Christmas/Winter Trains & Layouts - LETS SEE YOURS!

@Michael Roth posted:

WOW ! This is beyond fantastic  

Thanks Michael .

Gotta keep my CEO ( 💖 ).busy.

@PRRick posted:

That is Perfection, lovely tree and the train is on the floor ready for running and fun. Merry Christmas couldn’t be said any better than what you have displayed.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Thanks Michael .

Gotta keep my CEO ( 💖 ).busy.

Her work is incredible Merry Christmas to ya.

@Dallas Joseph Your wife's efforts are spectacular.  While they are all lovely, Santa's castle is fabulous.  I have wanted to recreate that scene myself.  May I ask where you obtained the elf figures?  Thank you for sharing and Merry Christmas!

Tim

@Michael Roth posted:

Her work is incredible Merry Christmas to ya.

.......and a MERRY CHRISTMAS to ya and yours .

@PittsburghTim posted:

@Dallas Joseph Your wife's efforts are spectacular.  While they are all lovely, Santa's castle is fabulous.  I have wanted to recreate that scene myself.  May I ask where you obtained the elf figures?  Thank you for sharing and Merry Christmas!

Tim

Thanks Tim.

The elves from the manufacturers are too expensive for me, especially since I ended up with over 200 ( ??? ) on the layout.    I did purchase some back before 2020 but then Judy purchased a couple of  these inexpesive 100 O scale figure bags on the net .

I grabbed the Goo Glue and dabbed little hats ( ??? ) on their heads and painted them with Tamiya Red , Green and White.    I used a small brush and  tooth picks to make the job easier.   ( BIG SECRET.... don't look at my figures with a magnifying glass . )

Since the O scale figures were rather tall I had to send the tall elves off to the wire snip amputation facility.

Believe me, I did not do all the elves in one season.  This layout has been growing each Christmas.  ( I did have one season that I was bored and did 100 for the Santa Factory entrance and the rotating ballon and tall Tree.)

Best wishes for you and yours ... and your trains this Christmas Tim.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Thanks Jay.

I have to give a huge amount of credit to my Judy for this layout.....JUST ONE of the things she does on the layout....she makes these structures from yarn .

.....our St.Joseph Church that closed awhile back. >

......then a representation of our house >

.......She never had a train growing up.....this has been a labor of love for her........I offered some model railroading help.

Take care Jay and God Speed.

As my village is also built with plastic canvas buildings, I can stay to the labor of love!  Absolutely beautiful work!!  I LOVE the idea of recreating your own home.  I'm going to need to make room in my village and build myself a new house now.  ☺️

My basement is under construction so i only had room for a 4 X 4.5 layout. I have wanted to out up a display like I grew up with in the 60’s so this was the year. Plastic trees and cars

@Squirrel posted:

As my village is also built with plastic canvas buildings, I can stay to the labor of love!  Absolutely beautiful work!!  I LOVE the idea of recreating your own home.  I'm going to need to make room in my village and build myself a new house now.  ☺️

Thank you Squirrel .

I can only admire how you can do all that artwork with yarn.   Creativity , patience and the ability to unsnarl yarn . 

( I did help Judy out with the yarn issues .     She would snack on these cheese puff balls that she would buy in very large clear plastic containers . After saving some of the containers I would cut a hole in the plastic lids and surround the holes in a soft material and plop the skane ??? in the container and pull the yarn through..... keeps things kinda organized. )

Your layout looks to have an interesting track plan.  You will definitely have to keep us posted on the progress and train operation.........tick , tick ,tick    Have fun getting a rep of your house done in yarn.

God Speed.

@Whit M posted:

My basement is under construction so i only had room for a 4 X 4.5 layout. I have wanted to out up a display like I grew up with in the 60’s so this was the year. Plastic trees and cars

........."  plastic trees and cars "  ..........and in the true traditional Christmas colors no less.  Nice

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Thanks Jay.

I have to give a huge amount of credit to my Judy for this layout.....JUST ONE of the things she does on the layout....she makes these structures from yarn .

.....our St.Joseph Church that closed awhile back. >

......then a representation of our house >

.......She never had a train growing up.....this has been a labor of love for her........I offered some model railroading help.

Take care Jay and God Speed.

WOW Dallas I never saw anything like that before and so realistic. That’s great that she is so involved and using her talents to help with your hobby. Judy is an incredible artist.

Jay

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

WOW Dallas I never saw anything like that before and so realistic. That’s great that she is so involved and using her talents to help with your hobby. Judy is an incredible artist.

Jay

WOW jay.  Thank you so much. You just made a huge smile on Judy's countenance.  Thank you . ( my main objective in my life now is to se her smile like that )

I'm a lucky guy.   ( for the friends on the FORUM also.)

A little touch of the Christmas season as Santa visits the travelers at the North Main Street Station...

@Dallas Joseph - Judy's handiwork is amazing.  That sort of family involvement is precious and it is wonderful that you appreciate it and recognize its extreme value.

Best Regards and Merry Christmas to you both!

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

@Dallas Joseph - Judy's handiwork is amazing.  That sort of family involvement is precious and it is wonderful that you appreciate it and recognize its extreme value.

Best Regards and Merry Christmas to you both!

Don

Thanks Don.

It is nice to have Judy involved with this hobby.  ( some times she is the instigator and keeps me busy when I feel like climbing into the recliner.  )

Merry Christmas and God Speed Don.

Merry Chtistmas

@Dallas Joseph- Judy does some spectacular work. I never realized the buildings were knit until you mentioned it.

And you need to join Elf's Anonymous .......

Bob

Here is the video that I promised of the Equestra Train Club 2024 layout.
https://youtu.be/1fqLcn6Mvqs?si=LK73_0onVRDjoszR

@RSJB18 posted:

@Dallas Joseph- Judy does some spectacular work. I never realized the buildings were knit until you mentioned it.

And you need to join Elf's Anonymous .......Bob

Thanks Bob.

( I wasn't allowed to join Elf's Anonymous........too tall )

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Thanks Jay.

I have to give a huge amount of credit to my Judy for this layout.....JUST ONE of the things she does on the layout....she makes these structures from yarn .

.....our St.Joseph Church that closed awhile back. >

......then a representation of our house >

.......She never had a train growing up.....this has been a labor of love for her........I offered some model railroading help.

Take care Jay and God Speed.

Dallas, I showed Judy's handiwork to my wife and, while she was as amazed as I was at her incredible skills, I couldn't convince my wife to make anything similar for our Christmas displays. I even tried the "Those would be so much easier and lighter on my back to move up and down to the attic than those heavy ceramic buildings" angle and got nowhere…

@Michael Roth posted:

That is Perfection, lovely tree and the train is on the floor ready for running and fun. Merry Christmas couldn’t be said any better than what you have displayed.

Thanks for the kind words! Merry Christmas to you and yours.

@redrockbill posted:

Dallas, I showed Judy's handiwork to my wife and, while she was as amazed as I was at her incredible skills, I couldn't convince my wife to make anything similar for our Christmas displays. I even tried the "Those would be so much easier and lighter on my back to move up and down to the attic than those heavy ceramic buildings" angle and got nowhere…

Bill , don't use your back as an excuse , you can't get ANYONE to understand that.     Just recommend using the dining room  as a storage area and she could enjoy her CHRISTMAS LAYOUT ceramic buildings throughout the year.     ( Wait until after Christmas )

Wow Dallas you really hit the jackpot with Judy.  Post fish fry visits to the hobby shop and incredible scenery talents combined with a zest for the hobby, she's definitely a keeper.  The buildings she has designed and constructed are incredible.

OK...I have all my buildings out and am still working on terrain and roads, so I will bring trees and people out later.  In the meantime, I've taken pictures that include closer shots of my buildings.  After the holidays, I'll be leaving the village up for a bit so that I can try and get the rest built up like I have envisioned in my head (lol! ) and get the terrain and roads finished.  Eventually I'll get lights added as well.  😊

The Christmas trains are out…riding the rails and ready for visitors!!! 🚂🎅🏻🎄

Tree set up.....check!

Outside lights done.....check!

Trains under the tree......soon......... I'm planning to switch up the track plan so I can run 2 trains simultaneously. This was 2023.

Bob

Personally Bob, I think you are entitled to a malted libation.

From many years ago...

@coach joe posted:

Wow Dallas you really hit the jackpot with Judy.  Post fish fry visits to the hobby shop and incredible scenery talents combined with a zest for the hobby, she's definitely a keeper.  The buildings she has designed and constructed are incredible.

WOW JOE, I can't wait to show Judy your post here. 😉  

@Squirrel posted:

OK...I have all my buildings out and am still working on terrain and roads, so I will bring trees and people out later.  In the meantime, I've taken pictures that include closer shots of my buildings.  After the holidays, I'll be leaving the village up for a bit so that I can try and get the rest built up like I have envisioned in my head (lol! ) and get the terrain and roads finished.  Eventually I'll get lights added as well.  😊

Judy says your building are beautiful Squirrel.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Judy says your building are beautiful Squirrel.

Thanks!!  I have a feeling that Judy and I would probably get along great! ☺️

This is a layout I built for a friend's antique store using only items from a collection she bought that had not seen the light of day since about 1971. I went through the coal loader, log loader and a bascule bridge which unfortunately did not fit on the table, cleaned and lubed the engines and rewired whistle tenders, RCS/UCS tracks etc. Her boyfriend and I "pressured" her into having trains be a central part of the stores Christmas theme this year and they have been a real hit and it was a fun project.

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

Personally Bob, I think you are entitled to a malted libation.

And another one hen you get home from work today!

@Squirrel posted:

OK...I have all my buildings out and am still working on terrain and roads, so I will bring trees and people out later.  In the meantime, I've taken pictures that include closer shots of my buildings.  After the holidays, I'll be leaving the village up for a bit so that I can try and get the rest built up like I have envisioned in my head (lol! ) and get the terrain and roads finished.  Eventually I'll get lights added as well.  😊

Are these done with cross stitch panels which are then joined together to make the structures? This is insanely cool, very out of the box/creative thinking, and beautifully done! 

@StudeDude posted:

Are these done with cross stitch panels which are then joined together to make the structures? This is insanely cool, very out of the box/creative thinking, and beautifully done!

Thank you!  Yes, these are done using plastic canvas instead of cloth to provide the stability.  Just like the ones Judy did as well.  😊😊

This year’s rendition of our Christmas Carpet Central Railway.

This year's Christmas Tree and Holiday village/trains are finally ready. I had a slightly different plan in mind with a second loop (figure 8) but once I started, I realized that I couldn't do it; well, I could have but it would have been a nightmare not just setting it up BUT if I had a derailment in the back or underneath, I would have been out of luck.

Instead of the Polar Express this year I decided to run the Rock Island from 1953 (?) and the old tinplate Pullman and Observation cars which I THINK my big brother got in 1947. A few years ago, he gave them to me along with the red bridge, and Noma station. I also have all of his plasticvill, but they are a pain in the butt to work around without them collapsing.

I will share a video when I can figure out how, not so tech proficient and feeling frustrated. Now that I am finished decorating, maybe I can get a little work done on my permanent layout downstairs or at least share some more pics of that "Pink Elephant in the Basement"!

Mikki

Stunning Mikki.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎄

Here is a selection of photos for this year's layout! My brother's holiday video card is coming soon!

Xmas tree sales at "Djer's" car lot are the focal point of my holiday decorating on the layout...there are many beautiful "all-in" Christmas layouts posted here.  Once I figure out how to deal with the "snow" effect and the removal of it, I'll move forward next year...