My 4th of July Trains

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Bruette

Well-Known Member
Hey everybody,

I don't think that my plain layout qualifies to be in a showin' off thread, but I suppose this is the best place to post my pictures.

The 4th of July is a very special holiday to me for many reasons. I feel blessed to have been born in the greatest nation the world has ever known. Being born strong and healthy in America is a ticket to ride on the gravy train!

I also celebrate the 4th because it is the day my late sister Theresa was born. She was born 5 years before me and she treated me like her own son. My single Mom often worked 2 or even 3 jobs to provide for us, so many times Theresa did all the things a Mom would do. If not for her I would have been expelled from school TWICE! She had a way of talking me out of trouble.

She is also a big part of my train hobby. It was Theresa who helped me set up my first train set under our Christmas tree in 1974. Can you imagine, a teenage girl helping her 11 year old (pain in the butt) brother with a Tyco train set? No snap fit track in those days! As a father of 2 full grown girls I know this is a special thing. Teenagers are challenging at best.

I lost my sister to cancer but she is still with me every time I play with my trains. These trains are dedicated to my sister, that is the reason for the Tab car, she drank that awful soda! God knows why, she was thin as a rail.

Here are the pictures.

Train 1 4th of July Locomotive 1 B&O CSX AC6000.jpgTrain 1 4th of July Locomotive 2 B&O Chessie SD40-2.jpgTrain 1 4th of July Locomotive 3 B&O GP35.jpg
Train 1 4th of July Boxcars 1&2.jpg
 

logandsawman

Well-Known Member
Nice trains, Louis! I have never seen the TAB box car before, or the 4th of July one for that matter.

Thanks for sharing the story!
 

Bruette

Well-Known Member
Thank you LASM and I should have added these are all Lionel locomotives and rolling stock.

When I was a boy I could only dream of being able to afford Lionel.
 

Rico

BN Modeller
Great looking fleet, especially love #7512 and its caboose!
Your sister must have had a lot of patience, and just thinking about drinking Tab gives me the shivers!
 

IronBeltKen

Lazy Daydreamer
Quite a collection there Louis! I remember being 6-7 yrs old and browsing the Lionel Catalog; I especially liked the electrics, I thought the pantographs were so cool-looking on the GG1 and the Little Joe.

I lost a sister too, she passed in February 2013 (a few months before you joined the Forum). It seemed so unreal at the time to think she was no longer with us...
 

KB02

Well-Known Member
I love that you have the Original Thirteen Colonies! (I'm a closet history buff...) And it is a super touching story about your Sister, too. :)

This thread is definitely worthy of being on the "Showing Off" boards!
 

Bruette

Well-Known Member
Rico that is my favorite locomotives as well, it seldom leaves my layout, but I save the caboose for the 4th of July. Both the locomotive and matching caboose were a birthday gift from my wife! CSX should follow Lionel in this case and paint a heritage scheme like it. You remember Tab, it was awful, but I think it was the only diet soda available at the time.

Ken I felt the same when my sister passed, but now I thank God I had her for 45 years, she was 50 when she went to heaven. I love those GG1s too! I remember drooling over the Lionel Chessie/B&O GP20 at MB Klein. It was on display behind the counter at the old store in 1975 or so. Every time I took 2 busses from Essex to the downtown store I would stare at it then spend my $2 or $3 on a Tyco or Life-Life car. When I discovered eBay had many of the old Lionel locomotives the GP20 was one of the first ones I bought!
Here is a few more pictures you may like.the 2 GG1s are stock Lionel photos, but they are both on my layout right now. The other is the GP20 on my layout where it is now and the last one is the Amtrak GG1 under my Christmas tree last year. 6-38522 Conventional Amtrak GG1 #926.jpg6-38235 Conventional Penn Central GG1 #4840.jpg6-8463 Conventional Chessie B&O GP20 #8463.jpgP1011692.jpg

KB02 The Lionel Bicentennial train was another one I could only dream about when I was a boy, but thank God for eBay. I am also a big fan of history, I think my 2 hobbies go hand and hand, trains and history. I am also a huge sports fan as well and I also love the history of sports! My sister was a special lady she had the highest moral character of any person I ever knew.


Thank you everyone for all your kind words and I am glad you enjoyed looking at my 4th of July trains.
 

Bruette

Well-Known Member
Hey Tony! I am very happy to be back, but I wish I had even more time for the forum. A little bit of a good thing is better then nothing!

Iron Horseman that was a lot of money back in 1975! Who made your n scale locomotive? The first locomotive I bought was a Life-Like GP38-2 Chessie/B&O of course, I don't remember what I paid for it but I am almost positive it was less then $10. I picked up this Bachman version to run under one of my Christmas trees on my HO track. I could not resist because it had DCC. That was easier then adding DCC to a Life-like, but that project is still on my to do list.
Bachmann DCC GP38-2.jpg
Thank you everyone for all your replies, I am enjoying them!
 

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  • Chessie B&O Bachmann GP40 DCC.jpg
    Chessie B&O Bachmann GP40 DCC.jpg
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G'day Louis ......STUNNING set up ....LOVE IT...My absolute favourite is the AC6000...just beautiful....Thanks for sharing the celebrations of July 4 and the special way you commemorate Theresa's life with the forum and would be great to see it all in the flesh one day...Cheers Rod...
 
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Bruette

Well-Known Member
Thank you Rodney. I hope you can come and celebrate the 4th with us!

I can't believe I forgot one locomotive, maybe I over looked it because it is almost always on my layout. My Lionel GP7 "GM50" I know the real one was a GP40-2, but I love this one anyway!
6-8359 Conventional Chessie B&O GP7 GM50.jpg
 




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