What was your first real model railway loco and do you still have it?

[grumbeast]

Sadly I don't have my first locomotive, but it was an N gauge Lima class 31 in BR Blue with 4 Mk1s
and a loop of track.  It was a Christmas present I think in 1979 as I still have a the Graham Farish Poster from that year (featuring a Black 5 in winter, I had it plaqued and it now adorns the mancave

I remember my dad setting it up for me in the front room Christmas morning.  He'd thought the controller looked flimsy so they'd saved and also bought me a H&M Powermaster.  We stuck the 31 on the track and dad hooked up the power to the 12VDC uncontrolled connections and the little loco took off like a frightened cat derailed at the first curve and banged straight into the bookcase!! luckily only a broken buffer ensued which was fixed by Dad.

Mum and Dad chose N because we had a tiny house and I had the box room.  Over that year Dad filled the room with a 5x4 railway with curtains around and places to hang my clothes and keep all my stuff  beneath it.  So it was me my railway and my bed in a 8x6 boxroom   Shows the dedication and love of my Dad as he didn't even like trains (had a bad experience stuck in a train for hours on end in Crewe as a squaddie!!)

Thanks for this thread, really brought back some wonderful memories