My grandparents bought a train set the year my dad was born, 1938. My grandmother bought my dad another set in 1952 for Christmas. The 671rr from 1952 was the first train I remember as a kid running under our Christmas tree. As my dad fixed up his new house, the trains went by the wayside mostly due to lack of room. The trains ended up at my aunt and uncle's house where my uncle set up a 4x8 layout for me. I ran trains there until my early teens. Some 15 years later, I was visiting my uncle one evening and noticed all the train stuff in a few boxes. He was preparing to put them out for trash claiming they were junk. I loaded them into my car and that is where my current obsession began.
So to answer the question posed in the thread title, my grandparents bought the trains, my dad introduced me to them at an early age during Christmas but it was my uncle that provided the play time that continues today.
Tony
