Polar Express Float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Wow, that float looks awesome.

It's getting to be that time of year for Skip's Holiday train trail in Manhattan.

@coach joe posted:

It's getting to be that time of year for Skip's Holiday train trail in Manhattan.

Not going to be this year.  No Santaland in Macy's.  No Grand Central Transit Museum display, and no Jerni Collection at the NY Historical Society. 

@BMT-Express posted:

Not going to be this year.  No Santaland in Macy's.  No Grand Central Transit Museum display, and no Jerni Collection at the NY Historical Society.

The information you have on the Jerni collection at the New York Historical Society is wrong. I was there on Friday and it is already installed. I can take pictures next week if you would like.

This display is my favorite of the year. I saw this full collection at Sotheby’s a few years ago with the Forbes collection of toy soldiers. The best collection I have ever seen. I don’t think all of it went to the NYHS.

@BMT-Express posted:

Not going to be this year.  No Santaland in Macy's.  No Grand Central Transit Museum display, and no Jerni Collection at the NY Historical Society.

And no "live" parade this year. I heard yesterday there will be a virtual parade.

@Silver Lake posted:

The information you have on the Jerni collection at the New York Historical Society is wrong. I was there on Friday and it is already installed. I can take pictures next week if you would like.

I stand corrected.

Any running trains?  Or static display only? They let Mike Thornton the curator go.  No one else knows how to make a train go.

@BMT-Express posted:

I stand corrected.

Any running trains?  Or static display only? They let Mike Thornton the curator go.  No one else knows how to make a train go.

I saw nothing running but the exhibit was not officially open. Only replica trains run at any rate.

I find the fact that across the park at the Museum of the City of New York the collection of toy trains that was seen in the Charles and Ray Eames film “Toccata for Toy Trains” all seems to have gone missing.

@Silver Lake posted:

The information you have on the Jerni collection at the New York Historical Society is wrong. I was there on Friday and it is already installed. I can take pictures next week if you would like.

This display is my favorite of the year. I saw this full collection at Sotheby’s a few years ago with the Forbes collection of toy soldiers. The best collection I have ever seen. I don’t think all of it went to the NYHS.

YES! PLEASE DO!

NYC is a different place than it was a year ago. There is not going to be trains in GCT, no Santaland at Macy's. I have heard that the Christmas Market at Bryant Park is going to be scaled down dramatically, although I can't confirm that. The beautiful hotel decorations will not be available to the public, only guests. This city has been beat down.

It would be cool if they ran a “best of” rerun of the Macy’s parades.  Cut together footage of all the coolest floats like this one, bands and so on and air it.

This is the Canadian Pacific float that was in the 2018 Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade...I was in the VIP seating area located in front of Macy’s and the blast from that air horn in the video was pretty amazing & LOUD!!! 🚂

@johnstrains posted:

And no "live" parade this year. I heard yesterday there will be a virtual parade.

A virtual parade ?

@Silver Lake posted:

The information you have on the Jerni collection at the New York Historical Society is wrong. I was there on Friday and it is already installed. I can take pictures next week if you would like.

This display is my favorite of the year. I saw this full collection at Sotheby’s a few years ago with the Forbes collection of toy soldiers. The best collection I have ever seen. I don’t think all of it went to the NYHS.

Please do and thank you!

My ten year old loves this movie!  He just watched it this past weekend.  It will be one of many airings in our household.  Unfortunately, the Henry Ford IMAX may not show this movie this year but we had gone the last four years.  Thanks for sharing!

@UKE KAT posted:

This is the Canadian Pacific float that was in the 2018 Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade...I was in the VIP seating area located in front of Macy’s and the blast from that air horn in the video was pretty amazing & LOUD!!! 🚂

My son and I really enjoyed your pictures and video.  I guess we’re railfans too.  There are four side-by-side rail lines in Wyandotte that we go to regularly to catch the freight trains coming through.  We see quite a few CN engines but they’re the black and reds.

I'm afraid all the rumors are correct. There is no Macy's Santa Land this year at all, so that means no access to the train layout. There will be no train layout at the MTA Museum Store in Grand Central Terminal. The Christmas Spectacular at Radio City has been cancelled. There will be no live tree lighting in Rockefeller Center, just a TV event, and access to see the tree in the plaza is going to be extremely restrictive. Many of the things we know and love to visit may be available virtually, like the Thanksgiving Day Parade and visiting Santa at Macy's. The great windows at Macy's will be fully decorated, in fact, they are working on them now. Times Square will be empty on New Years Eve and the ball drop will be done as a TV event. That's about all I know. Sorry to those of you who, like me, but are disappointed. It's been that kind of year.

Unfortunately Skip, that is the way it is. I always like seeing how things ramp up for the holiday season and seeing how NYC does their train displays about the city during this time. My mother would always watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade without fail when she was with us. I guess will have to make do or simulate our own if we're able.

I would've loved to have seen that float in person.  I'll never get tired of the Polar Express aesthetics and seeing such a large depiction of it must've been something else.  There is something about the mere sight of anything Polar Express that makes my heart skip a beat.

Skip, looking forward to seeing pictures of your PE layout posted again here next month.  TW did such a great job on it.