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It's approximately 8:07 AM on a bright, December Sunday morning, and if you look carefully you'll see the Amtrak Downeaster 692 just starting out on its morning run to Boston. My vantage point is the Western Prom looking out across the Fore River. One of my most earliest Christmas memories was the arrival of my Lionel train set. It was probably a Christmas or two too early, but I'm sure Dad wanted to make sure that his first born got one of the 'must haves' for any young boy under the tree. It was quite a treat. The complete set made its appearance in the living room each Christmas vacation, as my brother and I found countless ways for plastic cowboys and little green soldiers to cause disruption to the train line. Lots of memories were made within that Lionel box. I still have that train in the attic, and I bet it's worth some money. I went on the Lionel Train website the other day, and the price of a single locomotive ($399) today probably costs way more than the entire set back then. And just the price of a single piece of track ($7.99) today... whew! I'm just happy I'm not in the market for a complete classic set today. I think I'll just sit back and watch these silver cars curl their way to Beantown.
Choo! Choo!
Wow, those prices. It's a good thing we had our Lionel trains before they got so expensive. I wonder where mine is today.
ReplyDeleteLovely light in this early December morning photo.
ReplyDeleteI had a small Lionel set. Don't remember much about it. That was a long time ago!
a great toy - classic entertainment.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't just for boys Birdman. My dad got us girls a wonderful Lionel train set too. However, we weren't allowed to play with it without dad around. So, come to think of it, it might have been for "a boy" after all. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite car was the milk car with the little man who popped out at the designated station and dropped off the milk cans.
Mine too! I think I opened it so much I broke the little milkman. Got Milk?
DeleteWhat a classic toy to have from your childhood. My dad was into trains for a while and even wrapped up pieces for each of us and placed them under the tree as gifts....for the "family" train! lol
ReplyDelete$399 Really? I have a few Lionel cars in the attic. Good to know!
ReplyDeleteThose prices are absurd! I am sure my mom still has somewhere my tracks: my son never liked train sets...
ReplyDeleteI hope you kept the box?
ReplyDeleteI loved train sets, and had cousins who has train rooms in the basement filled with fancy layouts complete with scenery. I got to look, but not touch. Got my own train set one Christmas, but it was a very old set, probably third hand. There was just enough track to make a circle and the engine would pull three cars, but there wasn't anything else in the box. I gave my son an HO set, and we put it on a 4x8 sheet of plywood complete with scenery and track ballast. Model railroading can last a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteGreat shot Birdman!
ReplyDeleteWhat a treat! I wanna Choo choo
ReplyDeleteAloha from Honolulu, my Friend
Comfort Spiral
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Wow, those prices are, in their scale, as crazy as what Apple charges. My brother and I had a Lionel set. Long gone.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, the train sets were huge way back when. I didn't have one but I had friends that did. I loved playing the controls. Of course the owners watched me extra close to make sure I didn't mess anything up.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad had three girls, I wonder if he felt deprived that there were no train sets !!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the scene with the silver RR cars.
ReplyDeleteHave you read ON TH BLU COMET by Rosemary Wells? I think you would appreciate the train connections.
ReplyDeleteMy J is a train guy, has a great set...he used to come to my library to do demonstrations & he used to set it up for his kids around the tree. I'll have to ask him about the cowboys & soldiers...I'm glad you took this photo, I love that we have the train to Boston...
ReplyDeleteI asked: J and his brother did indeed disrupt their train with soldiers, cowboys AND, Lincoln log barricades! You boys!
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