Holidays and our layouts

My immediate reaction: what fun!

What a great idea to have a Thanksgiving Day Parade on our layouts during the holiday season.

I have not substantially changed my basement layout during the holidays, but I like that idea after seeing your parade, Frank, through Moon Township.

What I have done, which many of us do, is set up trains around the Christmas tree with winter/holiday scenes, which might include animated ice skaters, a snowman, Santa Clause, reindeer and elves, etc.

I am hoping by the Spring of 2020 to create a 2nd permanent American Flyer layout in the mud room of my house, with winter scenery and a Christmas theme.

Arnold 

Terrific idea Frank!!

AND your photos look fabulous!!!!!

I will add some Christmas figures and at least one of my 2 loops will run a Christmas-themed train through the Holidays.......I usually start Thanksgiving weekend.

Peter

Christmas on my Layout 24/7/365 and next year 366!

Nope. It's always mid summer on my layout 😀.

Frank and Skip, wonderful scenes.

On my former layout everyday was Christmas Eve...and on my layout extension it will be again.

I would always add some Christmas touches to the layout and plan to continue that with my new layout.  Things like a Christmas tree lot, Salvation Army Santa, a town tree by the station, and various miniature wreaths.    I never thought of a Thanksgiving Day parade and hope you don't mind if I blatantly steal your idea!

- Greg

Paul Kallus posted:

Frank and Skip, wonderful scenes.

On my former layout everyday was Christmas Eve...and on my layout extension it will be again.

Your layout was one of my favorites, Paul.

Thanks, Skip. Your NYC layout is my favorite...and I can't wait for the Dec. OGR issue to hit my mailbox.

I wish I could've preserved the old-world Dickens part of my former layout...it was a relaxing place to visit...even without running trains. My talented nephew took these photos when he was a young lad, and now he's a self-employed film maker working and living in Brooklyn.

Frank - I really appreciate that you started this thread!  It got me thinking over the last several days.

 This year I will more than likely do something holiday..ish with the Patsburg Westend neighborhood which is perched about 10 inches high at the west end of my layout on a 1 ft x 4 ft extended shelf. Last year I began and almost completed the " Mary Christmas Shop"  in memory of my mother who's name was Mary.  She was the heartbeat of Christmas around our house when we kids were growing up.  ( She also loved to help with the scenery on mine and my  brother's Christmas layouts in the early years too)   The billboard on the roof reads "Have a Very Mary Merry Christmas!"  I will finish this building this month.   I also plan a Christmas tree lot and will cover the Westend neighborhood with snow. The rest of the layout will stay as it is though.  ( after all the Westend neighborhood at 10 inches above Lower Patsburg, is at a higher altitude   I may add a few other things too as the spirit moves me.

NYC Fan posted:

Christmas on my Layout 24/7/365 and next year 366!

 

Skip:

All of  your buildings are superb, but, I am very taken by your Macy's Department Store, a true Mecca of the Manhattan Christmas season. Did you scratch-build Macy's and your other buildings? I love New York City themed layouts! I would love to see more photos of your city scene. Do you have a website where there are more photos?

I'm fortunate enough that my other half is agreeable to my having two layouts. One is currently under construction and my Christmas layout is complete. Originally built it for part of our neighborhood Christmas Tree walk for the kids entertainment but found many of the adults were interested as well. I plan on doing some sprucing up and maybe changing out some motive power this year. Usually we add a figure or two each year to spruce it up. Most of it is Department 56 Christmas in the city series.

Scott

Very nice, Scott.

I sometimes envy people who live on a street with sidewalks and have homes with picture windows. I use to live in a home in Paoli, PA with such amenities...and walking or driving down the street at Christmas time was a treat, but nobody set up train displays...it was on my TBD list but I never got around to doing it.

I don't want to hijack Frank's thread...yet the holiday spirit beckons me to reflect on the reason I got back and am still in the hobby.

You go right ahead and reflect, Paul Kallus; after all, our layouts are personal expressions, as is every single bit of decoration we display for the Holidays in and on our homes. So, let me encourage and welcome you to share such musings with us here. I am sure the thread will not suffer for it. I applaud it when threads have a tolerance for open-mindedness and creative contributions. Given your reputation for creativity, I am sure the thread will be the better for your further input. No doubt.

And Thank You for what you have contributed so far.

FrankM

P.S. In fact, my entire interest in model trains and layouts began right here at my parents' Christmastime layout, which they re-constructed every year for our family and neighbors to come into our home to enjoy.

Randy Harrison posted:

NYC Fan posted:

Christmas on my Layout 24/7/365 and next year 366!

 

Skip:

All of  your buildings are superb, but, I am very taken by your Macy's Department Store, a true Mecca of the Manhattan Christmas season. Did you scratch-build Macy's and your other buildings? I love New York City themed layouts! I would love to see more photos of your city scene. Do you have a website where there are more photos?

Hi Randy,  The Macy's was made from drawings of the individual panels that were translated into CAD program and cut out with a computerized cutter/etcher. As with all of my buildings, it is selectively compressed so as to fit in the space I have but I had to keep the building proportions close to the prototypes. For example, An Empire State Building in O scale would be 22 ft high and cover a full 4ft x 8ft sheet of plywood. Mine is 6ft tall and covers an area 20in x 15in. But, the window and doors are all O scale or 1/48 scale. I enjoy the conceptulization/design/drawing end but have relied on pros for the rest. With my latest buildings I relied totally on the guys from TW Trainworx. I gave them the drawings of what I had in mind along with photos of the prototype buildings and they did the rest.

You can see more photos in this December's issue of OGR due out now.

And let me add my Thanks to the other voices on the Forum who have contributed to this thread, to date, by sending me "Likes":

Brainsilvermustang; PRRronbh; Enon49; Chessie1971; JD2035RR; Greg Houser; Khayden93,

as well as by direct comments: Arnold D. Cribari; Trumptrain; Putnam Division; NYC Fan; Randy Harrison; Lou1985; Paul Kallus; B&O Fan . Thank you!

Let me , also, share, inspired to do so by what's been said so far, that parades are not the only way I have let myself get extra-creative on a layout during the Holidays... ... and get a... whole lot of nutty, on layouts, through the years, such as modeling the delivery of Holiday essentials to the community, such as truck loads of Jingle Bells, and of presents (to help out Santa)

...even cinammon stix......and a little temporary snow and some tinsel have found their way onto the buildings and landscapes.

Holidays are really a time to play. And we have earned it, I say.

FrankM

Winter and Christmas have always been important around the Great Northeastern Railway. I hope you enjoy the following photo holiday tour.

There is snow in the city streets and the buildings are decorated for Christmas.

Thomas the Tank Engine leaves the yard with a box car loaded with mail for the North Pole.

Ever since its beginning, the Great Northeastern Railway takes great pride in serving the North Pole.

Frosty had better learn where to and where not to stick his nose!

The 20th Century Limited and the Super Chief pull out of the city after leaving a train-load of Christmas shoppers at Union Station.

In the background, the snow plow puts its final touches on the road as much Christmas shopping traffic comes to the city.

The Great Northeastern Railway's former "Chairman of the Bored", the late Chaz Harrison, makes one of is regular track inspection tours.

The track passes inspection. It is quite comfortable. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

This started out life as a 1950's red Lionel caboose in the $5 junk pile at my local LHS.

I removed body from frame and painted the frame gloss black and gave the body a two-tone gloss blue and white paint job and then dull coated everything. I added a homemade decal and hot glued some stickers on the body and a menorah as a drumhead at the rear handrail. The body mounted screws were also painted blue to blend in with the body color.

I took the trucks off the frame and removed the axles and wheels and painted the wheels flat black and the trucks were painted silver to give the caboose a new look and re-assembled everything and lubed it up.

It will bring up the rear on a holiday themed consist I am putting together. Not bad for $5 and a little elbow grease.

There's no room on my floor layout for the kind of beautiful scenes you guys have created, but my passenger station will have its usual decorated Christmas tree this year.  And the 2026 I got for Christmas, 1951 will once again rule the layout, hauling holiday travelers.

Congrats on the 2026 -  no better way to head a holiday consist !!