It was over twenty years ago that my husband and I got our son a Christmas gift that he had been wanting for months.  I will never forget the look on his face when he ripped off the paper to reveal the exact train set he had been admiring.  He and his father played with the set for years.  When he got married and bought a house of his own he asked if he could leave it set up in the basement since he didn’t have room for it.  Now that he has a son of his own he brings him over every Saturday to play with his train set.  Model railways are one of the few things that stand the test of time.