For me, born/raised in Washington, D.C. in the 40's, the must-see windows downtown were at Woodward & Lothrop, Kanns, Hechts, Julius Garfinkels,...and up in the northwest section called Tenleytown, just a few blocks from my house, Sears. All had great huge corner display window areas wherein the magic of the season often included operating trains.
One display in particular is burned into my gray matter. And, that first photo of this thread could've been me in showing the particular advantage someone of my stature then had in making this 'discovery'! In the display a lionel train raced along a track at floor-level just in front of the window glass. It disappeared into a tunnel in a snow-covered mountain as it headed toward the wall. But a few seconds later the train re-emerged several inches above the first opening, heading off in another direction at this new level!! HOW DID IT DO THIS??? WHAT WAS IN THAT MOUNTAIN???
So I scrunched down to get a better peek into that tunnel opening as the train entered it, and THAT's when I learned about "Magne-Traction", not knowing that the phenomenon had a special name. The train simply made a couple speedy loops up a hidden helix to the new level. Way over on the other side of the huge display it apparently rode a hidden helix back down to the floor level again.
I was mesmerized. And only us miniature folks could easily get down to a viewing position into that tunnel opening to see the ruse....just like that boy in the OP's photo!
It would be a monumental task, I'm sure, for someone to search out, assemble, and publish, but a book or some sort of compendium DVD that captured detailed photos of all these special department store, specialty trains store Christmas windows from this bygone era would be a must-have for me. ...From ALL over the country!! Those window displays were definitely kid-magnets and part of the sheer magic of the season.
Gone forever, I'm afraid. Now kids probably stare in drooling wonderment at the latest Blackberry gizmo, X-box, cellphone, pda, pocket-Cray,.....whatever...., sitting ho-humly in a much smaller window area of a much different store. Ah, who am I kidding?...they simply search the web on their home computers in the warm comfort of their own homes for the electronic veeblefetzer-of-their-dreams.
Too bad.
(sigh.)
