back in the early '60s the Ford Rotunda was a big arena in Dearborn Michigan. During the holidays they had what probably was the biggest display of Lionel trains in the world. Sad to say the Rotunda burnt down and was never replaced. I've got fond memories of my two Lionel train sets running under our Christmas tree growing up.

Some of an N set, and part of a Z set.

I have a CP rail on the wall in Wabigoon no pictures on Imgur.

My Lionel that I got for Christmas when I was 11 is still in the closet. I set it up under the tree every year as part of the decoration. My kids played with it; my grandkids played with it and I played with it until about five years ago. The motor won’t run anymore. Gonna get it fixed if I can find out where to send it. It’s 64 years old.

I picked up a brass HO scale steamer for five cents on a yard sale. It is missing a front part.

That's what I had, a 3 rail set. I remember it came with a small bottle and a dropper. I guess it was some kind of fine oil. We (My dad and I) would put a few drops in the smoke stack and it would puff out smoke as it went around the track. I can still smell the smoke when I think about it.

I got a Lionel set when I was 7, I think, and we had loads of fun with it. I still have it and should probably see what it would take to get it going again.
With mine I had little white tablets to drop in the stack to make it smoke.

My buddy had a huge N scale set up when I was a kid. Amazing how long you can sit and watch those things go. He and his dad built quite a “town”.

I hate to even say it, but damn those were some good old days.....

Mine was a Marx . I got it in 1958 for Christmas . By the time Martin and I got through with that thing it was nothing but broken up junk . My dad kept the black transformer with the red lever handle on the side and I still have it. I got another one on ebay that was

as close to the original as I could remember. When I got it fired up , it was the smell of the electrical sparking of the engine on the tracks that brought back the memories.

Had a small Lionell set that my bros and I got in the late 50s. Still have the locomotive, coal car, caboose and a few pieces of track. The transformer went out at some point in time and we were so poor we couldn't afford another one. Fun times, long ago.

Have my Dad's 1952 Lionel 1484WS train set with the passenger cars.

2056 engine with the 2046W Tender.

Last time it was put together and running was sometime on the mid 90's.

I've got my Dad's 1930's vintage Lionel set, my own Lionel set and a buddy's HO set. I got my kids interested in it once back about 2000, but they got bored with it rather quickly. I'm waiting for young a grandson.

Always wanted one, but the problem was there were things I wanted more.

Those big complex layouts are great, but they take up a lot of house space.

I have an O Gauge from my dad and another one I got when I was a kid. Also a couple bumper cars and a bunch of Plasticville houses. Haven't thought about them in years since my daughter was little. I probably should get them out this year just to see if they are all still running. My Dad's set is probably pushing 70 years old now.

The motor is probably gunked up with old hard grease that needs cleaned out and relubed. Not too bad of a job. Check out the train forums at Classic Toy Trains: http://ctt.trains.com/ or O Gauge Railroading: https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/

Lots of knowledgeable people there.

I finally got my Lionel and other O gauge stuff up and running again this year. Have had some of it since the late 60's although none of that is on the Christmas layout this year. Will try to post some photos and maybe a video soon.

Dale

Lionel is still around, quite a bit more expensive than back in the day, but just to have a loop of track around the Christmas tree would be nice and the train set should last as long as you do.
I'm still a modeler, getting back in after 30 years, my old stuff was put away right and still runs fine, the prices on the NEW stuff is totally off the charts, no WAY a kid can do that even mowing lawns and shoveling snow full time.