Different families have different ways to decorate the inside of their homes for Christmas.  For some, the holiday just wouldn't be the same without a model train huffing and puffing around the Christmas tree.  What is this special connection between trains and Christmas?  

The answer can be found by visiting the annual holiday train show hosted by the Lakeshore Model Railroad Association.  Association members are die-hard model railroading enthusiasts. There's no better place to ask about the special connection between trains and Christmas. When you talk with Association President Tim Clint about that connection, he just lights up.

"You put a train around a Christmas tree.  You have a green Christmas tree over the layout.  It's a toy that just enchants kids.  It just makes Christmas magical,” he said.

Any member of the Model Railroad Association will tell you that their love of model railroading began with a special Christmas long ago. Lee Farnsworth's father and grandfather presented Lee with a model train when he was around six or seven.

"They set it up one Christmas at my grandfather's house.  I didn't know about it.  I wasn't allowed to go over to the house, but I knew something was up because it was right before Christmas,” he said.

It was the same train Lee's father received for Christmas years before.

"Railroading got passed down now through three generations to me.  I have grandsons now that I want to pass it down to them,” says Lee.

Mike Short is 83 years old. His love of trains goes back almost that far.

"I was two years old.  My father bought me a Lionel train and he pulled it out every Christmas for me to play with, said Mike.  Mike says the only time he did not play with trains was when he spent time in the service.

Pete Link's father always set up a train display at Christmas. Pete's current collection goes back to his high school and college days.

"Some of my engines are over 50 years old and I have train cars that are even older than that. They still run great.  I still have a lot of fun with them,” he said. "I think with the holidays there is always going to be an association with trains."