Thanks for that great picture

Brings back a lot of memories for me too!

 Would it be OK if we all post some early pictures here too? I think it would be a lot of fun!

I almost forgot......what does it say on that duck poster?

The more the merrier

It would be interesting to see everyone's first "serious" layout.  Always good to remember where you came from.

Marc Simpson

great topic

Marc

 Great subject. I am just starting my fifth layout at 74. I would say maybe my second or possibly my third "serious" layout. I hope more post photos. My first layout was built in the early 60's so no photos.

                                                                                                                                                 Ray 

I can't show my first......

......serious layout but I can show what I was doing in N before I switched to HO.......my last serious layout......Unfortunately, that's as far back as I have and that was three layouts ago counting it. I've probably seriously started 10 layouts in my life counting the one I'm on now.

Michael

MY first "real" layout...

 Well this inspired me to try to find some photos of MY first "real" layout. It's an "L" shaped configuration, built on two hollow core doors. The 36" wide door holds most of the body of the layout, and the 24" door it's butted up against holds the far end turn-around and the yard.

Even at this early stage, the track was complete and we were having ops sessions. We could have up to 4 operators at a time - one mainline in each direction (there were a couple of passing opportunities on each lap...), a yard job, and an industrial switcher. DCC, of course, and the turnouts (and working semaphores) were run by Del-Aire pneumatic switch machines. (Now long out of business.)  Some semaphores were independently operated, others were slaved to turnouts to stop trains when a turnout was thrown against them or warn them of a diverging route. Prototypical? Sure is... because it's a freelanced road and the model IS the prototype! Made things much easier in the cramped quarters. The second shot (at a much later date) show the yard in operation. It served as two locations, with different colored ballast defining which tracks belonged to which place. They "shared" the engine house. IIRC, this was on a "steam night" where all motive power was steam...  made for a fun time running stuff we didn't get a chance to see very often.  The last photo is another operations night, shortly before we moved back to Ohio.  Yes, it was a little cramped around the layout - but this was in the living room of our apartment in Florida! The layout survived the move intact - I simply took the legs off and slid it in on top of everything in the U-Haul. When we got into our new place, we were able to take the windows out, walk it up the garage roof, and slide it into the upstairs bedroom on top of the waiting framework. It was up and running again about an hour after it got into its new home! It's long gone now, but I made a "Last Run" train cam video before dismantling it... on VHS...which I don't have a player for any more. One of these days I'll transfer it to DVD...

I have a modular BeNdTrak setup now, and am working on expanding the T-Trak collection I have, too... but still want to have a home layout I can keep up all the time at some point.

No, I'm not in any of the photos - I was taking them, and the flag you see as my avatar was put outside the apartment when I was hosting an ops session or open house.

The Sunset & North Eastern circa 1972

We moved into a four bedroom house back in 1971. Having two children, I commandeered the smallest room for an N Scale layout. Sorry they are black and white and poor quality but these were taken on a Zenit E camera and I developed and printed the pictures. I was still learning model railroads and photography at that time. I am please to see that I had painted the locos and put SNE logos on them - using dry rub down transfers I seem to remember. There is a box car and an HO little Rivarossi 0-6-0 also suitably attired. I notice that the loco is also weathered - 1972? well done David! Excuse the wallpaper - the room started out as a baby room!

Lionel layout plus...

Time machine travel...It was in the early sixties when I was a grade-schooler. I could not find the photo, but I will describe it as best I remember.  A figure eight with a loop around it, 2 manual switches connecting the two. There was a switch that connected a 36 inch straight track placed on my moms ironing board (covered with a picnic table cover). This was done to replicate the rail floats I saw on the Hudson and East rivers. 

I never had the room to have a train board as the apartment was tiny and my room just held a bed and the apartment's closet! So, I had to assemble it in the living room and at the end of the day take it down. I made a deal with my mother. I would vacuum the entire apartment and mop the kitchen and bathroom floors in return for the opportunity to set up the train layout.  Good thing the turning radius was smallish. There were army toys soldiers trucks and some towers. The ZW ran hot and hummed. Ozone was in the air. Wow! It was my first serious layout.   I also had a couple of Plasticville buildings and some crossing arms to keep cars and people safe. Storing all that stuff was a challenge. All boxed up under the bed by the end of the day.

Transfer(Pierre)

Wow! does this ever bring back memories.....

Took me a while to find these photos but it really is a peek into another lifetime.

Black and white photo is of the first layout in 1962. Color photo is the second layout probably 1964. 

These were both built by my friend and myself in a small storage room above my friend's  parent's garage. 

That's me in the black and white photo. Had a laugh when I saw how I wore my watch inside out!

​I wish I had a picture of us both together. We built these layouts over about 3 years then he got his driver's license and a girlfriend (I was 2 years younger) and you'all know the rest of the story!  

Lives Only in My Memory

Sadly, no pictures exist of my first model railroading endeavour. The best I can do is the track schematic, drawn from memory (not bad, since that was more than 35 years ago!)

It was HO, and it started life as the Kalmbach "HO Railroad That Grows." It just grew a bit more than the book version did.

When my parents moved us, the railroad was scrapped. I still have all the locomotives and even some of the rolling stock and the good ol' Atlas Snap Switches.

"Only in my memory"     

"Only in my memory"   

Mine too, it was a 4 by 8 that I copied from a magazine, IIRC the design was San Dimas Central or similar name, a double tracked oval with crossover and industrial spurs angling into the center from both sides. The one in the magazine had Truescale wooden roadbed but I had to use brass  atlas snap track and  turnouts.As one can imagine living near the ocean it developed a nice green patina after a while :> ) ....DaveB