"There's something about a train that's magic."

The catchphrase from an Amtrak commercial didn’t register with me until my two sons, daughter and I embarked on a train ride propelled by a steam-driven locomotive.

Every Christmas, I dust off my 45-year-old Marx electric train set and place it on a platform under our silver Christmas tree. It was evident from my three youngsters’ expressions that there is something special about the locomotive chugging along its tracks.

And that model train inspired curiosity about the real thing.

“Daddy, can we go on a real train like the black one (Marx locomotive) someday? That’s what I really want for Christmas,” said my 5-year-old son, Milo.