Austin Merickle, 4, watches the passing of an "O" gauge model train during a show at the National Model Railroad Association annual convention, Friday, July 9, 2004, in Seattle. The train show, featuring hundreds of exhibits, is open to the public and runs at the Seahawks Stadium Exhibition Center through Sunday. Austin, who says that trains are his number one interest, is from McEwen, Tenn. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

One of my greatest anticipations as a young child was waiting for my dad to pull his post-World War II Lionel model train out of storage and set it up around our Christmas tree.

That typically took place the first Saturday of December each year, as my family used that day to get a Christmas tree, put it up in the living room, and then decorate it and the rest of the house. After that was done, typically in the early evening hours, I would get the enviable task of choosing the track layout and setting up the train to circle the tree in endless loops.

My, how I remember laying on the floor and watching that dark beauty run. I would spend countless hours each week there, just watching and thinking about how interesting life as a conductor could be, and the wonders of how an engine could move such a long procession of cars.

Running the old Lionel for hours each day (it still runs, by the way) also meant that it needed regular maintenance.

Usually once a week during the season through the end of the year my dad and I would take the engine to the basement, set it on his workbench and give it a good oiling and cleaning.

There also were times he would have to take it apart and finagle the wiring to ensure the light up front on the engine continued to work. I’m also fairly sure he put a restrictor plate in there somewhere as, no matter how high I cranked up the dial on the controller, I could never get that train to derail.

As I look back, that was the best part of setting up the train in our house – the time I got to spend with my dad, watching and learning, and then doing. I’ll reminisce with him about it today when I visit for Thanksgiving.

I remain fascinated to this day by model railroads. My wife bought me my own a year or two after we were married, and there are several clubs in the area – along with one serious builder and a few remaining stores — that remain wed to preserving the hobby.

I think this might be a good year to get my train out of storage and run it around the tree. With a new puppy at home, it should be interesting to see her reaction.