What to run under the tree?

As SJC said, if you want to turn it on and leave it to run, a cruise control equipped locomotive is awesome.  

Postwar stuff does have that Christmas charm about them though, and I'd highly recommend a Lionel 2037 or similar 2-6-4 steamer.  Smooth runner, built for O-27, and they are extremely common meaning low cost.  You can get a good looking loco and tender for around a $100 (less if you look hard).  The locomotives have the headlight, smoke and E-Unit, while the tenders vary on whether they have a whistle or not.

The last few years I have been running a PS2 engine around the tree.  I just set the throttle and watched it go.  I have used O-31 tinplate and recently have been using Lionel Fast track which I believe is O-36.  I am thinking about running a PS1 equipped 260E with red 700 series passenger cars which is currently running on my tinplate layout.

Be careful...you might get hooked on postwar. I run postwar Lionel on my 2 Christmas layouts because I remember them from my childhood. To me, they ARE Christmas. However, I run new MTH passenger cars with them since I like interiors with people in them.

I use a Marx #333 and collection of Marx and Lionel post-war and MPC-era cars...

I like the Polar Express starter set.  You can get them for less than $250 if you shop and it has everything you need for a quick loop around the tree.  Extra straight FasTrack sections are nice but not necessary.  Plus you get a transformer so you don't need to pull one off your layout.  I used to box mine back up after Christmas but I haven't done that in the last few years.  I have mine out year round now.

I think postwar is a good choice, provided you do not intend it to run all day, every day. But it is perfectly adequate for a couple hours here and there.

Cruise control is silly for something that is only going to go in circles, IMHO. Even with the old fashioned open frame motor, a well-maintained loco will settle on a certain speed and stay there, once it has had 10-15 minutes to warm up.

I run a standard gauge blue comet and their 4 passenger cars. It looks great with the lights of tree sparkling off the paint of the train.

I am going to be running a Legacy 0-8-0 with Railking freight cars. It should look pretty good on 0-36 Fastrack curves.

I like running command control under the tree. You can keep the transformer hidden and run your trains while sitting on the couch!

The shorter the curve Diameter, the Smaller the engines. don't expect a 4-8-4 to take the 027 or 036 diameter curve. Stick with smaller engines and cars and it will look fine!

For me ... not only space, but charm and nostalgia, dictate a postwar train. I run a 2046 with some PW rolling stock around the tree. The sights, sounds and aromas ... love it!

I also have a very narrow switching layout in the room with modern equipment for some hands-on fun.

But, hey ... its all good.

I can run a Railking 4-8-4 on O-31 but it does not look as good as a smaller engine.

I would go with a 2-8-0 or some similar sized engine.

As far as reliability All my engines have been great except one, and that one had issues from the start but is now fixed and running well.

I have no problem starting up a MTH starter set 2-8-0 and letting it pull a 6 car consist for hours under the tree.

My wife is not enamored with the noise tho....

   Thanks for all the great info so far I've been looking and am leaning toward a lionel 2046 so far. I have a whistling tender that was my dads and his brothers and acouple of post war cars that were their's too. I have a 665 that was they had also but it is in pieces and hopefully I can possibly get her goin for next year. I'm thinkin I'm going to run around the tree then over to the corner of the living room around the hutch and use sum O54 curves that way if I wanted to bring sum of my bigger locomotives up I can run them.  Better to start bigger if I can get away with it. I'll try to get it up and goin and post sum pics ASAP!

I will run a Lionel O-4-0 Shifter: a good runner, and short and good looking on tight curves - or remote Thomas when the grandkids want to play with the train.

We just set up the Lionel Christmas Tinplate train set from a few years ago.  Very colorful, very nostalgic.  Chuffing, whistle, bell...driving Millie and Daisy (Golden Retriever pups) crazy.  Only thing I miss is the smoke...this train had no smoker.  Ergo, no bouquet of 'Chrismas Pine' to complement the artificial tree. 

Hmmmmm....  Maybe have to get the O-27 Christmas Train out and run it every so often, too.  It's a good smoker and has that classic Lionel air whistle sound.  I believe it's my wife's favorite train, anyway.   She won it as a door prize at our very first York visit several years ago!

Choices, choices, choices....

KD