My brother and ran our train board, an oval and figure 8, 5'x 9' with Christmas tree in a mountain on the train board, from Christmas eve to the Jan 2. Usually an hour or so a day at most and the train was a Marx 999 train set with extra coal car. Christmas toys got usually got more use during that time but we looked forward to it being put up with maybe an addition of building or small accessory on the next Christmas eve.
When we were 10 and 8 or so, we talked our Dad into putting the layout up in the new houses bigger basement full time. We did not use it much and after a several months of in action, Dad took it down, removed the track and switches and threw the board out. We had gotten into building toys with a peddle driven jigsaw and building solid, then stick model airplanes and boats. Later s Wasp 027 engine came and still later Fox 35 model planes and flying them up through high school. Also model boats and RC boats. The train bug died for us until I had children some twenty years later.
Around 1976 while working in Jamaica, I stated my toy train 027 operating, 27 switch layout with the $10 homemade turntable. The layout I still have after being moved to 5 houses in 5 states and expanded by 50%. My brother never got into trains again and was big ham radio operator.
Charlie
