My dad managed to keep a lot of the post war magic alive in our family. Much like the OP I lost interest in my high school & college years. We still did do some train shows and run them here and there but as I settled in life the trains came back. Now, my dad and my kids and I still go to train shows and those are memories that we may not have many more of... I take advantage of them anytime we can. Working on My dads train layout with him and my kids is something we love doing also.
We all look back at the old catalogs and I can only dream of those simpler times in the golden era of Lionel but we do enjoy trying to recreate them. Trains around the tree forever!!!
