New York City Walking Tour

FANTASTIC !!!!

@CPC posted:

FANTASTIC !!!!

Ditto

John

Best time of the year in NYC!

Love it!  Thanks for posting!

thanks for sharing, memories for sure of our visit

Haven’t been in the city at Christmas since I retired 10 years ago… kinda miss it. Thanks for sharing the tour, Skip - lots of memories.

FYI… If you are on Facebook, there is a group called “The Unofficial Metro-North Railroad”. Someone posted a couple of pics of the Transit Museum Annex with no train layout - very, very sad

Wonderful ! Thanks for posting.  I can almost smell the chestnuts .

@CHOO-CHOO MIKE posted:

Wonderful ! Thanks for posting.  I can almost smell the chessnuts .

And hear the small Salvation Army band playing on a corner. Not sure they still do that, but they still definitely ring the bells!!! And don’t forget the sort of stale soft pretzels they always sold with the chestnuts.

Now if only the Lionel Showroom was still there.

Thank you for posting these pics.

Hi Skip,  Your annual Walking tour is always tremendous and much appreciated! It is kind of funny to me that you did not get much of a "toy train fix" because I sure did from your article in Run 327 in OGR.  That is a fantastic story and pictorial so thank you for sharing that wonderful story. 

I was able to get to NY twice in 2022 and looking forward to getting back there in 2023.   

Merry Christmas!  Best, Dave

Outstanding! I've wanted to go to New York and see this for years.  Maybe someday.

Wonderful, Skip. I look forward to this thread every year. Merry Christmas!

Love NYC at Christmas time!  Thanks for the pictures. One of those threads that marks the season.

Great photography Skip.  Thanks for sharing your annual walking tour again.  It makes itoficial, Christmas is almost here.

Thank you !

I reside in NWPA, but my heart will always be in NYC and in Central New York.

Merry Christmas to all.

Thank you, Skip.......great pictures!

Peter

Great walking tour photos. We last did the tour during Christmas 2019 (actually first week of January 2020).

I assume the the MTA store at Grand Central has its usual layout and there is a train display at the NY Historical Society on Central Park West in the high 70s.

I always return from NYC with such energy!

Lad Nagurney (Not to be confused with my first cousin, John of the post above Peter's.)

NYC fan, What is "Peninsula"

@eddie g posted:

NYC fan, What is "Peninsula"

Eddie;

The Peninsula is a hotel on 5th Ave. and 55th St.

@Apples55 posted:

Eddie;

The Peninsula is a hotel on 5th Ave. and 55th St.

Yes, the entrance in the photo is on 55th Street. They always do a beautiful job with plenty of Holiday Spirit!!!

@Lad Nagurney posted:

Great walking tour photos. We last did the tour during Christmas 2019 (actually first week of January 2020).

I assume the the MTA store at Grand Central has its usual layout and there is a train display at the NY Historical Society on Central Park West in the high 70s.

I always return from NYC with such energy!

Lad Nagurney (Not to be confused with my first cousin, John of the post above Peter's.)

Unfortunately, there is no layout in the NY Transit Museum Store in Grand Central Terminal this year. I am told that the layout is being re-tracked and the electronics are being upgraded. We can look forward to the return of the layout for the 2023 Holiday Season.  

Nice pictures.
I live in Manhattan so I always get to see these decorations as they go up and I get to ride trains every day. I used to design and make these store windows for about 8 years so I have some inside experience. I usually make a few tours of them as they are installing and later when they are finished.

Here is a video I made of the Store windows this year. https://youtu.be/oBB_aJUW7l4


If you are in town on a Sunday you can even ride one of the MTA vintage train running in regular service on the 1 line between 137th and Chambers Street.

If you really still want to see an operating toy train layout as well as a great vintage train display the New York Historical Society on 77th and Central Park West (accessable by the B or C train at 81st) has a wonderful display they put up every year. The trains range from the pull trains of the 1900’s through the very early post war era. The running trains are mostly Standard Gauge replicas.

Thank you! It helps put me in the right mood for Christmas. So merry Christmas to you all!

OK, a short trip down memory lane.  A number of years ago there was a NYC stage hand strike shutting down the shows.  I or we needed to go to secure the signature of a longtime Manhattan resident. He grew up in Ne.  So we are sitting in KC airport two weeks before Christmas when we get a phone call from Jerry.  He is all excited because " the strike just settled, the shows will be open when you are here"  and " I will go and buy you tickets right away".  So he stays in his apartment, (upper west side with rent control), and we head downtown  from the hotel he found for us by the Lincoln Center.  Subway of course.  The street by the theater was jam packed with people with way too much energy.  Anyone else remember that strike ending time.  Amazing few days for us.

Macy's 34th Street Santa Land's Lionel Train Layout can only be seen by those who plan to see Santa. It requires a reservation and standing on line before you actually enter Santa Land. While there is so much to see once inside, the highlight along the winding path to Santa is the Lionel Layout built by TW Trainworx. Here are some photos I have taken over the years.

Merry Christmas!!!

Argh, how did this slip through my notifications? Wonderful pics Skip. I've never had the chance to be in NYC during the holiday rush. Latest was I think after Thanksgiving which I accompanied my sister and my two nieces to FAO(old location) and a few other sites that day. We had been in there in mid January but I don't remember the event. I do remember one of the times we got on the train back to NJ after a show(concert I think it was) and the Devil's had played the Rangers and lost. That was a very interesting train ride back as all the Ranger fans were in a buzz. My sister mentioned that they had played and that's why the train was so crowded and the comments.

Thanks for sharing Skip.

This is great Skip. TY so much for sharing the NYC spirit at Christmas. I've always enjoyed the way NYC lights up and celebrates Christmas and the way firms participate. I remember the train layout they had at Citicorp Center decades ago. So sad that Macy's changed their policy regarding seeing the layout. There was something nostalgic and beautiful about the little boy looking through the window at the trains on the layout, and Macy's has taken that away for some unfortunate children.

Gerry

Former Member posted:

Hi Skip,  Your annual Walking tour is always tremendous and much appreciated! It is kind of funny to me that you did not get much of a "toy train fix" because I sure did from your article in Run 327 in OGR.  That is a fantastic story and pictorial so thank you for sharing that wonderful story.

I was able to get to NY twice in 2022 and looking forward to getting back there in 2023.  

Merry Christmas!  Best, Dave

I have always looked forward to Skip's annual walking tour posts.  I am the former member,  that made this post and was very pleased to see that Skip liked my reply! While I was able to get to NY a few times as part of business trips during the holiday season, the tour is timeless and can be done any time during the year. 

Okay Pallie, this one's for you!!

rat

It’s good to see this again, especially as there’ll be no further updates. A snapshot in time, thanks for pushing it back up to the top of the forum.

pd

Don't forget the Bronx Botanical Gardens train show. Historical buildings made from natural materials with trains running through them. Need to make ticket reservations in advance so plan ahead.