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Sharing Flyer stories is very interesting and therapeutic.

Mt father bought me Flyer when I was about 5 years old, c. 1950.  First
it was a 332 DC and the aluminum passenger cars. He had a train table in
the basement of our home in Wilmington, Delaware that was attached to the
wall in such a way that it could be raised and lowered. The lowering took
place around Christmas time. So the green paper, track, and switches stayed
attached at all times. I too loved the smell of the smoke, squeezed
from the amber plastic nipple into a small funnel. I also loved the sound of the
whistle.

For a time, the original trains were packed away and soon the table was
dismantled. When my parents retired and moved to New Jersey, the trains
were divided between my brother and I. Eventually, my bother indicated that
he had little interest in American Flyer and returned his part of the
collection to me. Since the early 1974, except for one period of 3 1/2
years, the trains have been set up in my basement or in a fourth
bedroom in three different houses. When I searched for my present house, the main
criteria was a full, dry basement for the trains. I've added to the
collection over the years and just received the 2001 Christmas car (3
weeks after Christmas) and Gabe (Flyonel). My layout, of course, is never
complete.

One sad note. My sons , age 27 and 31, are not interested in my trains.
When they visited at Christmas, they never asked to see the trains in the
basement. Instead, they were more interested in driving my new PT
Cruiser. I get the feeling that this may be typical, so I'm working on my
grandson.
Everytime he visits we go to the basement to play with the trains. He
is 18 months old!

Dave