Garrett's 2022 Christmas Train Layout

Step 1, I had to finish painting quite a few dark blue sections of the backdrop.  I ran out of time this year and of course didn't do it over the summer.  FYI, I wanted the backdrop to look dreamy at night when the room lights were off and just the Christmas tree and Dept 56 village lights were on.  I went with twilight colors (two shades of blue, lavendar, and gray) and searched for a quilt pattern.  I think the final effect is cozy and dreamy, just what I had envisioned

reusing these frames that I built last year and the year before

reusing these foam bases

had to take a pause until I could collect the tree and bring it in through the french doors.  if you have a tile or hardwood floor, it is highly recommended that you build a base with non-marking rubber wheels so that you can move the tree around while working on your Christmas layout.  note that the table frames also have wheels so that the layout can be repositioned easily

added this bridge piece which goes behind the tree.  It is braced underneath in several places so that the wood does not bend or crack when I reposition the table.  Also added the two corner pieces to support the foam base which will go on top

placed the foam bases and attached to the wood frames

the layout is about 18.5' end to end

the track plan is different from last year.  wanted to go with a longer mainline.  the red squares are for Dept 56 building placement.  The blue and green small circles are for some animated accessories

*important!!!  I use these stationary clips on the underside of each track joint.  holds the layout together perfectly.  a few #4 3/4" screws will keep the fastrack pieces from vibrating/moving out of position

first pieces of track.  That is an MTH z-1000 transformer

ceremonial unboxing of the LionChief Plus North Pole Central locomotive and tender

building the layout according to track plan.  I discovered that some of my fastrack pieces had broken tabs and needed to be replaced

village houses going in and added some train cars on the track

Very nice and well thought out. I like 👍 your Xmas layout. Can’t wait to see when it’s done especially your backdrop

A partial lap on the layout

Caboose?

Please include one this year so that young people will know what was 'normal' when trains had personalities!

Otherwise, what a terrific idea and execution for a Christmas layout.

Looking good so far. I like the chiseled edge on the foam. Gives a nice finished appearance.

Bob

NOT going to run this on my Christmas layout this year .............

...........NOT O gauge .

(  Canada Pacific can be found on YouTube video sites passing through Canada and the US. )

added a few more cars.  still a work in progress

let there be lights !

connecting and testing the inner track

Santa's Little Helper

added a bridge

checking clearance with the bridge.  it's close but plenty far

it's a vertical youtube vid and for some reason it doesn't want to embed.  here's the link-

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0j4Kho64x2Q

two trains running

A beautiful Christmas display!

Well done!

Peter

Fantastic.

something I like to do is add garland with lights along the front of the layout.  I think it gives an extra something special to the presentation

Ta-da... the scenery backdrop is up.  Looking pretty starry and wintry

and here's a lap around the track with the backdrop in place

Very nice

alright, I'm calling this done

here's a closeup of my LionChief Plus North Pole Central locomotive.  The Hershey's locomotive is in the background

and here's my MTH Rail King Western Maryland 2-6-6-6 Allegheny that is fixed and running (thank you, Bussinger Trains & Toys in Ambler, PA).  It is massive compared to the LionChief 4-6-2 Pacific

Here's a vid of the 2-6-6-6 Allegheny

here's a vid of the Allegheny pulling on the left

and a vid of the Allegheny pulling on the right