Train under the Christmas tree

Hey there gang... Was just wondering how many members out there put a train up under their Christmas trees, or how many have grown up in homes where there was one. My dad has always been a Lionel collector since before I was born (Im 44 now) and he got me into it at a very young age.. I had train shelves in my room by the time I was 7 or 8.. He had (and still has) a huge collection.. Our basements were always finished, and they were his train rooms.. Wall to wall, floor to ceiling trains.. I have a pretty big collection myself now, but not that big.. lol

Anyways, when I was a kid, we always had a train up at Christmas time. He would start by bringing the platforms in a few weeks before Christmas.. rearrange the living room to make space.. wire it all up.. street lights, houses, stations, you name it.. My fondest memories of Christmas were always those layouts.. It would stay up for weeks after the tree came down..

When I was married the first time, and my kids were little, I did the same.. my layouts werent as big, (usualy a 4x8 layout) but I detailed it out just like he does.. After I got divorced and the kids were older, it was just me, and the kids were only there on weekends, I decided I didnt want to put the work into the Christmas layouts with no one around.. So I built a permanent all year-round layout in the basement to play with my trains... well back in 07 my current wife (girlfriend at the time) and I decided to live together, I sold off the house to finalize the last of my divorce issues.. moved into her house..this house is smaller and my train collection is packed away.. Her kids were already approaching teenage years, so I didnt think much about a Christmas layout... until this year.. the birth of my grandson 6 months ago, got me thinking again.. lol

I decided for the first time since I stopped doing it 10 years ago, to put a train under my tree again.. Its not the elaborate layouts i used to put out (I will wait til Jameson is a couple years older before I do that, and hopefully we will be in a bigger home) its just some snow on the floor, a lighted village and a circle of track.. but it has awakened so many pleasant memories of my childhood, and when my kids were young.. I hadnt realized how much I missed this.. and cant wait for my grandson to see it...

Below is just a quick pic I took to post on here.. Anyone else feel the way I do about trains at Christmas? If so, please share your memories and some pics... and early Merry Christmas to you all...