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How do you make trains a part of your holiday season?

O ogaugeguyOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Being a month away from Thanksgiving I'm eager to set up my carpet central holiday layout even though the wife says not quite yet, it's still a tad too early. So that brings me to wonder how many of you do a holiday layout and when does it go up and come down? Is it a simple loop with perhaps a few houses situated on the floor around your Christmas tree or a more quasi permanent affair built on a sheet of plywood elevated off the floor on sawhorses or close to the floor resting on cinderblocks? Is it a snow covered wintery scene? A simple holiday train running on a loop or a larger affair with multiple trains running on various loops complete with switches and sidings? Fastrack or other? Enhanced with Department 56 SnowVillage, Lemax, Plasticville, MTH, Lionel, Atlas, Cornerstone, Ameri-towne or kitbashed buildings? How elaborate do you get? How much time and effort is spent on setting it up? Is planning and setting it up soley up to you or is it a family activity with the wife, kids, grandchildren involved?

 

Six decades ago when I believed in Santa, I'd go to bed Christmas Eve and awaken Christmas morning eager not only to see what presents Santa had brought but also to see the platform complete with American Flyer train, lighted and glistening snow covered Plasticville and cardboard houses and the live family Christmasd tree in the center, all done through the magical work of Santa while I slept.  Any of you with Santa age children do that today, set up your display on Christmas Eve after the youngsters have gone to bed to surprise and delight them with its magical appearance Christmas morning?

 

If a train layout is a yearly tradition in you home, how much do you vary it from year to year?

And for those with a permanent rather than temporary seasonal setup, do you modify it in someway for the holidays?

 

Please share your past efforts with us. Tell us what you've done or post photos or video clips of your holiday layout so we can enjoy, benefit and learn by seeing how you use trains during the holidays.

 

Last edited by ogaugeguy
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LW Lee WillisOGR Forum Member

For the first time ever, this Christmas I will have grandchildren at my house for Christmas.  So,

 

1) For the first time in about 50 years, I will have a toy train laid out around the Christmas tree, which will run either a remote Thomas or a Christmas BEEPS/Polar Express.

 

2) On my layout, the city will put out the usual holiday decorations on steet light poles etc. throughout the downtown area and Christmas tree in the plaza on mainstreet, and merchants can can be expected to decorate their stores in a festive holiday manner, while the local Rotary Club will do its usual - placing a lighted holiday star on the cliff top overlooking the city.  (My town, San Beattadaise, is modeled after Trinidad Colorado, where my Mom's family was from, right down to the cliff and Christmas star).

 

3) I'll run a couple of Christmas trains on two loops.

 

4) And, I think, if I can get to it with all the other projects, some Superstreets "Christmas parade floats" - I'm thinking of using the type of slow-moving chassis I made for my custom city buses but carrying a Miracle on 34th Street Santa float and some other Christmas themed floats . . . . Oh, I like this!!!

CL Casey LVOGR Forum Member

I also am awaiting the day after thanksgiving when we set up the christmas tree. My memories are about the same as yours, remembering the platform under the christmas tree (which by the way was decorated with tinsel which was flattened between your two fingers and had to be placed on the tree perfectly straight not touching another piece of tinsel or falling on another branch). Then there was the putz with the American Flyer trains and Plasticville houses which were lit up by using a set of christmas tree lites under the platform with holes only big enough for the socket to go through then held in place by screwing in the bulb. The plywood was set on cinder blocks (cinder blocks that were handmade by me as a young lad using a wood and steel form, one at a time until I had made enought to build a garage which my father built after working in a cement mill during the night). Then we would tack about an 8 inch piece of brick crate paper around the edge of the plywood.

I have had trains under my christmas tree most of my life, This year I am working on a 5'X7' X 3/4" platform which I will lay flat on the floor, it will have an 036 and a 054 radius so I will be able to run two trains.

My new layout is close to completion and I will post a photo before I put the tree in place. Thanks for the memories. Regards, Casey.

 

FM Former Member

From the time I became a Forum member, I found it most interesting how many of you do a Christmas layout and the amount of skill that goes into the construction and creativity of them. It is without a doubt one of my favorite times of year and I look forward to every Christmas Season when I get to see your fabulous work (NYCfan Skip in particular).

 

This year is special for me. Since finishing my home some eight years ago, I have wanted to do a Christmas layout in the house. For most of this period I commuted a long distance and it was impossible with my schedule. The events of last year (the first year I was home full time) also precluded such an effort. My layout is located in a separate building, which does contain a large permanent Christmas layout, so it is not like I ignored the Christmas Season with trains. But since building the house, I have not previously had a train running in my home which I have greatly missed.

 

My Bride wanted us to do a joint project to build a new Christmas layout this year in the first level of our home. I am indeed fortunate that she is really into trains which has made this a perfect joint hobby we both can share. Elizabeth has two surgeries scheduled for November, and so that she could be an integral part of the construction, we got an early start on this project. Our focus has been to integrate the PE train set into a Department 56 North Pole Village.

 

Even though this may be pushing the Christmas Season a little early, it is very gratifying to finally see a train running in our home.

Larry Sr.Larry Sr.OGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Nice videos. I do put a small oval around the tree every year. Usually after thanksgiving. It's mostly for me. My grandson ( who's 6) fools with it about 15 min, then it's off to the train room. Already he wants more than one train and one oval. I guess I have spoiled him. Actually he probably just wants the remotes and me out of the train room.....that ain't gonna happen just yet.

Larry

O ogaugeguyOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
Yes Casey, memories of a simpler but certainly not easier time in the late from 1949 through the late '50's. No DCS, TMMC or Legacy issues then, but remember when tinsel would unceremoniously fall from a tree branch and somehow find its way onto the train tracks shorting out the train. And if your house was anything like my parents was, the platform would be nestled in a corner or our small Philly rowhouse livingroom with the tree on top of it situated in that far, hard to reach corner and reaching across the platform doing a balancing act to get to that piece of tinsel was not fun with the platorm resting about three feet off the ground supported on a pair of shaky homemade sawhorses.
And yes, I too remember my platform's houses lit up by a string of Christmas tree lights where when one bulb burned out the entire village suffered a blackout. Then the fun(?) began as each house woiuld be meticulously removed so as to not disturb any more of that  statically clinging mica and shredded styrofoam snow than necessary in order to find that frequently elusive burned out culprit bulb (often under the last building to be checked).
 
Originally Posted by Casey LV:

I also am awaiting the day after thanksgiving when we set up the christmas tree. My memories are about the same as yours, remembering the platform under the christmas tree (which by the way was decorated with tinsel which was flattened between your two fingers and had to be placed on the tree perfectly straight not touching another piece of tinsel or falling on another branch). Then there was the putz with the American Flyer trains and Plasticville houses which were lit up by using a set of christmas tree lites under the platform with holes only big enough for the socket to go through then held in place by screwing in the bulb. The plywood was set on cinder blocks (cinder blocks that were handmade by me as a young lad using a wood and steel form, one at a time until I had made enought to build a garage which my father built after working in a cement mill during the night). Then we would tack about an 8 inch piece of brick crate paper around the edge of the plywood.

I have had trains under my christmas tree most of my life, This year I am working on a 5'X7' X 3/4" platform which I will lay flat on the floor, it will have an 036 and a 054 radius so I will be able to run two trains.

My new layout is close to completion and I will post a photo before I put the tree in place. Thanks for the memories. Regards, Casey.

 

 

david1david1OGR Forum Member

We start our decorations the first week of November by putting up the tree and trains. We run std. gauge trains under the tree, a blue comet and the O gauge Polar express. We then decorate the rest of the house. I also have a hi rail layout in the garage and the garage is also decorated. Can't wait to get started.

CL Casey LVOGR Forum Member
Originally Posted by ogaugeguy:
Yes Casey, memories of a simpler but certainly not easier time in the late from 1949 through the late '50's. No DCS, TMMC or Legacy issues then, but remember when tinsel would unceremoniously fall from a tree branch and somehow find its way onto the train tracks shorting out the train. And if your house was anything like my parents was, the platform would be nestled in a corner or our small Philly rowhouse livingroom with the tree on top of it situated in that far, hard to reach corner and reaching across the platform doing a balancing act to get to that piece of tinsel was not fun with the platorm resting about three feet off the ground supported on a pair of shaky homemade sawhorses.
And yes, I too remember my platform's houses lit up by a string of Christmas tree lights where when one bulb burned out the entire village suffered a blackout. Then the fun(?) began as each house woiuld be meticulously removed so as to not disturb any more of that  statically clinging mica and shredded styrofoam snow than necessary in order to find that frequently elusive burned out culprit bulb (often under the last building to be checked).
 
Originally Posted by Casey LV:

I also am awaiting the day after thanksgiving when we set up the christmas tree. My memories are about the same as yours, remembering the platform under the christmas tree (which by the way was decorated with tinsel which was flattened between your two fingers and had to be placed on the tree perfectly straight not touching another piece of tinsel or falling on another branch). Then there was the putz with the American Flyer trains and Plasticville houses which were lit up by using a set of christmas tree lites under the platform with holes only big enough for the socket to go through then held in place by screwing in the bulb. The plywood was set on cinder blocks (cinder blocks that were handmade by me as a young lad using a wood and steel form, one at a time until I had made enought to build a garage which my father built after working in a cement mill during the night). Then we would tack about an 8 inch piece of brick crate paper around the edge of the plywood.

I have had trains under my christmas tree most of my life, This year I am working on a 5'X7' X 3/4" platform which I will lay flat on the floor, it will have an 036 and a 054 radius so I will be able to run two trains.

My new layout is close to completion and I will post a photo before I put the tree in place. Thanks for the memories. Regards, Casey.

 

 

Hey ogaugeguy: Sounds like you and I lived in the same house about 50-60 miles apart.

ReadingFanReadingFanOGR Forum Member

The Christmas Putz in The Lutheran Home at Topton, PA, will be open weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Constructed piece by piece between 1909 and 1946 by Mrs. Ida Henry, Matron of The Lutheran Orphans' Home, the Putz fills 560 square feet. Admission is free.

 

For more info and photos, go to www.tinplatetimes.com. Click on "Archives." Then  scroll down and click on "A Tinplate Christmas Putz."

 

Topton is located at the top of the grade of the former East Penn Branch of the Reading halfway between Reading and Allentown, east of Route 222. The Reading station is now a bakery and deli. Norfolk Southern trains pass frequently. Eastbound trains put on a good show topping the grade.

 

PutzTree

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CraignorCraignorOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

I built a 4x8 Christmas layout platform a few years, it resides in the garage until we get our tree, usually the first week of December. I used MTH Real Trax and screwed it all down. The tree sits on top of the platform in our family room and the trains run all around the tree. I use both DCS and TMCC on it, its nice having the remotes to be able to bring the trains down to a slow quiet speed on the fly, and to be able to adjust the sounds, or turn the smoke on or off depending who is in the room.

 

After the holidays, mid January, the tree come down, layout goes back in the gargage,

 

Its fun running trains in the family room instead of the basement for a month a year.

S SteamerOGR Forum Member

alas, I was also denied permission to put up the Christmas train platform this early. I'll try again around Thanksgiving!. I have been putting up a 3x6 platform the last few years. We cut our own tree, so it lasts really long.Two years ago we almost made it to February. The tree was still soft and not dropping needles, but we were getting strange looks when anyone stopped by!

 And the boss likes the tree and the trains, and she likes having me in the living room instead of downstairs.. been adding a bit more each year, houses, this year a siding.

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SantaFe158SantaFe158OGR Forum Member

We've had a train of some sort under our tree most, if not all of my life.  When I was in second grade I merged my moms small ceramic village collection with my Lionel NYC flyer set and it's expanded a bit from there.  Last year I went public and set the whole thing up on a 12x8 platform in the orchestra pit of the Redford Theatre in Detroit.  I'll be doing the same this year at the end of November.  It'll come down in early January.

 

 

 

And some from the past before the move to the theatre

 

This is pretty much what got me started.  My grandpa built this layout in his living room one year when they were in the process of replacing all their furniture and had an empty room for the season.

 

D Dave2OGR Forum Member

In case your still looking for support from your fellow model railroading enthusist, I thought I would let you know that my wife just told me I can leave it up even longer than this weekend which was the original plan for tear down.   Since is my first (serious) year and like everything I do, I go overboard.  She bought be a PE last christmas which didn't quite make a oblong circle around the tree, but after buying 4 extra pieces of track it made it.  This year, its a two mainline 12x14 with 9 switches all on the carpet.  Oh, and a Thomas for the new grand daughter.   I'm very Thankful for the brain trust on the OGR forums as they helped me solve a couple of the serious 'couldn't solve it myself' problems I had due to my inexperience.  So let me know if you want my wife to call yours such that she can help persuade your wife into letting you set it up earlier or leave it up later.....  : )  Dave

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