Like a lot of baby-boomer kids, Jack Smith had model trains growing up in the 1950s. But unlike most children of the era, he never drifted away from the hobby. Smith, 71, still has his original Lionel ...

For many baby boomers, and some younger folks as well, the December holidays are synonymous with model trains. Many in the postwar generation grew up with Lionel or American Flyer rolling stock ...

As kids for generations have done, Landon Tennant looks longingly at a streamlined Lionel Santa Fe engine as it chugs around a tiny display with houses, mountains and bridges at TrainLand, a hobby ...