Favorite memory of your Father at Christmas

[otftch]

Not really a Christmas memory but related. It's been said before that Dads got smarter as we grew older. We had two train sets for years.Somwhere along the line I wanted to play with the trains all the time,not just at Chritmas.After much prodding dad let us play with one.I remember "driving" it through the sand and eveywhrere else.I was so disapointed I couldn"t paly with the other one.Needless to say I still have that one and I'm now 56 years old. Thanks Dad.

[Anonymous]

Memories of running trains on my Dad's layout at Christmas

[marxalot]

My parents were divorced when I was 4. On Christmas day my Dad would come to the house with gifts for my sister and me. Okay fast forward to that great year of 1958 when all I wanted was a train....Here comes my Dad with all sorts of large boxes. I'm feeling good, REAL good. BUT, the boxes contained things like a large model of an aircraft carrier, etc. Then there were two smaller boxes. In each box was a nice train car. One was the flat car with tractors that Marx made. "Son," my dad says, "here is a start on that train set you wanted"..... and then he goes back into the kitchen to talk with my Mom... well I'm sitting in the living room looking at these two train cars thinking, like how am I going to get the rest of a train set? Can you think tears in your eyes? I mean I am bummed out. Then my Dad says "oh yeah Jimmy, there is one more box... I left it in the hallway.... see what's in it will you" Well it was a Marx train set. Now that may not be a touching story but you have to know my dad..... he is/was a corker! And he did come over and build that train table in the basement I needed the following summer. I loved him then and love him now...... it is funny but he does not remember much about that Christmas..... it might have been a little holiday cheer affecting him too! But I can remember the smell of cigarets and Fabrige colone on my Dad when I hugged him so that day.

Jim

[1688torpedo]

MPZPW3- So sorry about your Father passing away this past September.Sounds like he was a very good Father for you. I liked Allen Millers post about his Father also. Sounds like Allen had a wonderful childhood in spite of the difficulties that existed in his family at the time. Wonderful posts so far. Keep them coming Guys. Thank You.

[mpzpw3]

My father passed away in September at age 64, with under a year before retirement. I remember a Christmas where I got a Star Wars figure and that was it. It had been a tough year for him, so Christmas was small. The next year was a lot better for us, and I received a postwar Lionel set of 2343 Santa Fe engines! Throughout the next year He moved my trainroom into a bigger room in the basement and built a new plywood table for the trains. That Christmas I received a box of gargraves track, and we spent Christmas break bending track ( we had a hard time getting the hang of that!), and ballasting it with oil-dry.
After I grew up , got married, bought a house, and built a layout, we would have my parents over around Christmas. Dad liked the train under the tree, and was very impressed with the blue and yellow freight version of the F-3, as this was the final piece needed for our Santa Fe empire started in the basement many years ago. Christmas will be a little different this year, but the trains will still be running.

[MartyE]

What a great topic and even better stories. Thanks guys.

My fondest memories were being able to stay up late working on the layout with dad. The layout only being 2 feet high, my brother and I were able to crawl under it strining wires all over. Many a night we were up past our bed times helping dad.

My father on the other hand tells of his father. A week before Christmas butcher paper would go up onthe french doors leading into the living room. My grandfather during that time would put up the train and tree up on beer cases. Dad used to try to look under the door to see what was up. Christmas eve the paper would come off the doors and Christmas had come. Trains, tree and lights.

[Kooljock1]

Boy, tough question. When I was very small we'd go to bed on Christmas Eve after church in a house decorated only with window candles and those old big-bulbed outdoor lights on the lamppost.

In the morning there would be a fully decorated tree, presents, and the rest of the house decorated by Santa. And a very sleepy Daddy.

For Christmas 1968 he broke out his Pre-War trains for the first time, setting them up on the linoleum flooor of the playroom. I remember the clanky sound of the #238E banging over the three-piece bridge, and past the lithographed American Flyer Passenger/Freight station.

But my favorite memories were just spending time with him decorating the house, trying to chip the ice off the base of the tree in the bucket of water in the boathouse, and the way he knows how to cut the tree to just the right height by standing with his hand held up over his head.

He's 81 now, and still very active providing more wonderful memories.

Jon [8D]

[selector]

What a great idea! Thanks, and thanks to all who have taken the time to reply!

Like most of you, I have many fond memories, but the one that is the most closely associated with Christmas is this: it was only on Christmas Day, right after the interminable breakfast and cleanup, that we sat around the mounds of presents waiting for my Dad to figure out how to work the flash attachment to his Zeiss Ikon. [|(] [(-D] If it took him one minute, it took him 30. My Mom was not too thrilled, either, because making all of us go through breakfast was just as hard for HER, too!! LOL

[Anonymous]

All of my memories of my father are fond ones, even though my parents were divorced when I was about seven. But despite the divorce, or perhaps even as a reult of it, strong ties continued to exist within the family, and I must say that my father not only got me started with toy trains (he had no particular interest in them himself), but he actually spoiled me rotten by providing me with Lionel's finest every Christmas and with a large, custom-built layout (built by the crew of Amer's Hobby Shop, in Youngstown, Ohio) on one of my birthdays. To this day, it's still the biggest layout I have ever had!

It wasn't until many years later that I realized how much my father sacrificed to buy me the latest and greatest of Lionel's offerings. The 2343 passenger set, 2321 Trainmaster, 624 Switcher, and a ton of accessories and rolling stock over my growing-up years. Those things weren't cheap even back then, and I know he had to do a whole lot of saving to buy those items for me. When I was old enough to mow lawns, trim hedges, deliver newspapers, rake leaves, and do that sort of revenue-generating thing, I was finally able to relieve him of some of the burden because I sunk most of my earnings into my toy train "habit."

My dad used to take me across town to Amer's Hobby Shop on a very regular basis, so I could look at all the great stuff, compile my Christmas wish list, and pick up the latest copy of "Toy Trains" magazine. After a trip to the hobby shop, we would always go to one of his favorite restaurants for a first-class lunch. Great memories, to be sure, and there's no doubt in my mind that those memories are largely responsible for my continued interest in trains and model railroading to this day. I like to think that my dad would be happy to see that it wasn't just a passing phase.

And an equal amount of credit--and thanks--goes to my mom, who was always very supportive of my hobby interest, even in my adult years. She's gone now, but many of the train items she bought for me over the years are still a part of my collection.

[Anonymous]

Great memory, joe0315.

Great memory, 1688torpedo.


One of my fondest memories of my Dad at Christmas was looking at the smile on his face when he was putting together Grandma Triplett's (his mother) Christmas present.....sometime around 1977 or 1978. It was a smile deep with warmth and love.....a smile I only got to see every now and then.

Grandma Triplett never ever had a lot of money and Medicare never covered all her medicines. So one year, Dad decided to give her a box of money at a family reunion Christmas supper. Theer was ($300 worth) 1's (mostly) 5's, 10's and a few 20's all tied together in the middle by a continuous string of mason's level twine.

The box was packed with a small slit in the top as to where the bills and knots would barely pass. So, Grandma would have to slow down as the money came through the top as to get them through without tearing the bills. It took her about 20 minutes to get all the money out.

I have a picture of them together from then with all the money wrapped around her like a necklace and my Dad's arm around her.

I always remember their smiles from then at Christmas.

[Anonymous]

Although I loved my father very much, I can't say I have specific Christmas memories since he was away in WWII until I was 5. He DID get me a Lionel train set in '47, but I thought THAT came from Santa. During the war, my mother and I lived with my Grandparents. My Grandfather was a real "tree fanatic"...perfect live tree, ornaments carefully placed, and placed deep into the tree. Wonderful "Christmas Garden" under the tree, but no trains on it. Every year, when I decorate my 2 "fanatic" trees, I dedicate them to my Grandfather. Joe

[Jumijo]

Christmas didn't become special for me until I had kids. Now I get such a kick out of watching them open presents and having fun. Next month, we're all going for a ride on the Polar Express. It's been sold out for some time as it's a very popular holiday experience. That's on Sunday, the 11th. The day before that, my wife and daughter are going to see the Boston Ballet's Nutcracker Suite. I bought them tickets as a surprise.

Jim

[laz 57]

TRying to get the tree straight, or from falling over.
laz57

[1688torpedo]

Hello All ! Not sure if this has been a topic or not. Just wondering what your Favorite memory of your father is at Christmas time. Mine is about 22 Years ago while my own Father was still living. I was setting up one of my Trains and his Train under the Tree and while doing this he was giving me pointers as to where the Highway Flasher , Block Signal, Banjo Signal and a couple of other things would look best and where to locate them under the Christmas Tree. His input was very much appreciated by me and as a result is my favorite Christmas memory of him. It had been years since he was able to set up and operate a Train due to a condition he had where he was unable to use his hands for any Physical activity and it caused the Muscle to waste away in them.And, I'm also sure he appreciated seeing his Train under the Tree for one of the last years of his life on this Earth. What are your favorite memories?