Here's a few shots of my Christmas layout, only the second I've ever put together. All pieces are Hawthorne Village from different collections I picked up on Craigslist. All the Fastrack is used I collected over the last year (sense a pattern?)
My old #254 is the star of the show, making rounds. Noisy, slinging oil all over the carpet...I love it!
Merry Christmas
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I like it, a lot! Merry Christmas!
Nice job!! Very nostalgic!
Very nicely done Matt! Love it, thank's for sharing!
Stack
Quite the contrary. This is not the action of an old man.
Rusty
Quite the contrary. This is not the action of an old man.
Rusty
I agree your still playing with trains!!!! 
Regardless of your age status - it's my understanding that in spite of the cost of living it still remains popular. Enjoy the trains.
Really looks good, Matt.
Art
Well done...Thanks for sharing!
Jeff Davis
Looks great! Could be a LIONEL ad from the 30's.
Very nice Christmas layout, looks great. Tinplate and standard gauge and nice track plan too. Well done!
Why does this make you an old man?
Rick
Matt, very nice! John
why? did you win a Major Award?
Age is a state of mind, not a number...
Well done Matt. That is a beautiful Christmas layout.
Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas.
Matt. You are still playing with trains, then you are still young in your mind. Nice thing with Tinplate, It is easy to make changes for next year. Merry Xmas
Al Clair (age 74)
I really like that Christmas Tree layout. Nice!
Well done!
Peter
Thats a beautiful setup and thanks for sharing the picture.
254 looks nice with its passenger cars along with the several people on the back of the observation car.
Matt...that is simply beautiful...thanks for sharing!!
Merry Christmas,
Alan
Why does this make you an old man?
Rick
I couldn't help but think the whole Christmas Village thing made our house look like an old woman lived here!
BTW, have you folks seen the prices of these subscription village pieces!!! Holy cow, no way I could afford to buy them new.
Hey Matt....I really like your simple yet "un boring" tree layout. I'd like to try that one year. And as far as age.....it was either great science fiction writer Arthur C Clarke or Ray Bradbury who coined "you have to grow old, but you don't have to grow up"!
I'm a feisty in shape 59-er and I don't take c#%p from anyone.....
Merry Christmas
Why does this make you old? I'm 24 and think that setup is awesome!
Looks Great.
Kevin
NICE layout and train! 
Like an automobile, it's NOT the age; it's the mileage! 
At 72, I have plenty of that!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
NICE layout and train!
Like an automobile, it's NOT the age; it's the mileage!
At 72, I have plenty of that!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Not the mileage, but the it's the way you've been driven and if you're garage kept.
But the layout is fantastic. Not much more fun than a layout around the Christmas Tree.
And who cares if you feel old, I do but I keep having fun playing with trains.
Merry Christmas,
John
Age is a state of mind, not a number...
Couldn't agree more. There are old 40's 50's and 60's and there are young 40's , 50's and 60's. If one tries to keep reasonably physically fit, keeps to a healthy diet and stays active, a good quality of life can be maintained at any age. If you let your self go then you become part of the Walmart sedentary scooter fraternity.
You don't stop playing because you get old. You get old because you stop playing.
Life is a blend of nature vs. nurture and those genes can work against many of us! 
My kidneys failed ten-years ago due to a genetic disorder, and my osteo arthritis was also inherited.
But I will admit those MANY cheeseburgers and pizzas over the years eventually required me to get two stents put into my LAD artery (the "widowmaker")!
An important part of growing up (not necessarily getting old) is when you can be comfortable doing what you really want to do and not care what other think about you. At 73 I'm still working on it.
Love the layout.
Scotie
When I posted initially in this thread 21 hours ago, I completely missed the "old man" aspect. Yes, it's in the title, but once I read the first post and saw the pictures, the "old man" in the thread title was gone. What I read and saw were the efforts of the poster to create a very attractive Christmas layout, demonstrate photographic skills in composing his shots, running pre-war tinplate that was well cared for, and, taking the time to share it with us. As I said in my first post, the first post was like a LIONEL ad from the '30's.
Looks just great! The only danger might be you want all this every other day, including Christmas!
When I posted initially in this thread, I completely missed the "old man" aspect. Yes, it's in the title, but once I read the first post and saw the pictures, the "old man" in the thread title was gone. What I read and saw were the efforts of the poster to create a very attractive Christmas layout, demonstrate photographic skills in composing his shots, running pre-war tinplate that was well cared for, and, taking the time to share it with us. As I said in my first post, the first post was like a LIONEL ad from the '30's.
Thanks Carl! Merry Christmas!
I didn't mean to mislead anyone with the title, I'm certainly not too old. Almost 47.
When I fretted and fussed and labored over this layout for weeks and then finally reached a self-imposed "acceptable" level I stopped and stared for a while. That's when I snapped a few pictures with the phone. It was at that moment that I thought I must surely be acting like an old person with nothing better to do than setting up a miniature village to occupy my time. Heaven knows I have plenty to do! Then one of my teenage twin daughters came into the room. (For weeks they both had been largely ignoring my efforts as I expected any teenager to do) She stopped and stared for a while too as the train circled the tree many times and then uttered about as much assurance as any teenager will provide, "Cool." Mission accomplished. Maybe I wasn't wasting time after all...
Trains are about the only hobby I have mainly because I lose interest in things quickly. Somehow I still enjoy working on old trains, quality things, and making them run again. That's why this forum and group of people is important. The knowledge and enthusiasm found here helps keep the spark lit. Thanks!
Merry Christmas.
Trains of ALL kinds have interested me since my early years in the 1940's (b. 1942). I have ridden many steam excursions particularly during the years 1974-1994 on the Southern Ry and the NS.
Have run 1:1 scale engines (2-8-0's) at our museum in Chattanooga, TN (TVRM) and also first generation ALCO RS-1's. Have switched ,braked, conducted, fired and run both steam and diesel locos. Qualified under the Southern Ry. operating rules book.
Have done every gauge from N through G (except Z) and even gauge one live steam.
Currently MTH, Lionel Classics, and LCT repros including the Brute passenger set, and Lionel scale steam, including the VL Hudson.
TOTAL TRAINS, now and until the rest of my life!
It's beautiful The "slinging oil" would get me castrated. Our carpet is only a couple of months old, and the wife waited 5 years for it.
I like the track plan and houses but your never old till you can't get off the floor!
A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. - John Barrymore
What, me worry?
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