Hello, Mike here, 39yrs old.  Got my start in model trains around 5yrs old watching grandpa run my fathers old Lionel set from the late 40's.  I got my own set, a Tyco HO set unfortunatly, for Christmas the following year.  I burnt up the motor in the locomotive the day I got it. Needless to say, grandpa talked to dad and for my birthday the following March I got a MPC era Midnight Flyer 027 train set.  When I was 12 I got to take possesion of dad's old set which I still operate to this very day.  I am in the process of building a small pre 1950 postwar Lionel layout in our spare room.  I fix trains of all scales for the local hobby shop and I have repaired trains for 2 different Lionel shops in the past, Harmon's Trains in Arcadia, IN, and Train City in Erie, PA.   Cheers   Mike and Michele T