Yes and no. He sure supported in - in many ways. I think most kids do or did get a train set at one point. Sometimes the "bug" sticks, sometimes it doesn't. It did for me and my father was a prominent fixture at many train shows, tourist RRs, the B&O Museum, etc supporting it. He never had trains as a kid, at least not that I know of.
What further "cemented" it was the park train, about 1.5 miles from home. I can hear the whistle all day long in the summer. I was the operations manager and engineer from 2010 - 2013. I have hundreds of photos taken over the years and even more stories to tell. Many of those stories, however, shouldn't be repeated......