I lost my dad last year. He and his father are the reason I am here (in more ways than one). My grandpa gave me my first Lionel train (which was his first Lionel train, an inexpensive tinplate O set from the 30's) for Christmas in 1974, and my dad started buying MPC era sets starting the following year to add to our Christmas tree layouts. As an adult, my dad gave me his first train - a 50's 773 Hudson passenger set. Some day, I will have to run them again.
Andy