never really shop for pre-war, but grew up with Dad's. Santa always brought them somehow on christmas eve so when this lil 4 yr old woke up on the big morning, the trains were around the tree..and then a week later...they'd be gone until next year..when I got older, they hit the floor under the tree as soon as the tree went up..and many many years of play time including his 226E frieght set, a marx loco and American Flyer PA deisel set as I grew. I made sure trains were a part of every christmas when I made my own home and my 4 , now adult kids all have families of their own..some have taken some of my 1950s stuff to their houses to carry on, but the grandkids all love to come here and play...they have grown up expecting and loving it...small disney princess take rides in coal hoppers, a village of M&M's star wars characters live throughout the many houses we put on the floor, etc. I had to add a Thomas Train set a few years back when the twin grandaughters got all into the TV show..took them to a nearby museum 4 years back to see the life size Thomas and actually take a ride..so when they came over that year and Thomas was doing laps..they were squeeling with excitement...cheap product and very expensive.. but I found one on local marketplace that had been trashed by the former owner...got complete set, engine, 2 cars, track and transformer for $20...$12 of parts from Lionel online and 30 mins on the bench and Thomas was back together with moving eyes again.. so, yes, there's everything from 1930 tinplate, to 1950s working era, to MTH current protosound stuff down there for them to play with...and I love watching them make their own memories
