Thought I'd open this discussion to celebrate each of "our" beginnings in the hobby of model building.
If you have photos of your first attempts in model railroading, or , modelbuilding in general, here is a place to share them.

I'll start this with this coal facility. I still have this model.....only slightly damaged after all the moves it has survived.
In Lindenhurst, L.I. , N.Y. , back a "few" ( :oops: OK in the mid fifties ) years ago, there was a facility where trucks could pick up coal, for home delivery. ( yeah, there were homes heated by coal fired furnaces, that required home delivery of 'fuel' )
Coal hoppers were emptied into a concrete pit, at the base of a chain/trough conveyor, which would lift the coal to the top of the bin, dump each trough, and cycle back down for the next 'load'.
That structure was one of the first models I scratch-built for a 4' X 6' HO scale "layout". At the time, I was using sheet Balsa as a building material. The building was a several story tall Coal Bin, with two drive through areas for the delivery trucks to 'load up', in.
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Nice model for one of your first attempts! I don't think I have any pics of way back when (probably a good thing).

This is probably the first structure that I built back around 2000. It was a kit and I'm not sure where I got it. I originally had it on my layout for a while, but I replaced it with a scratchbuilt structure once I got into building things.

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Don,
October, November, December 1959, Model Railroader, "How to build a Coal Mine- parts 1-2-and 3" by Jack Work.

Yeah, I built that one too....... :oops: no photos, and it's long gone. Another Balsa-build, and probably not as well done as yours.

I do still have those issues of M.R., and there might still be a kit of that somewhere out there.

I think I might have built every one of Jack's "Article structures/rolling stock/bridges". He was a major inspiration for me, and I still consider his work some of the best done.

Don was that a Heljan kit?

Tyson Rayles Wrote:Don was that a Heljan kit?

Mike, I honestly don't remember. I'd look at it, but as fate would have it, I just packed it away this morning, along with a second one that was in a box of stuff that I bought at a train show a few years ago.

My first building kit was a Revell sandhouse.

I think, my first building "kit", was the Revell Depot.
It now has different dormers, and is the Gift Shop for the Seaport Village and Museum, seen to the left, behind the Schooner's masts.
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It got "recycled"

Here's a couple of scans of some Polaroids of one of my layouts when we lived in Omaha in the 70s.





Tom

Looks great !!!
I've tried to scan some of the Polaroid shots I took, years ago but they don't come out as well on my scanner as yours seem to have. Guess I'll have to try a few different approaches to see if I can get better results. All the photos I have of Pete Seeger's "Clearwater", under construction, are on Polaroid.

Tyson Rayles Wrote:Don was that a Heljan kit?

I don't know if Heljan made that kit but I associate it as a Pola kit.

Here's my first attempt at a railroad scratchbuild. More patience than I knew I had, and a small dentists drill bit in a Dremel.

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Cheers, the Bear.

JaBear Wrote:Here's my first attempt at a railroad scratchbuild. More patience than I knew I had, and a small dentists drill bit in a Dremel.
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND] Cheers, the Bear.

First attempt..... "onward and upward to bigger and better things"

Old sayings are often still very relevant and there’s the one that says “Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.” But thanks. Cheers, the Bear.

JaBear Wrote:Old sayings are often still very relevant and there’s the one that says “Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.” But thanks. Cheers, the Bear.

First signature line applies......Perhaps " Fools rush in where Angels fear to LEARN " should be the quote.
You obviously "learn, well" :mrgreen: Keep up the good work, I enjoy seeing it.

Nice work JaBear!