George Jerz (born 1933) and Kathleen Jerz (birth year censored) pose with the Lionel train set Kathleen’s father bought for her in 1948. Most of the figures were given to George by his Aunt Lucille when he was about 13.

My mother wants me to thank John at The Train Depot in Chantilly, Va., who  cleaned and oiled the engine and made it ready to run after 35 years in storage.

My very handy mother stripped the 18-gauge speaker wires to connect the lock-ons to the transformer and track.