It wasn't just the big department stores that had train layouts. In 1951, we lived in Bloomsburg, PA, a small college town where Dad was a student. Balshis Hardware Store (yes, that's where I got my userid) had a big train section every Christmas season. My Dad would sometimes take me there on a Saturday morning to watch the trains. In fact, one Christmas, when I was three years old, a Lionel 2026 followed me home, courtesy of Santa Claus. And yes, I still have it.
We moved to another small Pennsylvania town after Dad graduated and got a full-time job. Corcelius Hardware had an American Flyer layout in its basement-floor Toyland. But even that was dwarfed by the big Lionel layout in CH Miller's Toyland. Miller's was the only department store in town, and though it was pretty small compared to the major metropolitan stores, its Christmas Toyland was second to none.
We even had a sizable layout at Hoover's gas station, which was an official Lionel dealership. That was the first place I ever saw Super-O track, a #50 Gang Car or a #60 Trolley.
In those days, you didn't have to go to a major city to see Christmas displays of trains.
