Finally glue seems to have cured and the SKI LODGE has found it's place in the layout. I'm not 100% sure but the layout seems to be done ....time to grab the recliner and enjoy a cold beer or a small glass of Manischewitz.
Have a peaceful Thanksgiving friends .
Hi Rayin”S”, here’s that short video you asked for.
Artie , your video gave me some inspiration ......even without my Molsen XXX .
I like the miniature layout and imagined something like a MTH 0-4-0 pulling 4 polar express cars cut down to bout 40% their length and heavily covered in snow and ice. 🤤
Thanks for the video.
Thank you, but the idea was spurred by a couple of articles by Jim Policastro in OGR about building a small, portable and changing layout using carved and stacked foam panels. He started with a Halloween layout, but had examples of summer, fall and eventually a Christmas layout. I forget which month, and volumes the articles were in, but I’ll look through my past issues and see what I can find.
I did something completely different this year. I've taken a liking to standard gauge over the years and all the cars and track I've picked up at TCA Desert Division Auctions over the last 10 years at a very slow pace and at very reasonable prices. I also have most of the recent TCA ones in the 200 series, but these beat up originals look more authentic for Christmas and my original 219 would take out the tree.
The locomotive is obviously a repro. It was leant to me by fellow TCA member and friend, Chris Allen after I asked him about a good engine to buy for the holidays. It is an MTH. Yes, the gifts are all wrapped already ... except the one's I'm giving. My better half is very efficient on Christmas! 
All I have is pictures of last years layout, here is a daytime shot:
Tom Stoltz
in Maine
Full boar operations now, .....15-16 hours a day, non stop till Christmas.....the polar express will be on time, but we’ll go broke doing it!..😉
Pat 
Nice layouts, guys. Tom, that display must take quite awhile to set up! Beautiful.
@Artie-DL&W posted:Hi Rayin”S”, here’s that short video you asked for.
Thank you for the video, when I looked at the photo I couldn't make out if you were showing two levels, the video cleared that up
Very nice, I like the porcelain buildings, used them on my layout.
Thanks
Ray
@Artie-DL&W posted:Nice layouts, guys. Tom, that display must take quite awhile to set up! Beautiful.
Yes it does and because of no guests this year, it will be much simpler – if at all. It had 3 loops of track, not connected, and each loop changed in elevation by at least 2”.
Tom Stoltz
in Maine
@Tom Stoltz posted:Yes it does and because of no guests this year, it will be much simpler – if at all. It had 3 loops of track, not connected, and each loop changed in elevation by at least 2”.
Tom Stoltz
in Maine
Well Tom in Maine.......... since you are in Maine I'm guessing you went outside and gathered up some snow for this layout. 🙃
The snow looks so real . What kind of material ?
Nice work Tom.🤓
@Dallas Joseph posted:Well Tom in Maine.......... since you are in Maine I'm guessing you went outside and gathered up some snow for this layout. 🙃
The snow looks so real . What kind of material ?
Nice work Tom.🤓
Thank you Joe. In the first post you can see the snow outside, which is where I leave it -- except for on my boots. The 'snow' on the layout is a thick felt. the felt is much more stable for standing people and trees on plus it doesn't impact running ear and axles like cotton products do.
There videos, as well as construction shots, on this thread, if you like:
https://ogrforum.com/...layouts-2019-s-gauge
Tom Stoltz
in Maine
@Tom Stoltz posted:Thank you Joe. In the first post you can see the snow outside, which is where I leave it -- except for on my boots. The 'snow' on the layout is a thick felt. the felt is much more stable for standing people and trees on plus it doesn't impact running ear and axles like cotton products do.
There videos, as well as construction shots, on this thread, if you like:
https://ogrforum.com/...layouts-2019-s-gauge
Tom Stoltz
in Maine
What a Christmas project Tom. Before I saw these videos I thought I really went to the extreme with ours. Really something special you have going on there.
Amazing work and artistry. 🤓
It’s back for 2020! This is The Polar Express”!
Above is our 2020 Christmas Village display with the Polar Express running on the tracks. The video is a bit long, so if you're just looking for some train action, feel free to skip ahead to the 1:51 mark (daytime shots) and then 7:26 for the night shots.
Merry Christmas!
@Tom Stoltz posted:All I have is pictures of last years layout, here is a daytime shot:
Quite the layout, Tom, but this pic isn't enough. Pls. take more w/closeups!
Tom Stoltz
in Maine
The Santa Shay is busy getting the reindeer ready while the BiPolar Polar Express freight train is preparing the way for the Polar Express passenger train.
@Oscale_Trains_Lover_ posted:Christmas is 24/7/365 (366 for leap year) on my layout.
Since this is my permanent layout, I have a valid reason to listen to Christmas music in the middle of summer. This however, is a highly contested idea amongst my friends and family but I'll just drown them out with Crosby, Como, or Armstrong! haha!
Bryce
Not only do I like your layout, I like your choice in music too. 
You should post more picture from different angles and do more closeups. That's a great looking layout.
BTW, if you like Christmas music from the 50's, I think you'll like this. It's a modern song, but has the feel of the 40's and 50's Christmas music:
@Tom Stoltz posted:All I have is pictures of last years layout, here is a daytime shot:
Tom Stoltz
in Maine
Let me guess...You put up the garland after you had the lay out set up, Correct? Really looks fantastic.
Finally joined in the fun! In a few days, the village will be under the tree. Unfortunately due to the size of the room, the radius of the tracks under the tree won't accommodate any of the passenger cars so the houses will be accompanied by a RTR Polar Express set.
Santa was keeping an eye on his toy shipments...
Here is our Christmas tree and train 
Trains and Santa seem to have always been associated with Christmas. So it was on the little farm in Texas where I was raised with my mother and loving grandparents in the early 50s. Now, in 2020, when the entire world has been caught off guard with a killer virus, this Christmas will probably be the most memorial one to be celebrated since the end of World War II.
As you watch and enjoy your toy trains race around fully decorated trees please stop for a moment to remember the true meaning of Christmas and pray for world peace. Our children and their children's children deserve to grow up where Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards Men means just what it implies. Christmas in Century 21 appears to be more devoted to Big Business rather than celebrating the Birth of Christ.
It doesn't have anything to do with religion but a time to give thanks because you and me and many others around the world enjoy the freedom to choose our way of life by living in a democracy. Tragically, many men, women, and children, have been denied* this freedom and are locked down, not only by Corona but by dictators who rule with iron fists, showing no mercy whatsoever if their citizens live or die.
* Translated in model railroad language, you also have the freedom to choose between toy trains or true scale trains, between Z and G gauge, and on this site O Gauge Reigns Number One, thanks to the wonderful professional staff at O Gauge Railroading who work above and beyond the call of duty to produce the very best professional publication that brings each one of us Joy to the World of O gauge!
Let Freedom Ring this Christmas season.
Godspeed
@Quietman posted:Not only do I like your layout, I like your choice in music too.
You should post more picture from different angles and do more closeups. That's a great looking layout.
I love your song recommendation!
Many thanks for the kind words about my layout.
Here are some more photos for you viewing pleasure. If you want to see any videos of the trains in motion, please feel free to check out the Instagram account in my signature.
Bryce
christmas under the tree
We went all-in this year, with a second full Christmas tree in our front room. This gave me a chance to commandeer a 5.5'x10.5' area, and with some new Fastrack pieces make the following a reality. Not shown in the Anyrail design are the crossing signals, powered from two MTH 153C contactors on the inner "freight" loop. The animated billboard is wired in parallel with those, and the polarity and location of all this is set to match the freight train's length so that the normally-closed contacts on the same contactors triggers the appropriate green light on the crossing's signal bridge. Worked out quite nicely!
Somehow managed to add a tree and a train loop this year, so I'm calling my 2020 Christmas trains video The "This May Be Out Of Hand" Edition…
Lots of great layouts. I thought I had taken photographs of the Christmas town with one loop of track, but I don't see them. I'll get some posted later.
New for 2020 is a nice looking and running LGB set I bought from a Forum member last spring. It runs real smooth now that I polished the brass track and connected my old Lionel DC Type 0100 transformer I bought back in the late '60s.
Bill, I'm sure you are not the only one that has occasionally had the out of hand feeling. 😉
@redrockbill posted:Somehow managed to add a tree and a train loop this year, so I'm calling my 2020 Christmas trains video The "This May Be Out Of Hand" Edition…
@Mark Boyce posted:Lots of great layouts. I thought I had taken photographs of the Christmas town with one loop of track, but I don't see them. I'll get some posted later.
New for 2020 is a nice looking and running LGB set I bought from a Forum member last spring. It runs real smooth now that I polished the brass track and connected my old Lionel DC Type 0100 transformer I bought back in the late '60s.
AND THEN THERE IS MARK ........BEING SENSIBLE AND SANE AND ADULT ..........AND FUN LOVING.🙄🤗
@Dallas Joseph posted:AND THEN THERE IS MARK ........BEING SENSIBLE AND SANE AND ADULT ..........AND FUN LOVING.🙄🤗
If I did something like RedrockBill, I would be tripping over not only the trains, but also the track! 
I don't know how I will get along if we ever have grandchildren and we are setting them up on the floor! 
@Mark Boyce posted:If I did something like RedrockBill, I would be tripping over not only the trains, but also the track!
Actually Mark, everything's in a corner or in front of a window. The MTH set on the O27 loop takes up about a third of my office but I still have a straight shot to everything. Now, that might get a bit more complicated if I decide to do some buildings under that tree too.
That said, while all the other stuff is in a corner and out of the way, the loops under the two other trees went down on wood floors not covered by area rugs and that was not kind to my middle aged knees. Think next year I'm either going to lay down a couple padded bath mats to crawl around on or I'm going to invest in contractor grade knee pads from Lowe's or Home Depot (or Menard's if they every open a store in Oklahoma City!).
redrockbill
@Scrambler81 posted:
The track and wiring are permanent, so planning is limited to where we put it. I change up the buildings and accessories, but I never plan it, I just throw them on as I go. I am always thinking about Christmas, but the tree layout won’t go up until mid-November.
The pic is after the tree is up, but nothing has been touched on the layout yet.
I love this track plan!
My wife and I still have to decorate the tree but we have the trains up and running.
Looking good Cody.
Train up and running....... before decorating the tree !?! 🤔.............always good to see someone who has their priorities right. 😉
@redrockbill posted:Actually Mark, everything's in a corner or in front of a window. The MTH set on the O27 loop takes up about a third of my office but I still have a straight shot to everything. Now, that might get a bit more complicated if I decide to do some buildings under that tree too.
That said, while all the other stuff is in a corner and out of the way, the loops under the two other trees went down on wood floors not covered by area rugs and that was not kind to my middle aged knees. Think next year I'm either going to lay down a couple padded bath mats to crawl around on or I'm going to invest in contractor grade knee pads from Lowe's or Home Depot (or Menard's if they every open a store in Oklahoma City!).
redrockbill
Well that’s good it isn’t as bad as I thought. Yes it is bad for my one knee that hasn’t been replaced. I would say at 64 I must be late middle aged! LOL It would be Nice to have a Menards here too!
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