I'm talking about the Lionel No. 675 steam engine and tender I received for Christmas back in 1950. My parents gave me more than just the locomotive. I discovered under our family Christmas tree a ...

Kids of the 1950s loved Lionel’s little switch engines. The stubby proportions and whirling drive rods of these classics give them an industrious appearance as they scoot around a layout.

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 shop on Long Island, New York.

(Sara Messinger for NPR) 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 ...