My dad made me a 4'x4' HO train layout on a half-sheet of plywood. It was painted a burgandy colour (one the colours from a house project), a few pieces of green foam that loosley resembled trees or bushes, and it had no track power. Since my father had recently purchased a house for the family, the mortgage payments were steep at the time because of the interest rates of the early '80's. He did what he could, and I couldn't be happier.

It was a loop of track, with a passing siding and two industries. It came from "Santa" with an Athearn GP35 "dummy" and about five Tyco cars. Since there was no power, I resorted to pushing that GP35 around the track, picking up cars and sorting them out. Thinking about it now, there was nothing frilly about the layout but I loved that thing. My father must have spent many evenings in the unheated shed just to finish it off.

All said, that layout was far from prototypical - the trees were foam glued directly to the red plywood, the track was a brass colour, my hands were the only power the locomotive made, but in my imagination, it was Tehachapi.

Pure joy that year.
almo