Short Answer: Yes and No.
Long Answer:
My very first electric train was a Lionel Amtrak 0-27 set, circa 1995.
As I recall, it was a loop of 027 track, three streamlined cars and a powered/dummy Alco FA combo. I destroyed that set on Christmas day - literally. I had a ball going full throttle around the 027 curves and launching it off the table my father built. O Gauge Amtrak sets played a big part in my O Gauge hobby....more on this later.
I had various other O Gauge sets such as the Lionel Safari set (wasn't a big fan), and various "Flyer" sets with the Lionel 4-4-2. I don't remember which sets they were but I DO remember the last one I got was the "Santa Fe Special" set which was the top of the line set for circa 1997 - had the 4-4-2, air whistle tender, flat car with semi truck, log dump car, auto loader, 6464 box car, lighted caboose, big figure-8 track, etc. I saw one at York for $100, new in box. I stood there and said "if I don't buy this, I'll regret it for a long time". I didn't buy it and have indeed regretted it ever since!
The last "big" O Gauge set was the top set MTH put out around 1998 - the Genesis Superliner Amtrak train. A starter set with the Genesis diesel, 4 Superliner passenger cars, lots of track and PS1. I remember how amazing PS1 was at the time. My father's office was near the LHS at the time and would regularly buy lots of additional track. We had one heck of a "carpet central" on the basement floor. I thought this set was the greatest thing in the world and literally ran the wheels off of it. I LOVED the Genesis engine.
Around this time, an interest in N scale and HO - more affordable for a kid like me at the time got my interest. The O Gauge trains were packed away.
We purchased a large, completed HO layout and dozens of engines and cars. I was out of O Gauge for good with no trains. N scale was put aside and it looked like I was staying in HO going forward, There was just too much invested in it to switch scales again and go back to O Gauge.
At the same time as the HO collection grew, I was gifted with a train I have always loved - an LGB. I have always loved LGB and only have one set. It is on display and just takes up too much room. I've thought about getting a few more LGB pieces for around the Christmas tree but the size and cost makes it very hard to justify for a few hours use each year.
Resulting family BS saw nearly all trains - and the HO layout lost. I was able to "rescue" many of the HO engines and LGB set. Nothing else. No layout was built, no place to run them with the local club shutting down as well.
I got out of trains for a bit. I still enjoyed them but had no layout, no place to run.
Christmas 2004 found a Lionel Pennsy Flyer set under the tree, a gift from my Mother. Still no permanent layout, it was set up on the basement floor until a basic, but more permanent layout could be put together a few years later. That set got me back into O Gauge and still runs on my permanent layout.
Following the Pennsy Flyer, an MTH F3 diesel Freight with PS2. Since Christmas 2004, 40 more O Gauge locomotives have joined my collection. I'm back in O Gauge and here to stay. On display, in my train room, are many of those old N and HO locomotives, most "under glass" and haven't be run in years. Occasionally, the desire is there but I just don't do it. Same for the LGB. As with many of the early O Gauge engines, N and HO, they were gifts from my parents. They are not for sale and never will be. Times got a bit tough a few years ago, and I sold a few engines that were gifts from my mother. I have regretted that decision and have made it a point to replace them but it just isn't the same anymore.
I also have a permanent layout at home and while I don't run the trains often, I do run them. For 11 years, I was a member of the National Capital Trackers. I left the club in 2016 to pursue other interests. Nothing "happened", I just wanted to do something else in my life - non-train related. As a result, I'm one of the newest "probies" at the Volunteer Fire Department.
Just last weekend, I re-purchased that MTH Railking Amtrak Genesis, this time with PS3 and the more modern Amtrak paint scheme. It is on the layout now and joins an MTH Premier AEM7 and Railking Scale Dash 8 pulling my Amtrak train whenever the urge is there. I didn't need that Genesis, but something just felt "right" having that Genesis back in my collection.
