Thanks Dad for this great hobby. Happy Thanksgiving!

I still have that exact Red Comet set. Great memories.

Was the only time of the year I could run trains. My Dad would help set everything up Thanksgiving Day weekend... it was just the best time of the year!

Thanks for posting.

Priceless!

Don't have an original but picked up the LCT Red Comet Set a few years back. Perfect (red!) for holiday running.

Hi Skip,

Great photo, nothing like the good ole days !!!!!!

Alex

Skip,

Haven't seen you in a while.  Have a great Thanksgiving.

Alex,

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Erol

Hello My friends, My father got me interested in Marx Trains at Christmas, he would set up the trains under the Christmas tree and that was over 60 years ago and I am still very interested in them today and I still set up a small layout under the Christmas tree every year for fun so thanks Dad I love you so much for that my life time hobby it is a cool hobby. Thanks longbow57ca.

Great pic! For me it was an AF set under the tree.  Great memories.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

-Greg

Thanks Mom and Dad' 

Thanks for the memories Skip! 

Mine was a Lionel 2026 and freight cars under the Christmas tree, in 1951.   Dad's been gone from this world for ten years, now.  But the trains and my memories live on.

 Hi Skip

Thanks for posting this

Sitting in a plane in Atlanta ready for takeoff to Charleston SC to be with family for the Thanksgiving holiday --- first Thanksgiving with our new granddaughter 

Thinking of my Mom and Dad all day --- like you my father was a postwar Lionel Dad

I know your father always had a great interest in trains and being a big part of your hobby

Time of year to remember --- have a great thanksgiving 

Talk to you soon

Joe

That's my brother on the left but you can make out the brim of my hat and my hand on the orange cable reels at the bottom to the left of my uncle's knee.  Dad is nudging the 239 a bit and that Christmas tree in the background is in my bedroom today, although a lot of the flocking is long gone.  I still have all of the trains and the Plasticville Suburban Station but I wish I still had that Marx western town.  What I remember most about this day is being the only one who could figure out how to assemble the signal bridge.  I was 2 1/2. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love these vintage photos! They are great. Keep them coming!!!

This was Christmas morning 1956. You can see a second loop of track that had my big present on it. The 2265WS Berkshire Freight Set from the 1956 catalog. Also that Christmas we got the ZW transformer to run both trains.

In 1957, my Dad made this train board.  He was so proud that all the wires hidden. The board was set up after I went to sleep on Christmas Eve. That year we got the Trolley, The Operating Freight Station, and the Operating Water Tower. 

In 1959, I got the 5 Star General Set . But where's the train board???

It was moved to my room, and for the first time it was set up weeks before Christmas. The General Set didn't arrive until Christmas morning.

Awesome pictures, I was always exited when my father would setup our Lionel Train under our tree, and still remember when then let me put the track together.  I always tried to stretch it as far a I could.  He brought it home Christmas 1970, right before my sister was born (I came along 5 1/2 years later).  That same train set was the passed on to our house when my son was born.  That's been seven years already.  Will try to find a pic to post.

I love seeing the vintage Christmas train pictures.My Dad took this photo of my family in the mid 70s with the Lionel/MPC Milwaukee Road passenger set running around the tree.

Great pics and memories!

Peter

Great thread, Skip.

Christmas Day 1953.

We were just getting ready to make the trek from the Bronx down to my Grandmother's apartment on E. 116th St. for a typical Italian Christmas dinner. By that time, my new Santa Fe F3 was already out from under the tree and running on my little layout. Thanks, Dad, er..., I mean Santa. 

Jim

Two of my favorite posts on this forum, are ones dealing with the good old days with our first trains and I also enjoy all the post pertaining to MPC. 

Hello Skip:

Just saw this thread now (must be really busy at work today), and I can't believe I missed this. Great topic/thread, thanks for starting.

All my train pictures are in the form of 8mm movie camera reels.

Charlie

Great post! Thanks all.