Joe Littman, nice start! trains can be very addictive.
Joe, man that layout looks great, especially for your first attempt! 
Joe:
Welcome to the Forum and a Very Merry Christmas to you and your family. I love your Christmas layout and your photos are wonderful.
Thank you everyone for your kind words and warm welcome. 
Before I joined this forum last night I searched for track layouts and winter displays to get ideas for mine. My search lead me to this forum and I found the track layout I liked and much much more. I was blown away by many of the model railroads I saw here, including several in this Christmas thread. When the Lemax pieces went on sale at Michael's for 60% off this week, I went to 5 different stores in my area buying up buildings and accessories. That's when I realized that this was going to be an addiction. The only thing holding me in check is the size of my layout (4' x 8'). There isn't much more room to put any more buildings on! But that did not stop me from ordering another piece. I have a fire station on the way. (My son likes fire trucks too). I'll include a pic below.
Anyway, I will continue to look forward to see the amazing displays the members of this forum put out and get some good tips.
Merry Christmas to all!
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Pingman....As far as I know, nothing has been published on the building. Most likely because it was designed by a STUDENT of FLW and that this particular architect worked for what is now Cromwell and Associates located in Little Rock, a firm that generally stamped their name on every project. Here is a flash picture of the tree...
Alan
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Originally Posted by Joe Littman:
Thank you everyone for your kind words and warm welcome.
Before I joined this forum last night I searched for track layouts and winter displays to get ideas for mine. My search lead me to this forum and I found the track layout I liked and much much more. I was blown away by many of the model railroads I saw here, including several in this Christmas thread. When the Lemax pieces went on sale at Michael's for 60% off this week, I went to 5 different stores in my area buying up buildings and accessories. That's when I realized that this was going to be an addiction. The only thing holding me in check is the size of my layout (4' x 8'). There isn't much more room to put any more buildings on! But that did not stop me from ordering another piece. I have a fire station on the way. (My son likes fire trucks too). I'll include a pic below.
Anyway, I will continue to look forward to see the amazing displays the members of this forum put out and get some good tips.
Merry Christmas to all!
Before I joined this forum last night I searched for track layouts and winter displays to get ideas for mine. My search lead me to this forum and I found the track layout I liked and much much more. I was blown away by many of the model railroads I saw here, including several in this Christmas thread. When the Lemax pieces went on sale at Michael's for 60% off this week, I went to 5 different stores in my area buying up buildings and accessories. That's when I realized that this was going to be an addiction. The only thing holding me in check is the size of my layout (4' x 8'). There isn't much more room to put any more buildings on! But that did not stop me from ordering another piece. I have a fire station on the way. (My son likes fire trucks too). I'll include a pic below.
Anyway, I will continue to look forward to see the amazing displays the members of this forum put out and get some good tips.
Merry Christmas to all!
Hello and welcome,
If you run out of space, it's a common practice to build a second level above the track for structures. It will also add dimension and the opportunity for tunnels.
You also ought to be able to find some additional die-cast fire trucks. Anything from 1:43 to 1:50 scale will work. If you want to quickly populate the layout with vehicles (and aren't too concerned about detail), search for the Bachmann Plasticville vehicle assortment. It includes two fire trucks.
Aaron,
Thanks for the suggestion and pointers! I actually bought the trestle set, but have not used it yet. I would like to incorporate a tunnel at some point. Its good to know that I can still expand... although my wife isn't going to be thrilled with that prospect! If she only knew how much I have spent on this hobby so far! I'd be sleeping under the bench! 
Originally Posted by Joe Littman:
Aaron,
Thanks for the suggestion and pointers! I actually bought the trestle set, but have not used it yet. I would like to incorporate a tunnel at some point. Its good to know that I can still expand... although my wife isn't going to be thrilled with that prospect! If she only knew how much I have spent on this hobby so far! I'd be sleeping under the bench!
Joe, First I want to say what you did is great and looks good. This year was the first time I went out and bought buildings too, a couple from Lowes and the rest from Home Depot. Collecting the buildings is just as addicting as the Trains. I want to by more now as I have always liked the look. Now the last statement about your wife. Bin there and done it. Best way to keep out of the dog house is just tell her and don't forget to say you got them on sale. As long as she is happy with the end result, you will be fine.
Merry Christmas
Doug
Ride on the rails through my Christmas village and under our family Christmas Tree with music from Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Get a cup of hot chocolate or coffee along with a few Christmas Cookies to enjoy the ride. All board!! Ken
Originally Posted by leavingtracks:
Pingman....As far as I know, nothing has been published on the building. Most likely because it was designed by a STUDENT of FLW and that this particular architect worked for what is now Cromwell and Associates located in Little Rock, a firm that generally stamped their name on every project. Here is a flash picture of the tree...
Alan
Alan I like what you did. When I was growing up in Chicago. I knew several people who bought old churches(one even bought an old firehouse). Turned them into living spaces and they looked great. Its something a lot of people don't think about in terms of rehab projects. Now my for my question. Even with all the room your house has. will you have enough room for all us forum members? 
.
Originally Posted by suzukovich:
Originally Posted by Joe Littman:
Aaron,
Thanks for the suggestion and pointers! I actually bought the trestle set, but have not used it yet. I would like to incorporate a tunnel at some point. Its good to know that I can still expand... although my wife isn't going to be thrilled with that prospect! If she only knew how much I have spent on this hobby so far! I'd be sleeping under the bench!
Joe, First I want to say what you did is great and looks good. This year was the first time I went out and bought buildings too, a couple from Lowes and the rest from Home Depot. Collecting the buildings is just as addicting as the Trains. I want to by more now as I have always liked the look. Now the last statement about your wife. Bin there and done it. Best way to keep out of the dog house is just tell her and don't forget to say you got them on sale. As long as she is happy with the end result, you will be fine.
Merry Christmas
Doug
Thanks Doug!
Once the track setup was complete, collecting the buildings became more of an obsession! I didn't know that Lowes and Home Depot had buildings. I guess I will be taking a couple trips today to see if they have any left!
Since its a Polar Express set, and since I've already plunked down quite a bit of money on everything, I envision leaving most of the buildings on the display after Christmas --- for the time being. But I will eventually try to convince my wife that we need to buy another set and more buildings to set up a non-holiday display for the other seasons. I can already envision a Halloween display with buildings from the "spooky town" collection.
Originally Posted by kjstrains:
Ride on the rails through my Christmas village and under our family Christmas Tree with music from Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Get a cup of hot chocolate or coffee along with a few Christmas Cookies to enjoy the ride. All board!! Ken
Great set up! I love the POV from the train itself. Very cool. Did you use a Go Pro? I need to find a way to rig my cell phone to my train to do this! LOL!
Christmas is here!!! Ken(kjstrains): Like the video; seeing the layout in person was, and still is incredible. I've enjoyed this thread very much.
Best wishes to all of you from right coast to left coast and all points in-between. Merry Christmas.
Jon
Joe
Lowes and Home depot may be out as the ones here sold out rather quick. My layout is based on a winter theme and is up all year round. So incorporating the buildings is part of the plan. here is a quick over view of my layout( now called Winterton). Once the tree comes down, I plan on making a lake in its place until next December. Of course there will be more buildings by then below are pic and a link to my 10th attempt at making a video and telling a story
https://ogrforum.com/t...65#39159636603600365
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Here's my Lionel and Dept 56 Snow Village layout for 2014. I'm running two independent loops of Fastrack. The outer loop loco is a LionChief Plus Union Pacific Hudson pulling 21 Lionel Hershey's cars. The inner loop is a Lionel conventional NYC Central 0-8-0 with Railsounds pulling the 'Fire Brigade' of MTH cars- Fire Chief cars, Fire Brigade speed boats, and Fire Trucks. For the village, I have a residential area at left with church and animated snow sports in the background. There is a commercial district in the center and at right. I'm used to plug and play wiring, so it is a bit of an achievement for me to have wired in the MTH crossing signal with speaker at center right. When the inner train crosses the Lionel accessory activation track, the signals begin to flash and the bell rings. It's pretty cool and my favorite part of the layout.
I posted a nice video on youtube which is linked here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk7_b_cglMo
There are a few pictures posted here and you can find the rest on my website including construciton and track plans. Thanks for looking and Merry Christmas!
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Very nice job Garrett.
Love the Reese's Pieces ore cars.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Originally Posted by Joe Littman:
Hello everyone!
This is my first posting. I am new to model trains, never owning one as a kid. My 4 year old son loves trains. I bought him a Lionel Lionchief Polar Express 10th Anniversary set last week. I put together a table and started going crazy with buying up Lemax buildings and accessories to make a winter display. Here are some pictures of how it looks so far. My wife has accused me of buying the train set for myself. While that was not true at first, it has quickly become an obsession! I bet I am not alone here --- judging by the awesome displays I have seen just on this thread.
You knocked it outta the park, Joe! Thanks for posting.
Welcome to the family! and yes... it is an obsession.
Thanks,
- Mario
Merry Christmas everyone!
Don
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great pics Don, especially like the black and white one.
Beautiful job, John.
This year's Christmas Photo Album is the biggest and best ever. Thanks to all of you for your participation.
Great layout and pics guys. Thanks so much for sharing! Merry Christmas.
Originally Posted by TheClutchGuy:
Savage, this Rankin/Bass themed layout is magnificent. Scenes from the shows are displayed perfectly.
Thank you very much ClutchGuy. I am glad there are others, besides my kids and me , that enjoy our Rankin Bass layout. I added an Island of Misfit Toys... The toys are sitting around the fire hoping for Santa to come while King Moonracer soars overhead.
.
Merry Christmas, here's a few from tonight.
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Each year I do a Christmas card that is dachshund themed. This was the year of the layout to build it and get it running. So, I couldn't resist...
Very cute, Lee. My Dachshund extends a very merry Christmas to you and yours, Charlie, Tex and Lady, and Bucky too.
I have been away with family for the better part of the last week and unable to sit down and keep up with this thread. Wow. This thread is much larger than in previous years. It just shows how many more people are getting into this hobby. I personally know two guys at work who started Christmas layouts this year. I would not be surprised at all if Lionel had their best year ever this year between all of the very popular LionChief sets sold and the amazing releases for the rest of us just in the last month.
Great work everyone and Merry Christmas.
We did something different this year and moved away from the snow theme and instead worked towards a "dealer display" style of layout.
We rearranged the two 4x8's to make an 8x8 layout instead of the long 4x16 that we've done for the two years prior.
We painted everything green and broke out the tubular track and switches.
Merry Christmas All!
Mike
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Ummmm, Reeses Pieces! Great Job Garrett!
Originally Posted by Garrett76:
Here's my Lionel and Dept 56 Snow Village layout for 2014. I'm running two independent loops of Fastrack. The outer loop loco is a LionChief Plus Union Pacific Hudson pulling 21 Lionel Hershey's cars. The inner loop is a Lionel conventional NYC Central 0-8-0 with Railsounds pulling the 'Fire Brigade' of MTH cars- Fire Chief cars, Fire Brigade speed boats, and Fire Trucks. For the village, I have a residential area at left with church and animated snow sports in the background. There is a commercial district in the center and at right. I'm used to plug and play wiring, so it is a bit of an achievement for me to have wired in the MTH crossing signal with speaker at center right. When the inner train crosses the Lionel accessory activation track, the signals begin to flash and the bell rings. It's pretty cool and my favorite part of the layout.
I posted a nice video on youtube which is linked here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk7_b_cglMo
There are a few pictures posted here and you can find the rest on my website including construciton and track plans. Thanks for looking and Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone, from our home to yours!
.
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Originally Posted by graz:
We did something different this year and moved away from the snow theme and instead worked towards a "dealer display" style of layout.
We rearranged the two 4x8's to make an 8x8 layout instead of the long 4x16 that we've done for the two years prior.
We painted everything green and broke out the tubular track and switches.
Merry Christmas All!
Mike
Now that's a Christmas layout the way it was intended!!
Art
This is probably the nicest benchwork I've ever seen. I'm thoroughly impressed.
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Merry Christmas! Here's a close up of my Lionel Corp Tin on my Dept 56 North Pole Village Christmas layout.
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That's a great low angle shot there, Sunrise Special. 
SunRise Special - great photo
beautiful
rdeal
thanks so much for this thread - "Christmas Photo Album" - - as a new person to "O" gauge and a i am going to build a christmas layout in the winter - not only beautiful photos and very interesting ideas - but inspiration- i was thinking about beginning a layout - now i am excited to begin - thank you -
rdeal
I finished setting up my tree and train on Monday. Debuting my Lionel Classics 2-390E and passenger cars.
The set is called the Fireball. The cars in this set are named. New Jersey for the baggage/mail car, Connecticut for the coach and New York is the observation.
The full scene. I know, the tree is a bit off center with the wind this year.
Also new is the Grand Central Terminal building.
As for the city street, I use Matchbox Build-A-Road, and some TYCO trolley track in the back of the layout.
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Let me edit this I wrote it before I had my coffee! ...
Its been a busy year, in a good way!, but there hasn't been much time for trains. I've been able to tinker a little bit on my work bench and I have acquired a basement, but that's been about it. I've really enjoyed popping on here from time to time (lurking that is, I don't remember when I last posted) and seeing all the amazing things you all have been up to as well as staying updated on all the new stuff coming out! Its really been an exciting train year even from the sidelines. I even have something on pre-order which I've never done before. So thanks for keeping me in the hobby vicariously and Merry Christmas to you and your families! I hope you all have a great new year.
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This says "I am home for Christmas". Nice job Tim and a very Merry Christmas to you and your family.
