Trains. This photo is from 2004, one of mine that I recently was able to access again after a long time. It is not a great shot but it does have the “G” gauge train set that our friend, Gregg Lagerberg, gave to our boys when they were little. Neither of them was particularly enamored of the train so in 2004 as our grandson, Kellen, was coming to the house and he would be turning two, I set it up again. He was not charmed. Too loud. Eventually I gave the set to a friend whose two boys appeared to like trains. Growing up setting up the train was a big deal. We had a Lionel “O” 27 gauge then later changed to an “HO” scale that we would set up on a 4 x 8 platform with painted streets and houses that lite up. The tree was always precariously perched on a stand in the middle and the sheet of plywood would sag ever so slightly under the weight giving the train a bit of an up and down. As a teen I bought an “N” gauge set and even built a couple of small layouts, one under our tree the first year we were married. I still have that train - maybe next year it will be under the tree.
