The FIL is like that. He is a collector and has 30-60 year old stuff NIB.
I just put it up at Christmas, not really a rail aficionado but I get a kick out of watching kids watch the larger train dissapear under the tree with the smoke wound up so much it looks like the tree is on fire with the little Thomas lionel clipping around on the little track.
I started with some used Lionel cheaper stuff when the kids were smaller and then got a MTH PA steam engine with passenger cars. I picked up MTH track, both used and new and the trestle set to do the "once around". Then I had almost enough to build a second small oval left over so I finished that out and put a older Lionel transformer and the Thomas engine or sometimes the older Lionel steamer on it running with the outside train, it looks pretty cool. For something different I picked up some freight that is the same era so I put the siding on to store the cars.
We never had the money to blow on a train when I was growing up. For a lot of years presents were pretty sparse at Christmas. So I get to indulge myself a little a little at a time, though this is as far as it is likely going to go. The layout is 8x6 in the dining room and if it gets any bigger we will have to eat on the porch. The kids are at a point where they are old enough to not to want to show that they like having it, and young enough so that there isn't any nostalga. I still catch them running it once in a while though.
