New Member Steamrocket

[steamrocket]

Hello, everyone. My name is Martin Chiaverini (Marty). I just joined a few days ago when I received a note alerting me to this forum in the shipping box of a really nice 813 stock car that I had purchased from starfire700 on eBay. (Thanks, Jim! Until I got here, I didn't realize you were the same individual that produced modern Marx a while back. Very cool!)

I grew up in the 70s and 80s outside of Pittsburgh and got started with some prewar O gauge trains from my grandfather, then later picked up a few postwar and MPC Lionel sets from local hobby shops. My father, grandfather, and I built a small layout in our basement. Like a lot of people, I temporarily lost interest in the hobby when I went to college. 20 years later I got interested again when my boys were old enough to appreciate the trains. This was about 2007. At the time, we had just moved into a larger home, I had discovered eBay, and my boys got into Lego trains. We built a small layout that has been expanding as I've continued to collect.

I collect primarily pre-war O gauge Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and a few others. Despite my boys aging out, I still acquire and build the Lego trains, too. Recently, I've started collecting pre-war Standard and Wide gauge. I just picked up a really nice 402E and some 200 series freight cars. Really love these as they are huge and incredibly well built. I'm an engineer by trade (work in the aerospace rocket industry, hence my username) and really appreciate the design and mechanics of tinplate. I'm currently planning for a much larger layout and trying to figure out how to incorporate my varied interests in a coherent manner.

My quarantine project this summer was installing a small G gauge layout in my shade garden. Now, I'm also hooked on vintage LGB from the late 60s and early 70s... Biggest challenge this winter will be deciding which of the varied collections to set up under the tree.

Anyway, very happy to be here!

[Terry]

Welcome to the forum Marty. Mostly right now it's prewar people so you should fit right in.

Your enthusiasm is wonderful.

The first 400E is a milestone. . . I remember flying back from a TCA convention in 1982 with Peter Atonna when he bought his first 400e. We put it through the X-ray machine at the airport and then ran around so we could look at the screen.  We sent it through a bunch of times.

In the early 1990s, I took a semi-scale switcher with bell tender on a plane and caused a major problem at the x-ray area. Today I wouldn't take a train on plane.

Anyway back to first 400E. My dad got a black one from a mall display where we ran trains in maybe 1986, and I got a gunmetal grey nickel trim one from Frank Petruzo at the St. Louis Convention in 1991?  Frank told me I could take it if I promised to send him a check before October.

Welcome.

[steamrocket]

Thanks very much for the warm welcome, Terry. I'd love to find a nice 400E I could afford. In the meantime, I'll soon post photos of some of my favorites and my current, little layout.

[Terry]

My mistake. I read that as 400 not 402. The 402 is a great loco too.

My dad brought a 402 with five 418 series passenger cars home from a business trip when I was a little kid. We ran that loco and the cars all the time. I still have it. Every dent tells a story. 

[starfire700]

Welcome Marty. Glad to see a new member with a diverse interest as I have. As you know, I also have interest in Marx and American Flyer and have posted some to this forum. I have also done Youtube videos on these subjects. We need to get some more diversity posted on the forum. Classic period Lionel and AF standard gauge are also lacking here. Hope you will do some posts. Please ask one of us if you have any difficulty posting pictures, we can walk you through it. Also glad to hear that someone reads the inserts I place in our out-going orders! Jim