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Since its almost Christmas, I dug out Dad's old Lionel set from the closet.  While I am active in other scales the rest of the year, the Lionel only really comes out at Christmas anymore.  I gave the engine a full overhaul last season, so this year I was ready to run. Has to go on the kitchen table, with 3 large dogs, the doggie hair would not be pretty trying to run it under our big Christmas tree.  Nothing special collector wise, but huge sentmental value for me.  Just a 1655 starter set from 1948, early variation with coil couplers, a 394 beacon tower and a Marx unloading crane, even the original transformer.  While I have owned many different Lionel's over the years, some much more valuable than this one, its the old 1655 set that will bring a smile to my face anytime I run it.  So many fond memories of Christmas's at my grandparents place where the train stayed till I was in my mid teens and thought to be old enough to care for it all the time.  Other trains my come and go, but this one set will remain in our family forever.   Merry Christmas everybody!   Mike and Michele T

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Thanks for the great replies, feel free to post up pics of your holiday tree layouts. I usualy watch "A Lionel Christmas" while I set up the trains.  One of my traditions, need to get the DVD, my VHS copy is almost worn out!  Even though I am only going on 40 years old, as a child, Christmas was all about Lionel trains.  I had an MPC era starter set on a 4x6 table in our basement.  Dad's set was kept at my grandparents in Ohio, track mounted on a 4x6 board that went under the tree.  We would have Christmas in Kokomo, then head to my grandparents the next day and stay 2-4 days there.  As a child I always wanted that PRR Turbine, Berkshire and F3 Santa Fe's.  Later as a late teen and into my 20's working as the mechanic for the local Lionel shop, I owned them, but they never had the same effect as that old lowely starter set of my fathers. Not sure why, its one of those things thats hard to explain.  There is no smoke, the whistle is cantakerous(always has been) due to being hard to service in the tinplate tender. But fire it up and the sight and smell takes me back to a simplier time, no internet, no cell phones and much less stress and worries.  To me thats what toy trains are for, they become a mental time machine back to our childhood when the only worry was keeping it on the track!  Lets see some more Christmas layouts!    Mike

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