As a kid my parents supported my hobby but were not model railroaders. But we are a railroad family. Great grandfather was an engineer for the B&O, Other family worked for the C&O and PRR. Even I was an engineer.....Carowinds theme park.....but it was real steam 3 foot gauge railroad. Model trains have been around me since before I can recall. So in a way....multi generational.
1st generation for me, my dad and his family were to poor to afford such play things, food on the table came first. But the postwar experience in this country provided me with a train set, thanks to the hard work of my parents. My son is only slightly interested and somewhat amused as he watches me play with my Lionel, cannot wait for the grandchildren.
My father made us a rather elaborate 4x8 Christmas layout that he put up every year, but he himself took very little interest in it.
My granddfather (on my mother's side) was very interested in Lionel, and put a lot of thought and work into the layout he built for Mom and her two sisters during the Depression. Alas, Granddad died in 1951, so I never got the opportunity to run trains with him. But I did find and restore his Lionel 1700 streamliner that he ran on the layout, and it's on my display shelves even as I type.
