"The toy train market is not a growing market, " agrees Donald Carlson, a collector and friend of Kughn's who put together the Carail toy train catalog.

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There is a massive, wraparound glass staircase, and dropping down from the 24-foot-tall ceiling is a 12-foot-long "found art" light sculpture made by a local artist with steel rods and old trumpets, toy train tracks and parts of old pistons.

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Gibson, for example, is drawn to the toy train, so his teacher frequently uses this as a tool.

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In 1986, Kughn's obsession led him to purchase the premier toy train maker, Lionel, from Kenner Parker Toys, a division of General Mills (nyse: GIS - news - people ).

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The toy is distributed in the U.S. by Brio, a public Swedish company known for wooden train sets.

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But for much of this century they were essentially a preparation for serious adult roles: baby dolls and toy kitchens for girls, erector sets, toy trucks and train sets for boys.

ECONOMIST: Toys