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MY VERY FIRST
START |
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MY VERY
FIRST LOCOMOTIVE, STILL HAVE IT, STILL LOVE IT. |
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On my eighth birthday I received my very first
train set. It was a starter set with the 3003
version 4. A series 24 steamer, with tender. The
cars were 4040, 4041 & 4043, the green and
silver roofed commuter cars of the 1st and 2nd
class. Maybe even a 3rd class car. The track
layout was a large oval type M-track with a
passing track. And of course two, right and
left, hand lever switches. This all
powered by a large blue steel transformer. Not
the 280, but the skinnier one. Also included
were two tall green station lamps, 7047, and a
Faller windmill, built skillfully by my
grandfather. That same year Sinterklaas, St.
Nick, brought a remote controlled slewing crane
with lifting magnet, 7051. The
locomotive was capable of rather high speed
performance. This all needed to be set up for
each playing session. Our dining room table was
the only suitable and parental approved spot for
it. The floor was tried out, but some track was
flattened, by accident (at least that is what I
would prefer to think even though I might have
tried purposely to see how strong it was) and my
parents deemed it to expensive a present to take
any further risks. Luck had it that the rail
pieces could be bend back easily.
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My father was not really interested in trains
and neither was my mother. Mom pretty much
figured out what it would be, we would get in
the form of presents. My dad went right along
with her decisions. And needless to say, she
always managed to get us the greatest things,
even in the lesser of times. My sisters and me
were extremely lucky children with them as
parents. Therefore you understand already that
many more pieces followed over the years to
come.
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Although I loved the steam engine and still do,
my great affection would become clearer during
my later teenage years. When you start buying
trains with your own precious money, you become
a little more selective. I would mark all the
desired models in the catalog, which was
probably 90% of the entire book. Needless to
say: prices were to high for my pocketbook, even
then. So choices had to be made. The town we
lived in had no significant train store. I
always had to wait until we went to my
grandparents in The Hague. There you had, not
far from Central Station (Staats Spoor at that
time), a great model train store. For those of
you who are familiar with the area, in that
specific time period, the store was "L.P. van
Vugt, in the Prinsestraat, number 73, to be
precise. I spent many
hours staring and dreaming in front of the
window. When we finally moved to this area of
the country, to Zoetermeer that is
(approximately seven or eight miles from The
Hague), I started to become more and more
involved with my trains. |
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