Well my layout is standard gauge and 'O' Scale - but, with the latest sound equiped engines, it also goes 'Choo-Choo'.
1950 Christmas
No photos of this Christmas but my father told me that he first bought me a train set when I was 2 years old.
1956 Christmas
Though you can't tell from this Christmas 1956 photo, I just received a XXXX Horse Car and Corral and a XXXX Operating Milk Car.
2429 Livingston Pullman Passenger Cars
Sometime in the late 1950's, my father accidently stepped on, and broke, some gift that I had received. I don't recall what it was. I guess he wanted to make it up to me so he took me to a hardware store in Monaca, PA. I don't remember the name of the store (but might have been Balamut Electric Shop on Pennsylvania Ave in Monaca). This must have been summer time, maybe after my birthday. Anyway the store just had leftover inventory - stuff no one wanted.
I ended up with two 2429 Passenger Cars - I was happy to get them as they were the first passenger cars I ever had.
As it turns out, the 2429 were not popular cars, were only sold for two years and today are two of the most valuable passenger cars that I own.
1961 Christmas
I was in 7th grade. I still have all this equipment but the layout lasted only during the 1961 holiday season.
On this layout, you see my original Plasticville (see the story below) and the Horse Car/Corral and Milk Car that I received from Santa in 1956.
This layout took over the dining room and we ate Christmas dinner in the kitchen.
The tunnel portals were made from the pine wood that fashioned the crates for grapes that my dad used to make wine. Mountains made out of plaster.
At the very left, you can just see the end of my 2429 Livingson Pullman Passenger Cars on the siding.
My collection sat in boxes through high school and college. My parents made me get it out of their house in the middle 70's. It wasn't until the early 80's that was able to put up some shelves in my condo to display some of it. In the condo (in San Diego) there was no room to set anything up.
1992 Layout
I moved into my first house in 1986. I put the display shelves up in the Den. In 1992 I started on a real layout for the first time of my adult life. I took over a bedroom in my house. I was still single at the time.Click here.
Lasted until 2006.
2006 Layout
I realized that the 1992 layout was too "complicated". Too many levels and too many accessories. And too hard for me to reach all the track. I tore it town and restarted. The new layout was one level, with a lift out bridge. Nothing was more than 2 feet from an aisle.Click here.
We moved into a new house in 2009 so the layout came down, was packed up and moved.
2009 Layout
In our new house, I had more room and a real trainroom rather than just a bedroom. I took over the rear of a two car garage. Still room for my 66' MGB and BMW. Sally's Prius fit in to the adjacent one car garage.Click here.
Plasticville
My Uncle Paul Frazzini figures into my story about my Plasticville. All of the pieces that you saw in the 1961 layout photo came to me as a Christmas gift from my uncle Paul. I don't remember the year exactly (late 1950's) but he first bought me a gas powered airplane. The kind where you hold a string control line and the airplane flies in a circle around you. We we spent most of Christmas day trying to get the engine to run. It never did. We never flew it.A few days later, we returned the airplane to the store in Beaver Falls and in its place, he let me buy all the Plasticville you see in the photos. As it turned out, this was a MUCH better gift.
 Switch Tower #1402 $0.79 (2 of these because I had two 042 manual switches) |
 Motel #1621 $1.00 |
 Windmill #1408 $0.79 |
 Suburban Station #1616 $1.00 |
 Citizens #1619 $1.00 |
 TV Transmitting Station #1618 $0.79 |
 Signal Bridge #1403 $0.79 |
 Airport Administration Building #AD-4 $1.98 (This might have come along later) |
Here is the Plasticville Collectors Association web site. I'm a member.
Sol's Stores
This Aliquippa store is where most of my trains were purchased. They had a giant selection of trains around Christmas. One section of their store window was always dedicated to trains around Christmas. This from the 27 Oct 1959 Beaver County Times - boy, talk about getting an early start on Christmas.
27 Oct 1959 Beaver County Times
Kubek's
Kubek's in Ambridge, PA was one of the good stores for Lionel Trains. I bought parts from them up into the 1970's.
