A few weeks ago, I was helping my parents clean out their basement when I came across several boxes containing an old Lionel train set. I have only vague memories of ever seeing it set up. It originally belonged to my Uncle Bill, and over the years ended up at my parents.

I gave the boxes a quick once-over and loaded them into my car, not quite sure what I was going to do with them. I had a passing interest in setting the train up myself, but no adequate room—or marital permission—to do so.

Among the boxes were Lionel cars, engines, track, switches, Plasticville buildings, transformers, bridges, lights, instruction sheets, and all the assorted odds and ends that accumulate around a well-used train layout. When I got home, I laid everything out and inventoried it in my basement.

Then I started looking more closely.

The engines turned out to be a pair of Lionel No. 2353 Santa Fe F3 diesels. The freight cars matched a specific 1954 Lionel outfit: the No. 2227W “Golden West Special.”

The original set included the two Santa Fe locomotives along with a No. 3562-25 Santa Fe operating barrel car, a No. 6356 New York Central stock car, a No. 6456-75 Lehigh Valley hopper, a No. 6468 Baltimore & Ohio automobile boxcar, and a No. 6417 Lionel Lines caboose.

**Lionel 2227W 1954 Golden West Special Set**

The collection had also grown well beyond the original set. There was a State of Maine boxcar, remote-control switches, operating accessories, a large barrel ramp, bridges, lighting pieces, track, Plasticville buildings, scenery materials, and transformers.

**Lionel No. 6464-275 “State of Maine Products” Boxcar**

**Lionel No. 362 Barrel Loader/Barrel Ramp**

Several pieces of original Lionel paperwork also survived with the set, including a general instruction manual from 1951, a 1954–1955 Lionel Service Stations booklet, instructions for the No. 3562 barrel car, and instructions for the No. 022 remote-control switches.

**Lionel Service Stations booklet, 1954–1955**

Download the complete 1951 Lionel instruction manual (PDF)

None of this had been preserved as a pristine collector’s set. It had been played with, added to, taken apart, put back together, and apparently enjoyed for years.

As I worked through the boxes, another part of the story surfaced.

My Uncle Bill recalled the train set’s origin story.

As he recalled it, more than seventy years ago, my grandmother, Claire Pawlowski Halvangis (1916–1980), gave my grandfather, James William Halvangis (1920–1973), fifty dollars to go buy himself a new suit for the holidays.

Apparently Jim had other ideas and instead came back with this Lionel train set as a Christmas gift for his kids.

Fifty dollars was no small sum of money for my family in 1954. How grandma felt about this purchase is not known.

What to do with the train set?

The story of this train set seemed more important to me and my family than any value it might bring on eBay or Facebook Marketplace.

I thought it would be nice for it to “stay in the family.”

Through my genealogy work, I got to know a fourth cousin named Rob. Rob and I share a third-great-grandfather, James Costlow (1822–1904) of Cambria County, Pennsylvania. In fact, it was through Rob that I became a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War through our shared ancestor.

This connection is on my father’s side of the family, completely separate from the Halvangis family from which the trains came.

Rob also happens to be an avid train enthusiast and showed immediate interest in the set and accessories.

I had no financial interest in the trains myself, but I wanted to check with Uncle Bill before giving it away.

His response settled it for me.

He wrote:

“70 some years ago, Claire gave Jim $50.00 to go out and buy a suit, he came back with a Xmas gift for his boy. That’s what I remember most about that train. Yup, sounds like a good home. Let the story continue.”

There is something fitting about that, even though Rob is not connected to the Halvangis side of my family at all.

The train has now switched tracks—from the Halvangis side of my family to the Costlow side.

Last week, Rob and I met for the first time, halfway between Michigan and Pennsylvania. The exchange went well, and the trains are now in their new home.

**September, 2026, 4th cousins and descendants of James Costlow (1822-1904): Rob (left) and me (right)**

And a seventy-year-old Christmas gift has begun its next chapter.

Let the story continue.

(Stay tuned for updates as Rob gets the train up and running!)