Plunged into standard gauge tinplate

Welcome to the club!

I have old HOME MOVIES from 1951...showing me in a highchair overlooking a CHRISTMAS Standard Gauge layout.  The trains were stolen from a trailer when we moved from Scranton to Baltimore, but here I am buying all the ORIGINALS and LCT that I can afford!!!

the standard 42" circle is ok for an around-the-tree layout, but i can highly recommend USA Track (http://standardgaugetrack.com) for larger radius standard gauge track.  i just picked up a circle of 72" and 87" diameter and the materials & construction are top notch.

say goodbye to your closet space!

cheers...gary

Now's the perfect time to take the complete plunge into Standard Gauge and join the Standard Gauge Module Association.  Details here:

http://www.sgma.us/

and here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sgma/

Bob

Welcome to the world of "Heavy Metal"

That is a nice set for 300 bucks.  

Welcome to world of standard gauge. 

I started running Standard Gauge around our Christmas tree about four years ago along with some O Gauge tinplate. These loops were added to my post-war trains which I have been running around the tree since 1974.  The Christmas layout now is about 7X12 and takes up a good deal of space in our living room.  Visitors love the bright tinplate color schemes and have commented many times how the layout reminds them of the true old time Christmas scenes.  When all the lights are out in the living room with just the tree lights on along with the illuminated buildings, lighted passenger cars and the unique aroma of ozone floating through the air you are truly traveling through time.

By the way Sunrise, now that you've been bitten by the tinplate bug may God have mercy on your poor soul.

Welcome to the world of the big trains Sunrise.  Once you've run Standard Gauge, everything else pales by comparison.   I grew up on my dad's Ives wide gauge, and honestly, nothing else comes close.  There's a lot of controversy about MTH making reproductions, but personally I think that without McCoy, MTH, and others, Standard/Wide gauge would be collected by a few top collectors, but would otherwise be dead.   I have my dad's originals and I love all the modern Standard Gauge as well.    It's big, it's expensive, it's unrealistic, out-of-scale toys, but for me it's the only way to train.

Have fun!