What are your Christmas Train Layout Memories?

Man - That was terrific Ken!

 

Santa brought me an American Flyer too that Christmas morning in 1949. It was an earlier PRR 310 K5 that he had stuffed away at the back of his workshop leftover from several years before but I was very happy with it and glad that Santa also liked 2 rail track. Seeing yours on the bed of snow really provoked some long ago memories, thanks!

 

Also liked how you incorporated the Gilbert Crossing Flasher into the Lionel layout about midway through. We acquired a dozen or so of them over the years but when it came time to build our (first) recent layout I opted for full-scale pieces. I always felt that they looked a lot better than the huge Lionel models.

 

God bless you guys and my condolences on the passing of your Dad.

I agree!! That is very well done!

 

My own memories consist of my dad setting up an AF set under the tree with a crossing gate and dump car.  This began when I was about 3 yrs old and continued until we ran the set until it wouldn't run anymore.    We went without a layout for a few years as my parents were saving for a new home.   

 

When I was 10, during our first year in our new home, my brother and I came downstairs Christmas morning to find a brand new 4 x 8 platform  complete with two loops (1 for each of us).  It was HO scale and we loved it!  How my dad found the time to build the layout and keep it hidden was beyond me!  It was well scenicked with tunnels and some houses and yard buildings and a dump car for each of us.   Each year it would stay up longer and longer until they let us keep it up permanently in our basement (which took a few years to finish).  

 

From the time I moved out of my house until about 10 years ago I never had a layout but no matter where I lived I always had a loop of trains under the Christmas tree - even when I lived by myself and the Christmas decorations consisted of a 3' fake tree on the dinner table with a loop of HO trains underneath.

 

I haven't set up a loop under the tree for about 6-7 years, primarily because it gets in the way as my entire family comes over for Christmas and the living room becomes part of the dining room in order to accomodate another table for folks to eat at.   Having my permanent layout in the basement makes it a moot point anyway as I always can run trains.

 

--Greg

 Brilliant I really enjoyed your video thank you for letting us see your Christmas lay outs over the years 

Well, none, actually - except for those of 1955 when I got my 2055 Hudson set,

and an actual 4X8 layout to run it on. 4 switches, 1 passing siding and 2 spur tracks.

Scratch built buildings - freight/passenger station (depending on the side), store,

house...etc...control panel...built by my father.

 

So, I never had a train around the tree, and I'm not complaining. The layout stood in

the corner of the dining room (my mother liked me and my toys), and I ran it anytime

that I liked, 365, when I wasn't playing baseball, driving my go-kart (neighborhood streets, then), hanging with the boys (and girls) in the neighborhood, riding my bike (Murray), swimming in the bay and the bayous. I wore grooves in the 2055's roller

pickups. He's retired and looking good on the shelf.

 

Sorry; rambling. I still have every bit of that layout except the table and legs them-

selves. There is even about 60 seconds of 8mm film of me running it when I was

12 or so (that would be 1960).

 

My childhood looked like a cross between a blasted Lionel catalogue and 

"The Andy Griffith Show". 

 

 

Ken:

 

I was just blown away by the professionalism of your video. It was fascinating to watch the progress that was made in each successive year. You indeed have a love of Christmas layouts and family heritage in this regard.

 

When I was seven years old, a Christmas layout in front of the Christmas Tree was waiting for me. It was not until I had my own family did the Christmas layout again appear with the Christmas Tree. The love of a Christmas layout howver stayed with me over the years and when I built my current layout, I made it a year-round scene. Last year my Bride and I completed a second layout on the first level of our home dedicated to the Polar Express with D56 North Pole buildings.

 

 

Great video. Very enjoyable.

I got my first train set Christmas Eve 1976:

 

 

On Christmas Day the same year, we went to my Grandparent's house, and my Dad brought home his train set, Christmas 1952 or 1953, along with his train board (4x5), track, and a Lionel freight station:

 

 

Built multiple layouts over the years. The first on Christmas break 1976 on the dining room table with an American Bricks tunnel. We've had them under the tree, on the dining room table, and finally my postwar style layout for the last couple years:

 

 

Part of the layout is built with Dad's original plywood board. I only run pre or postwar trains on it. Rarely run it throughout the year except at Christmas. It's sceniced with green grass mat until the Christmas season when I put white felt on it, then I run it almost every night. Reminds me of the times I had with "The Old Man".

 

 

Back in the early 70's(I was nine), the only thing I wanted was a Lionel train. I was really disappointed on Christmas when I did not get it. When we went to my grandparents house for diner, they told me to go down in the basement after opening presents. There in the middle of the basement was a 4x8  layout with plasticville buildings, AF beacon, Marx crossing gate, 58 and 71 street lights. It was and still is the best Christmas I've ever had. I played with it every weekend for three months till one weekend it was gone. Board and track hanging on the wall. Real disappointment.

 

I never knew that the train was 20 plus years old when it was set up until I was given the set when my grandfather passed when I was 29. I knew it was put away all them years. I dont remember the freight set number but it was from 1950 with a 2036 engine. The thing was like new and is still in good shape today. To this day I have done nothing to the engine except oil it. 

 

This year I've been working on my first Christmas layout in 3 years.

 

Here's my layouts from 05,06 and 07

 

Thank you for everyone.  I appreciate your stories and pictures.  I really enjoy reading about your Christmas Layouts and memories.  I always look forward to this time of year and seeing everyone's pictures of their layouts.  

 

C.Sam, AF set brings back many memories of my childhood when I found pictures of it.  I am glad it sparked some memories for you too! 

 

Balshis, I agree a Christmas Tree without a O'Gauge train under it, does not seem like Christmas.

 

D500, It is great you have some film of your layout as child.  I wish I had film of my early Christmas Train Layouts, but unfortunately, I don't.    

 

Brian, your Layout is amazing!  I enjoyed reading your article about your layout in the December issue.  My daughter loves the picture of your dog with your layout.  

 

Thanks again everyone. Keep the stories coming!!

 

Ken 

We always looked forward to the train under the tree every year. As small kids we would lay on our stomachs, watching our Santa Fe 027 A-A Alco (Presidential Set), 2037 Steamer and 601 Seaboard switcher come thru the stryofoam tunnel. A culvert loader was the highlight of the trains.

Anyone else have Christmas Train Layout memories to share?  I know there are probably many more and would enjoy reading more about your memories!

 

Thanks

Ken

Thanks for posting your stories and the video.  I loved trains growing up, but my dad was a volunteer fireman and in the early '60's he fought a fire on Christmas eve where a train caught the tree on fire and the house burnt to the ground.  My dad appreciated trains and I had a couple of small sets growing up, but never was allowed to put one around the tree (even with an artificial tree).

 

My first kid was born in '03 and a train around the tree became mandatory in my house.    The first year I bought a junk toy plastic train, but with '04 I didn't have any choice but to get a Polar Express set, and also found a fantastic deal on a Holiday Traditions set.

 

Every year I've put some sort of 'twice around the tree' setup, and for a while in our last house it snaked all through a large great room, but still just a double loop.  The kids love it and the Holiday Traditions train is the one they play with (and beat up) while the Polar Express gets moved out when we want to crank the Christmas cheer up a notch or two.

 

We moved 3 years ago to a new house and this house is smaller and doesn't have space for a permanent layout, so the kids have forgotten the joys of switches, sidings, and operating tracks, so this year I build a more complex layout.  The kids are already having fun creating new memories.

 

Merry Christmas!

As a family we would go to Christmas Eve service.. come home and snack on appetizers.  All us kids would go to bed waiting for Santa Claus. The tree wasn't decorated and there were no presents under the tree.  That job was for Santa! When we woke up in the morning...the tree would be all decorated with ornaments, loaded with tinsel, strung with blinking colored lights and loaded with Christmas presents.  There were so many presents that you could smell the wrapping paper! One Christmas Santa found my dad's old Lionel train and put them up around the tree.  The trains were a 2046 steam engine, 2338 Milw Rd GP7 and a 52 Fire car all powered by a 1033 transformer.  The trains were in pretty bad shape. The 2046 rollers were sparking, the 2338 only ran in one direction and the horn didn't work, and the 52 Fire Car had no fireman but the bumpers did reverse.  I would load the gondola with Star Wars Figures and always go to fast around the curves with the 2046. . That Christmas started a tradition that I carried over when I got married and hope my daughters will one day as well.

 

Sunrise

Dad would set his Lionels up, but not every year. When he did he woud run his UP 2023s, or his 621. He sometimes got his 1684 or his 6110 out. 

 I remember going to my Grandparents, and my Uncle would have his platform set up every year. I was fasinated by his 2020 Turbine, and that red keystone.

Well done Ken!

Ken,

   Great stuff no doubt about it, great Christmas memories.

PCRR/Dave

 

My most treasured Christmas memory, spending time alone with my Grandfather as he explained our family Christmas Train Tradition, on Christmas eve. 

Everything relating to Lionel trains in my early years were tracks laid around our beautiful Christmas tree.

 

My first Lionel set was a 2037 steam locomotive freight in 1954.  On Christmas in 1955 I was surprised with the 2245 Texas Special 027 passenger set.  I also received from Santa a pair of 027 switches, a Lionel semaphore and some placticville buildings. 

 

I will always remember running my trains under the Christmas tree at night with the living room lights off.  All the red and green Lionel switch and signal lights, engine headlight and everything reflecting off the Christmas ornaments on the tree.

 

This was quite a shock to me because my father saved every penny to put towards paying off our home.  His dad lived through the depression days, and that how things were done.

 

For the next few years Santa added new and exciting Lionel items under the tree.  Christmas morning memories are still very special and dear to my heart.

 

Great thread and stories.

 

TEX

Steve

What a wonderful post! As I prepare for another Christmas, I always recall memories of our holiday displays, Family and friends, and the shear joy and contentment only "Home for the holidays" can deliver! Thank you!

 

Uncle Al 

I would allway's set the track up when I was younger and everyone else would do the village sceens,while I would do that my younger big brother would sneak over and plug in the post war ZW.Needless to say I wouldn't catch him doing it until it was to late and I would get a good shocking.Nothing bad but enough to wake ya up.Ah the Memories.

Even though I got a Lionel set when I was almost 5 in 1946, I don't remember it under the tree that one year. I saw a photo of it once, but I have no idea where that is (nor does my 94 year-old mother). My grandfather always had a Christmas "garden" under his tree, but no trains. My hope is that my 4 kids, and 7 grandkids, will remember the Christmas layouts that I've put together starting in 1983. Yes, those have been recorded on movie film (now on DVDs), tape, and digital. Only one family, with kids 5 and 9, has a train (Lionel Polar Express) running under their tree.

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I was the one in my family who took the initiative to make trains a part of the holidays.  My mom always used to put up a village, which included a train station and crossing gate, but no trains.  I now recall, however, that we did have one of those sets with the flip-over "U"-shaped track, but it didn't quite have the same effect.  We actually had plenty of trains ON the tree (ornaments).  The two first sets I got for Christmas that I remember most were a hand-cranked Fisher-Price set with a rack rail down the middle, and a Lego-compatible Tomy set (I forget which one came first).  After that, it was Brio and diecast Thomas stuff that I would get for Christmas the following years.  I've posted many times before how I worked trains into part of the seasonal decor: first a cheap plastic Dickensville set, which occasionally went under the tree, and I still have; HO; and finally, since 2010, O gauge.

This year, however, is going to be very different.  No trains are going up; in fact no Christmas items at all are coming out, as we are expecting to be moving very soon.  (I did suggest that we should at least pull out one of the Charlie Brown Christmas trees.)  And to tell you the truth, it doesn't bother me.  Last year was by far the best layout I've done, but I've maxed out on everything I can do with what I have.  Maybe this break will give me a chance to do something even better next year.


Aaron

To add to my post above, here is another memory of Christmas Train Layouts from the past few years and a video of my 2013 Christmas Train Layout. ( I had to remove this video because of problems with the music.)

 

Part of my memories growing up at Christmas time was watching Charlie Brown and Snoopy.  I have always enjoyed the peanuts Characters even as adult.  In 2003 I added Lionel Peanuts Handcars to my Christmas Train Layout.  In the last year I have added the Lionel Peanuts rolling stock.  I have also created a flat car with my Snoopy and Woodstock handcar on it to be apart of "Charlie Brown Christmas Train".  In additional I have added many of the Peanuts Department 56 figurines to my Christmas Train Layout this year.

Having Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Peanuts gang apart of my layout, makes it a lot of fun. I like the Protocast feature on DCS Remote which allows me to play the Peanuts Theme song on my RailKing Southern 0-6-0. 

Merry Christmas!!

Ken

 

 

Very cool pictures Skip. Awesome memories.

Ken, very well done video, brings back great memories, thanks.

My Dad put trains up every Christmas, unfortunatly never took any pictures.

I put trains up for our kids when they were young and now the grandkids.

 

 I received my first train (2037)in 64'. Christmas mourning there was a card on the tree with a red string attached. The card said to" follow the string". It led through the kitchen and down the cellar stairs to a 4x8 train table. Mom said Dad spent all night putting it together after we went to bed. Every Christmas there would be an addition under the tree to our collection but none as memorable as the 2037.

This is from 1968.

Miss you Dad.

 

 Steve C.

 

Ken

Nicely done. a perfect start for me getting the Christmas decorations and tree today THANKS !!

Steve

I started with Lionel trains as a kid back in the 1960's On the year I was born my mothers father and my father got together and purchased a Lionel steam set this was the first of many years of setting up a Christmas Display.  Then for some reason we never set the trains up anymore and then they got lost somehow, 

Fast forward about fifteen years and I get the bug again and my first wife helped purchase me a G scale Pennsylvania Flyer set and a seperate 4-4-2 Atlantic steam engine and track which started me back into trains again'  it was a few years later and several O gauge sets later my first wife died and I was left alone but this did not last for long as I was introduced to a Wonderful woman who had two sons and to say the least things took off in a hasty flash

The first year i introduced them to trains under the christmas tree and things have grown Exponetially what started as a simple rectangle under the tree has now grown to  a six foot by twelve foot three deck main display to which we are running an Mth Premiere Hudson passenger set and an MTH 4-6-0 Christmas Express engine pulling Mth Dap christmas cars and the K-Line 12 days of Christmas set and happy holidays Caboose the next level is all Coca Cola Trains more specifically Mostly K-Line but do have some Lionel mixed in there as well.  On the top is a 1950's 2046 Hudson pulling a set of MTH Pennsylvania Passenger cars around the Village.   Then there is the Around the Tree display Where My Two Williams Girls Sets and My 1991 Lionel Girls set run around the Tree Each of those sets have the It's a Girl Boxcar set up for each of my little nieces with their info on them and at the bottom i have running a 75th Anniversary Caterpillar F-40 PH work train. Photos soon to follow if anyone is interested

 

DM and L.I. Trains, Thanks for the comments on my video. 

 

Steve, nice picture.  I was 6 months old in 1968!  I remember waking up on Christmas morning when I was 8 or 9 years old and I was still very sleepy and my dad pointed me to look was under the tree.  There was Lionel Southern Crescent 4-6-2 with matching passenger cars sitting on the track around the Christmas Tree.  I was very surprised.  A Christmas I won't forget.  From that point forward, I was hooked on the Southern Railroad.  

 

Bobbie, great story. Thanks for sharing. 

Wow!  What memories so many of you seem to have.  Thanx for sharing.  Mine is certainly similar, even though pre-dating most of you.  My first memory of Christmas, (or probably of virtually anything), was when I was three years old in 1938.  My Dad figured that his son needed to have a train and, during the depths of the depression, went and bought a little Marx Commodore Vanderbilt freight set with six of the little 6" 4whl cars.  I couldn't run it but I just loved to lie down on the floor as that train went by and watch it disappear around those 0-27 curves.  My Uncle Max also made a station building out of packing case wood, painted it white with a blue roof and named it "Fargo". 

 

The following year Santa brought me a second train, this one also Marx but it was the M10,000 red and silver passenger set.  Man, I was in seventh heaven!  No other kid on our block had two electric trains.  

 

These early memories are certainly what cemented my life long interest in all things railroad; models, toys, real trains and trolleys, everything on steel rails.  And tomorrow, when we set up the Christmas tree, I will be placing at least one Standard Gauge track around the tree and a couple of dozen Snow Village buildings to complete the scene.

 

Paul Fischer