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The Christmas Season will be here before we know it. It's not too early to make plans to visit Mid Town Manhattan during the Holidays.


This year the Lionel display at Grand Central Terminal will open to the public on November 15, 2018  and run through February 3, 2019.


As usual Santa Land at Macy's Herald Square opens after Santa arrives in the Thanksgiving Day Parade on Friday November 23, 2018 and is open through Christmas Eve. You will need to make reservations to see Santa on the Macys website.


This year's Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting is scheduled for Wednesday November 28, 2018.


There is a great train attraction in Mid Town Manhattan, right off of Times Square, called Gulliver's Gate. It is similar in description to the Miniature Wonderland in Hamburg Germany. It features HO Trains and is reported to be a $40M project. It opened earlier this year and is open every day except Christmas. There is a charge: $31for a reserved date.


The New York Botanical Gardens Holiday Train Show runs from November 17, 2018 to January 21, 2019. This is a huge G gauge train display featuring over 100 New York City landmarks made out of all natural materials. A 20 minute train ride from Grand Central Terminal, the NYBG is located in the Rose Hill section of the Bronx. It is recommended that you purchase tickets in advance and if you're driving there is plenty of parking inside the gates. Reservations are recommended.


FAO Schwarz, the famous toy store that closed it's doors three years ago, will be reopening this November in Rockefeller Center! They took over the corner southeast corner of the 30 Rockefeller Plaza building. No exact date was given, but I'm sure every effort will be made to have the store in full swing for the holiday season.


MACYS HERALD SQUARE

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Macy Trains
My walking tour usually begins at 34th Street with Macy’s. The windows facing Herald Square are an attraction in themselves. Santa Land is on the 8th Floor and it has a great TW Trainworx Lionel Train Layout. You have to wait on line to get into Santa Land which could be as long as 45 minutes, but it’s the only way to see the layout and you could see Santa! I think it’s worth it. Santa Land opens after the arrival of Santa at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on that Friday.


EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

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Empire State
After Macy’s we have gone to the Empire State Building and gone up to the observation deck. Obviously a spectacular view of the city. You can pick out the Statue of Liberty, The Freedom Tower, The Flatiron Building, The Brooklyn Bridge, The Chrysler Building, The Met Life Building, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Times Square, Madison Square Garden and much more. Maps are available so you can find these landmarks easily.


LORD & TAYLOR

Lord & Taylor
Another famous New York department store known for it’s decorations and amazing holiday window displays.


GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL

Grand Central

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Grand Central trains
The Mecca for train enthusiasts, it is truly overwhelming to see the main concourse for the first time with its famous information booth and clock. At the Metroplitan Transit Authority Museum Store there is a great 34 foot Lionel Train Layout, also built by TW Trainworx. One of my favorite!


GULLIVER'S GATE

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Located at 216 W 44th Street, this layout is a $40M project that opened to the public earlier this year. The exhibit will include miniature scale models of well-known sites and places from our world, and fictional worlds, connected by HO scale train tracks and highways featuring all manners of transportation known to mankind – from horses and elephants to hot air balloons, jet planes and space shuttles. There is a $36 entrance fee for adults and $27 for children and seniors 65+.


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NYC Building

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You can walk along Vanderbilt Ave, alongside the terminal to 46th Street and you will be at the Helmsley Building which was formerly the New York Central Building, the headquarters of the NYC Railroad. The front of the building faces north on Park Ave.


WALDORF ASTORIA HOTEL

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On Park Avenue and 48th Street in the famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians used to hold the New Years Eve show.


5TH AVENUE

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Peninsula

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Atlas Statue 5th Ave
At 49th Street head west to 5th Avenue again. Rockefeller Center is on the west side of 5th Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets. But 5th Avenue itself is a major attraction during the holiday season as stores outdo one another with their decorations. Between 49th and 59th Streets you will see Saks, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Cartier’s Jewelers, Tiffany’s, Trump Tower, Bergdorf Goodman’s, The Plaza Hotel and many many more stores with decorated windows. Of particular note is the Penninsula Hotel, on the corner of 5th Avenue and 55th Street. In the past, the decorations on the front entrance, on the 55th Street side, have been spectacular.


ROCKEFELLER CENTER

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Rockefeller

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You,ve got to take a few minutes to see the Christmas Tree in the Plaza in Rockefeller Center. They have had a tree there for Christmas ever since 1931 when workmen building the center, in the midst of the great depression, erected a tree in thanks for having their jobs! The spirit in the plaza is contagious. The skating rink is open to the public, and there are places to eat in 30 Rockefeller Plaza, on the same level as the rink.


TOP OF THE ROCK

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Some years we forego the top of the Empire State Building and instead go to the observation deck on the 66th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, known as the Top of the Rock. Tremendous views of the city, especially the view of the Empire State Building, St Patricks from high above, and the buildings around Central Park.


SAKS 5THAVENUE

Sachs
Saks usually has great window decorations, but in recent years they have put on a spectacular light and music show, on the front of their building which faces Rockefeller Center. Usually done every 10 minutes or so.


ST PATRICKS CATHEDRAL

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St Patsstable
St. Patrick’s is open to the public and is worth taking a walk through. Even if you’re not Catholic, the architecture is awesome and the art work on the many alters is wonderful to see.


PLAZA HOTEL

Plaza
The Plaza Hotel is on the corner of 5th Avenue and 59th Street. As nice as the outside decorations are, you can walk into the lobby and there is a beautifully decorated tree.


RADIO CITY

Radio City
The famous Music Hall is on the corner of 6th Avenue and 50th Street, a half a block west of Rockefeller Center. It’s beautiful on the outside and you can plan in advance to take in the Christmas Spectacular featuring the Radio City Rockettes.

6TH AVENUE

6th Ave

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Spectacular decorations are everywhere, but 6th Avenue is definitely worth a stroll, especially on the blocks across from Radio City Music Hall at 50th St. and down to Bryant Park at 42nd St..


BRYANT PARK

Bryant Park

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Bryant Park Train

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A beautiful tree, a skating rink, and a large number of holiday themed kiosks where you can buy Christmas Ornaments, hats gloves scarfs, gifts and enjoy a hot apple cider and a pretzel, NY style. There are also a couple of nice restaurants in the park and the view of the surrounding skyscrapers is spectacular. Don't forget to look for the train riding high atop the pergola thanks to the guys at Trainworld.


TIMES SQUARE

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What can I say….You gotta experience it to understand. It’s electricity come alive, with the Broadway Theaters, restaurants and stores. But the electronic billboards are beyond belief.

 

THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDENS

Botanical Gardens

This is a huge G gauge train display featuring over 100 New York City landmarks made out of all natural materials. A 20 minute train ride from Grand Central Terminal, the NYBG is located in the Rose Hill section of the Bronx. It is recommended that you purchase tickets in advance and if you're driving there is plenty of parking inside the gates.

 

Midtown

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Last edited by NYC Fan
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Good job as usual Skip.  I took my grandson to GULLIVER'S GATE in early September. The planes weren't taking off but one of my club members that works there (he gets paid to play/work there) said they would be working soon. He also said to look out for somewhat hidden surprises like Yoda and his hut in the forest by the airport.

The models of locations all around the world were phenomenal. They even had a working Panama canal. The work areas are also open to the public with the workers answering questions.

After we went through everything my grandson said that there wasn't many trains. We walked around the whole exhibit again and he was right.

Still it was worth the trip and the fee.  

Very Nice Job on the write up Skip. You hit all the spots.

This is the first year in the last 8 that I am not spending October rushing around building Dept store window displays. I do really enjoy the season but watching it from  the sidelines is fun too. 

One little change I would make to the post as far as advice to get to The NY Historical Museum would be to take the B or C train to the 81st station (Natural History Museum). If you ride at the South/Back end of the train the south exit is 50 yards from the Museum across one street and not a long walk across the Upper West Side.

There are a few places to catch those trains that are close to your focus area. The B Train does not run on weekends but there is a stop at Macy's and Rock Center. The C Train can be caught at Penn Station or Port Authority/42 st.

FAO was bought by Toys R Us several years ago. They claimed that they wanted to open a new FAO store but those plans have not panned out. The big Toys R Us in Times Square closed last year. Toys R Us itself is in bankruptcy so I really have strong doubts about a new FAO. The old FAO site is now a temporary Apple Store.

Retail is really Hurting. Sad to see FAO go and also sad to see Toys R Us seemingly also on the way out. I have nearly all of the Toys R Us MPC Double Door Boxcars. They were a fun little collection. 

superwarp1 posted:

It’s official, will be in Manhattan the second weekend of December.  Arriving in Grand central sat am and staying until Sunday.  Plan to add as much of Skips tour as possible.

That's great Gary. Although not exactly train related, Bryant Park has become quite an attraction with over 150 holiday related kiosks, food, ice skating and a beautiful Christmas tree. Thee blocks west of Grand Central, it's been part of the tour and has been getting better every year.

Skip,

Thank you for posting this very informative and timely topic.  This is just the info I was looking for when I posted my topic, "Any toy train displays in NYC this Thanksgiving?" last August.  As I said in that post,  somewhat against my better judgement, we are treating our two sons, their wives and our three grandchildren to a trip with us to Manhattan during Thanksgiving week. We are staying on 6th Avenue just outside the theater district, (Not far from Bryant Park, thank you!) and the main focus of the trip is the (still Macy's?) Thanksgiving Day Parade. What with watching the parade, having a big Thanksgiving dinner, attending a couple of Broadway shows already booked by my wife, and visiting the 9/11 museum and memorial, as well as just dealing with the crowds, our time and ability to see other sights will be limited.  

Although I got some good info in replys to my post last summer, including suggestions of Gullivars Gate (of which I was already aware) and the Botanical Garden ( which I had totally forgotten), no one then knew whether the TW Trainworx display at GST would be up again this year, and no one mentioned the display at the NY Historical Society.

If I can herd the gang to those two displays and perhaps the Botonical Garden, I will be happy to leave Gulliver's Gate to another trip without the Holiday crush.  Macy's train would be nice, but the kids are all in their teens, and we won't have time to wait to see Santa just to get to the trains.  We all would love to see the tree in the Rock Center, but we all have to fly home before they light it up. 

Thanks again for this "tour guide."  Now if you can just schedule some decent weather for the week, please.

Cheers!

Alan

MACY'S HERALD SQUARE....You now have to make a reservation to enter Macy's Santa Land and see Santa. Reservations can be made 5 days or less in advance at www.macys.com. They also have 9 kiosks in the store where you can book the next available time.

This should dramatically cut down on the wait time. However, in the many years (30) that I have been taking my kids to Santa Land (and going with my parents 60 years ago) we only had one really long wait on line, close to 2 hours. Most of the time it was an hour  or less. There was something special about that wait in line that I might actually miss. It basically said that there is something very special about seeing the "Miracle on 34th Street" Santa.

BTW, it looks like several places throughout the country are trying the same thing.

We will see how this works out! 

Last edited by NYC Fan

Skip, You mentioned what I guess is the maximum time (5 days in advance)...I think I heard that the Santa reservations could be made with a minimum of 20 minutes in advance. 

Also, there is at least 1 train store still operating in Manhattan, The Red Caboose on W. 45th Street. 

Tom 

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Last edited by PRR8976

Although I left NYC (Brooklyn) for NJ in 1978, I must admit that  Manhattan is a special place during the Christmas holiday season.  The decorations, lights, music and ambiance are outstanding. Skips walking tour probably is about a 2 1/2 mile walk. If that's too much for you, the subways can take you all over the island. For those that come in by train at Penn station, I suggest starting off by taking the E train to 53'rd and fifth avenue. That leaves you not far from Rockefeller Center and many of the department stores there. Then you can walk your way back to see the tree and stop at many of the places on the route that Skip chartered out.

Last edited by Dennis LaGrua

We were in NYC about a month ago, and went to both Gulliver's Gate and Bryant Park. Excellent choices, both locations! Skip took some wonderful pictures.

Skip, how did you manage to get the pictures of the Bryant Park train where the camera is above the track? That does not look like a vantage point for the average visitor...

 

Chris

LVHR

lehighline posted:

We were in NYC about a month ago, and went to both Gulliver's Gate and Bryant Park. Excellent choices, both locations! Skip took some wonderful pictures.

Skip, how did you manage to get the pictures of the Bryant Park train where the camera is above the track? That does not look like a vantage point for the average visitor...

 

Chris

LVHR

Those photos came from Ken at Train World / Train Land.

Haven't seen this covered yet about Gulliver's Gate- there is a place where you can be body-scanned, and they will 3D print YOU, and your family.  The figures are YOU as you are on the day you visit, and are available in a variety of sizes.  They also will 3D print you in 1/87th HO scale, AND place you anywhere in the exhibit of your choice, then send you a pic of the result and how to find yourself on your next visit.  They have done this so far for over 6000 guests.  How Bout Dat??

 

So- wear your Lionel Speedo that day and get placed on the beach at Rio.

Last edited by Mike Wyatt

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