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Well - it is almost that time of year... stores and advertisers have started with their Christmas themes and decorations, have you started with your Christmas trains??

Waiting for Thanksgiving tends to compress the time we have them out for enjoyment - post your pictures here as you get start to set them up! I find progress pictures the most interesting and will be posting my own soon!

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I just finished putting together my own version of modular benchwork about an hour ago.  I'll try to post progress.  I had only posted images of completed Christmas layouts before but I think this could be interesting.

Stage 1

  2022-11-06_16-55-35_417



Stage 2 - Controlled Mess

After my old TIU's processor has failed I need to move on to a WIFi Explorer.  Not in the original plan but moving forward!

2022-11-10_08-54-49_230 [2022-11-10T14_00_50.598)

11/11 - added a little more

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Last edited by SteveC

Our Christmas Train display is rather modest (pic from last year or so), but that doesn't mean I shouldn't consider purchasing more trains to go around it, right?

Christmas2020b

Typically, we like to have our house decorated for Christmas before the kids arrive for Thanksgiving. Every year, I'm amazed that it takes longer to set up that little display than I figure it should!

The train in the pic: With the help of the Marx fans here at OGR, they were able to determine the most likely hand-me-down train set I had been given back in about 1960. Once I had an idea of what set it was, as good fortune would have it, I found a boxed set on eBay! The above is that set the OGR guys helped me with.

Back in 1960, I played with my original little Marx set quite a bit until Christmas '62 when I got my HO Lindberg Lines set.

Andre

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Last edited by laming

Gave the tunnel project a mottled blast of spray paint this past weekend:

Working out the order of things going forward. The houses get painted/glittered next, I think, than a subtle glitter treatment for the entire structure. Next we'll install the vellum windows and roofs for the buildings, a bit more glitter, then touch-up. Gotta finish it or destroy it this week, lol.

PD

Last edited by pd
@walt rapp posted:

I posted a photo journal of sorts as to where I stand in regard to getting my 2022 Christmas layout going.  Too long to repeat here but the link is:

Weekend Photo Fun 11-3-22-??? | O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum (ogaugerr.com)

This is the current state of things:

boards upstairs

This year's version will be the smallest that I've built in some 25 years

walt

Looking forward to watching the ongoing planning/construction, Walt.

Last edited by pd
@walt rapp posted:

I posted a photo journal of sorts as to where I stand in regard to getting my 2022 Christmas layout going.  Too long to repeat here but the link is:

Weekend Photo Fun 11-3-22-??? | O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum (ogaugerr.com)

This is the current state of things:

boards upstairs

This year's version will be the smallest that I've built in some 25 years

walt

A Christmas tradition continues!  I really enjoy seeing your annual efforts!

-Greg

@pd posted:

Very nice; must look really great with the lights turned down low, Yellowstone, given the collection of ceramic buildings.

PD

@pd:

Thank you, pd. Yes, one gets the full effect at night when the lights are way down. The photo below was taken during the day. At night, there's no light at the window. This holiday season, I'll get a good shot with the Polar Express running at night with no window light. 😉

IMG_3319 [1)

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My layout is semi permanent.  I say this because even though it's been up for 3 years, it's not the layout I want to have and not in the room it's in.

I really miss the days when I did a Christmas only layout.  Every evening after Thanksgiving I'd be down in the "crappy basement" setting it up.  It was always different and always unique.  Now for Christmas I change a few things on the layout and put a loop under the tree.

Here is a layout from when I changed it every year from scratch.

2002



2003



2004

Last edited by MartyE

Well, I actually started mine Oct 17th.  I thought about posting a thread similar to this, but was a touch embarrassed by the early start.  I actually had a request to have it up for Thanksgiving so our granddaughter could play with it.  My usual D56 laden layout would be too much of a ‘don’t touch that’ experience for her, so I am simplifying it this year.  The idea is to have more straight track so I can incorporate a number of accessories for her to play with.  No multiple levels, no grades, and D56 away from the front.  The bench work is the same, just a different tract plan – 3 loops, no switches.  Couldn’t resist adding some Styrofoam topography though.  Should be able to start adding some D56 buildings in the background today.

The tree will be added after Thanksgiving because my wife felt T-Day was too early for a Xmas tree.  If you like in progress pictures, I can start taking some today.

The picture is what my usual Xmas layout looks like... not very child resistant.tree 1

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

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well, since in progress shots are always fun (but in my case not insightful ) here's the base for this year's Christmas layout.  As I mentioned earlier it will be the smallest one that I've built in some 25 years.

It's still 14' wide and the legs are still 11' deep, but notice the big gap in the front middle and also there will not be my usual 4'x10' second layer.  The big white area - I painted a 4'x5' piece of Homasote white and that's where my winter/Christmas scene will be.

But I'm OK with all of that this year.

walt

boards on floor from front door

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Last edited by walt rapp
@pd posted:

I often wondered what the sheets of material were that formed the base of your floor layouts, Walt. Now I know - Homasote. In my experience, large sheets of that stuff typically don't withstand repeated handling very well. You must take great care in moving/storing them.

PD

thanks pd.  I think I mentioned that I have equal sized sheets of blue insulation boar d (a hair smaller than the Homasote pieces) that I lay down first.  The fact that the blue board is a hair smaller means there are gaps between the pieces, which allows for me to run my wires in them.  This way they are hidden and better, when I'm setting up the layout I won't be putting pressure on the wires if they were on the floor under just the Homasote.

I do take care.  I stand them on edge in my garage trying as best as I can to stand them as straight up as possible to avoid bowing.  Of course a little bowing always occurs which is why, if you noticed one of my earlier posts, that I bring them up to the living room 2 or 3 weeks ahead of time to let them lay flat and eliminate the bowing.  it works for me.

Walt

@Tom Stoltz posted:

Well, I actually started mine Oct 17th.  I thought about posting a thread similar to this, but was a touch embarrassed by the early start.  I actually had a request to have it up for Thanksgiving so our granddaughter could play with it.  My usual D56 laden layout would be too much of a ‘don’t touch that’ experience for her, so I am simplifying it this year.  The idea is to have more straight track so I can incorporate a number of accessories for her to play with.  No multiple levels, no grades, and D56 away from the front.  The bench work is the same, just a different tract plan – 3 loops, no switches.  Couldn’t resist adding some Styrofoam topography though.  Should be able to start adding some D56 buildings in the background today.

The tree will be added after Thanksgiving because my wife felt T-Day was too early for a Xmas tree.  If you like in progress pictures, I can start taking some today.

The picture is what my usual Xmas layout looks like... not very child resistant.tree 1

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

That looks great! I’m a little worried also, as I’m having the neighbors and their kids over (little ones 2) this year.

@Tom Stoltz posted:

Well, I actually started mine Oct 17th.  I thought about posting a thread similar to this, but was a touch embarrassed by the early start.  I actually had a request to have it up for Thanksgiving so our granddaughter could play with it. 

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

No need for embarrassment Tom.

The CEO here said ours also has to be up for Thanksgiving when all the relatives show up . 

@walt rapp posted:

Here's where I am today.  But things will be delayed for ??? days because somehow I separated my shoulder.  Oh well.

Getting ready to start doing the wiring.  Yes, I'll have to temporarily shift the Homasote to get to the gaps mentioned about but I put everything back in place.

walt

getting wires ready 2getting wires ready 1

Walt, just using the ZWs as a reference that looks to be a sizable layout.  Post pics when it's up.

Sorry bout your shoulder.   That can be very painful and inconvenient.  Good luck.

Sorry to hear about the shoulder, Walt. I did that once (dislocate), and it hurt like the devil (possibly worse than when I fractured the same shoulder years later). Anyway, Advil is your friend.

U-shaped layouts are fun as you will have a sense of sitting in it rather than next to it. Wiring a bit more tricky, as you can't just run side-to-side, but it will be a fun variation. Just curious, how many power feeds to a loop of track on your 11x14? I need to add one or two to my outside loop on the permanent layout (roughly 8x14).

PD

Last edited by pd

No need for embarrassment Tom.

The CEO here said ours also has to be up for Thanksgiving when all the relatives show up .

Thanks Dallas, I’m glad to get the encouragement.  My orders for the T-day also came from Headquarters.  However for me, mine was from my daughter… doesn’t get much higher up the chain than that.

Walt, sorry to hear about your shoulder, I hope it’s not too big of a setback.  The size and location (on the floor) of your layout make for a major undertaking.

I used to do my on the floor – in fact, I prefer it – but my boss wanted it up at coffee table height and she got a dog, so I had no choice.  I do like the idea of channels for the wiring, I find D56 lighting wires a real PITA to deal with.  Being up on a platform as made that a bit easier.  I use felt for my ‘snow’ but have always found getting the track on top and the wiring underneath a challenge.  What I generally do is lay out the track and wiring for the D56 lighting, then pull the felt under the track and over the wires.  I need to find a better way.  I would love to hear suggestions.

The pictures I’ve included show the overall shape of the table.  Along the walls is 10 ft on each side and the curvy sides are a minimum of 6 ft wide.  The Styrofoam 'hills' are now pushed under the felt and I have finally started to get the buildings out.  There will be a number of Flyer accessories for the granddaughter’s amusement.  The last picture is of a stone wall I made, before painting and weathering, checking for clearance.  I had to take a ¼” off the back.

Tom Stoltz

in MaineBEGINNING LKG SBEGINNING LKG SEBEGINNING LKG SWNEW ROCK WALL

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@pd posted:

Sorry to hear about the shoulder, Walt. I did that once (dislocate), and it hurt like the devil (possibly worse than when I fractured the same shoulder years later). Anyway, Advil is your friend.

U-shaped layouts are fun as you will have a sense of sitting in it rather than next to it. Wiring a bit more tricky, as you can't just run side-to-side, but it will be a fun variation. Just curious, how many power feeds to a loop of track on your 11x14? I need to add one or two to my outside loop on the permanent layout (roughly 8x14).

PD

i agree with you that wiring is going to be trickier than when my layout was just a rectangle.  But because I put blue board pieces, which are a bit smaller than the Homasote piece above it, it creates paths for me to run wires in.  But there are several other things that I always knew how to handle that I'm having to rethink in order to try to hide wires as best as possible.

As for power feeds, it depends if swithes are involved.  Since my design this year is basically 5 "loops" I am only using 4 per loop on my 2 outer DCS 'loops' and only 2 on my smaller conventional loops.  The rec circles are the power feeds and the 'x' marks dummy pins.

- walt

lockons a

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@pd posted:

Thanks for the info re: power feeds, Walt. I'll need to add one or two to my outer loop, and I think I'm going to change to a larger gauge wire while I'm at it.

I'm overly, maybe, cautious about wiring.  I use 14 or 16 gauge for anything longer than say 6' away from the power source.  I do use 18 gauge if close though.

Jim Barrett's rule of thumb was one connection every 6, maybe it was 8, not sure, track connections. His rule led me to investing in a lot of 3' long O27 track pieces even though I had more of the regular sized track pieces than I would ever need/use..

waltl

Last edited by walt rapp
@walt rapp posted:

I'm overly, maybe, cautious about wiring.  I use 14 or 16 gauge for anything longer than say 6' away from the power source.  I do use 18 gauge if close though.

Jim Barrett's rule of thumb was one connection every 6, maybe it was 8, not sure, track connections. His rule led me to investing in a lot of 3' long O27 track pieces even though I had more of the regular sized track pieces than I would ever need/use..

waltl

Walt,

Is the heavy gauge wire and frequent drops because of DCS?  I run DC with 2 18 AWG drops for each loop.  It's something like 14 pieces of track between feeders with no change in speed at all.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

With some runs over 14' long on my layout I prefer at least 16 to reduce voltage drop.  Plus I got a whole bunch of 14, 16, and 18 gauge wire from a friend so I use it since it never hurts.

The 'theory' with using DCS is to never have more than one power drop per section.  So for me that means using insulation pins to break things up.  4 points of contact for me is minimal.  I've had up to 10 when I have switches and cross-overs (X's).

I used to always exclusively use 18 gauge like you are doing and never had a problem as you don't either.  You don't see any negative effects so what you're doing obviously is fine.

- walt

Walt, if I'm understanding your diagram properly, you have your loops organized/isolated with individual blocks, each with its own power feed. I have not done this, instead just dropping multiple feeds at various points on a single loop with no blocks. I'm wondering if there's a benefit to using your method. Certainly there is if running conventional and you plan to operate multiple trains over the same loop, but if not, is it necessary to isolate power-blocks to maximize power? Just wondering aloud, actually...

PD

@pd posted:

Walt, if I'm understanding your diagram properly, you have your loops organized/isolated with individual blocks, each with its own power feed. I have not done this, instead just dropping multiple feeds at various points on a single loop with no blocks. I'm wondering if there's a benefit to using your method. Certainly there is if running conventional and you plan to operate multiple trains over the same loop, but if not, is it necessary to isolate power-blocks to maximize power? Just wondering aloud, actually...

PD

thanks for taking such a close look.

On the 2 outer loops, they are DCS controlled so, yes, I create blocks with ONE power connection per block.

The 3 inner loops are conventional.  I do use insulation pins IF I'm going to design a track plan where trains can change loops.  I want separate, controllable power on each conventional loop, thus the value (to me) of electrically separating each loo

walt

Well, I'm trying to arrange D56 buildings with American Flyer accessories.  Once I decide where everything goes, I'll run light strings under the felt.  I took out the middle piece of felt so I can reach under the other two with the lights.  Then the middle goes down but cut in half, so I can get under the back half.  Then to the front half... at least that's the plan, we'll see.

When tried my AF whistling billboard, it didn't work -- It worked the last time I used it, though that was probably 28 years ago.  I'm in the middle of cleaning it... more later.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

forgot to add the pix

D56 PLACEMENT-1D56 PLACEMENT-2

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Last edited by Tom Stoltz

After a 2 year hiatus, our traveling family Christmas layout will be back on display. The trains will be on display December 3rd at St Johns School in Westminster, MD. We have a great time and it is always fun to take the trains on a little trip! Spent time last weekend with Dad getting the tables dusted off and track tested in the garage. The other photo is from the last event back in 2019.

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Last edited by Chris1985
@Tom Stoltz posted:

When tried my AF whistling billboard, it didn't work -- It worked the last time I used it, though that was probably 28 years ago.  I'm in the middle of cleaning it... more later.

Tom, sometimes the impeller in the Flyer whistling billboard gets a bit bound up if it sits for a long time. A bit of clock oil or tuner cleaner/lubricant will get it going again.

The layout looks great, BTW.

Where I am as of 11/18.  The shoulder was a bit painful to work wiith but...

In previous posts I mentioned how I lay blue board underneath the Homasote and leave gaps in the blue board to run wires.  In these pictures I have all the feeders wires in place for both track power and accessory power.  Notice how it's really hard to find a wire showing.

Of course when I start setting up accessories and have to connect them to the feeder it's harder to hide those wires.

walt

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My 1st attempt at doing a panorama with my phone.  Have to learn to get better.

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@pd posted:

Tom, sometimes the impeller in the Flyer whistling billboard gets a bit bound up if it sits for a long time. A bit of clock oil or tuner cleaner/lubricant will get it going again.

The layout looks great, BTW.

Good suggestion pd, the impeller and the armature do turn freely.  What I did find is the armature, under power, will turn like a third of a turn and stop.  If I turn the armature a little, it will replete the slight movement.  This makes me think there is a broken wire in one of the segments.  IIRC separating the armature from the impeller might be a bit of a job.  Not for now.  Found an old junker whistling billboard that does work, just have to lube and put a new sign/billboard in place and it will be good enough.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

@walt rapp posted:

Where I am as of 11/18.  The shoulder was a bit painful to work wiith but...

In previous posts I mentioned how I lay blue board underneath the Homasote and leave gaps in the blue board to run wires.  In these pictures I have all the feeders wires in place for both track power and accessory power.  Notice how it's really hard to find a wire showing.

Of course when I start setting up accessories and have to connect them to the feeder it's harder to hide those wires.

walt

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My 1st attempt at doing a panorama with my phone.  Have to learn to get better.

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Looking good Walt.  Do you intend to put 'snow', aka cotton, in place?  I will be curious to see what you do.  I am not happy with the path I chose this year, but I have to deal with in now.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

@Prr7688 posted:

Well - it is almost that time of year... stores and advertisers have started with their Christmas themes and decorations, have you started with your Christmas trains??

No. I refuse to embrace the foolishness the advertising and promotion of Christmas before Thanksgiving or in the case of this year again prior to Halloween.

@mwb posted:

No. I refuse to embrace the foolishness the advertising and promotion of Christmas before Thanksgiving or in the case of this year again prior to Halloween.

I was shocked that the local radio station ONLY  switched to Christmas music today.  Usually it's right after Halloween.

Walt it's looking good.  Always a treat to see your layout and the build.

@Tom Stoltz posted:

Looking good Walt.  Do you intend to put 'snow', aka cotton, in place?  I will be curious to see what you do.  I am not happy with the path I chose this year, but I have to deal with in now.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

Tom,

That big white area (pained Homasote) will be the Winter/Christmas area.  I've done this before and it looks OK to me once the accessories are added in.  Sometimes I spread a white Christmas tree "skirt"(?) on it first just to see if I like that.  Sometimes I use sprinkled on baking soda to simulate snow.

This year I'm going to leave is as is and see if it needs any 'help'.

thanks for asking

walt

@Tom Stoltz posted:

Looking good Walt.  Do you intend to put 'snow', aka cotton, in place?  I will be curious to see what you do.  I am not happy with the path I chose this year, but I have to deal with in now.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

I usually use a couple large pieces of plain white felt, or white felt that has a bit of glitter embedded. The first piece goes down as a table cover. Then I string the battery-powered lights with a second piece of felt on top. I've never used cotton batting for fear of having strands getting wound up in the mechanisms. The trains on the Christmas display are all clockworks, so no electrics of any consequence running between the layers.

PD

I like the look of a three-track mainline, Walt. That will provide a lot of concurrent visuals in those areas, especially if things run in opposite directions.

What are you running these days? I recall you acquiring a bunch of modern tinplate years back, and I’ve seen some of it in recent years, but it looks like you’ve added some postwar stuff as well to the roster.

PD

About 8 years ago I sold all of my modern stuff - 11 MTH DCS engines, 99 cars (all Pittsburgh relateed on one way or another), other stuff.  Used the money to buy my 2 tin plate sets.

The older stuff that I have is very limited.  There's a Lionel steamer which was a gift from my parents so it will never be sold.  My first Lionel train set.  I do have one steamer that is somewhat newer - a Lionel CHRISTMAS steamer.

Some years I bring out the family train - PW stuff that Dad bought in the early 50's

thanks for asking.  You have some kind of great memory!!!

walt

It's that time of year to start thinking about trains around the tree at Christmas.  Although I don't assemble Holiday layouts any longer, here are 9 of my layouts from 2008 - 2016.  Every year I assembled a new track layout with different trains to keep things interesting.

Hopefully, these videos will inspire some of you to keep the Holiday spirit going by arranging some of your trains under the tree.  Happy Holidays!

          Christmas 2016

          Christmas 2015

          Christmas 2014

                                                 Christmas 2013

          Christmas 2012

              Christmas 2011

          Christmas 2010

          Christmas 2009

          Christmas 2008

       

@pd posted:

Ugh, nearly done, but the four-foot tree is only half-lit. A couple hours with the Light-Keeper Pro only offered a temporary fix. Gonna run to the store tonight and see if I can find an inexpensive replacement (I hate pre-lit trees ).

PD

Wow, pd, sure sounds like the year when if it can go wrong, it does.  To refresh my early start; the whole idea was to have trains and accessories set up for Thanksgiving so our granddaughter could play with them.  Also, it was required to have no tree until after T-day.

Well, in general I reached the goal, however every repro accessory failed.  It turns out Lionel has accessories (at least 3) that are driven with a belt.  If the accessory sits too long without use, the belt takes a set and no longer works…  Great!  Only my original Flyer accessories worked, but none of the others.

So I’ll post a few pix of the layout ‘pre-tree’.

EEK & TRAINS-01PRE-TREE-03PRE-TREE-26PRE-TREE-21PRE-TREE-31

Last weekend we started the tree.  Which meant the interior of the layout had to be removed to make way for the tree.  We got it up only to discover we could not locate its controller – that means no lights!  Panic and a mad search for local stores that had pre-lite trees.  Most that listed trees in stock were really through internet sales.  We finally located a display model that Lowes was willing to sell ‘as is’.  At least it was a working tree and with the floor model reduced price and their GI discount, we got a really good deal.

So todays job is to move a 68 lb tree with a 20 lb base 6 ft into the middle of the layout…

To be continued…

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

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I just put a loop of HO track around my Christmas tree and ran one of my HO diesels (an old Life-Like Santa Fe Warbonnet GP38-2) and a consist of red and green Christmas-colored freight cars. Running those old trains sure brings back memories from when I was a young kid (I'm still a kid at heart).

Aussteve, I totally agree with you. By the way, I'm planning to build my own train shed soon. Hopefully sometime next year I can get started on my layout.

Last edited by Dylan the Train Man

Tom, the layout/display looks great! I presume you will clear a path/corridor to get that tree in place.

Picked up a replacement four-foot tree last evening. Not as nice as the one it replaces, but at least it lights. Now working on getting the lights for the buildings set up and the tree decorated.

PD

@SteveC posted:

I just finished putting together my own version of modular benchwork about an hour ago.  I'll try to post progress.  I had only posted images of completed Christmas layouts before but I think this could be interesting.

Stage 1

  2022-11-06_16-55-35_417



Stage 2 - Controlled Mess

After my old TIU's processor has failed I need to move on to a WIFi Explorer.  Not in the original plan but moving forward!



11/11 - added a little more

image0



The idea of posting the process started out promising - then life got in the way.

All you get is the completed project.  Here's the youtube video link - Merry Christmas

https://youtu.be/FWL2eI13_mE

IMG_0527

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Last edited by SteveC
@Tom Stoltz posted:

Wow, pd, sure sounds like the year when if it can go wrong, it does.  To refresh my early start; the whole idea was to have trains and accessories set up for Thanksgiving so our granddaughter could play with them.  Also, it was required to have no tree until after T-day.

Well, in general I reached the goal, however every repro accessory failed.  It turns out Lionel has accessories (at least 3) that are driven with a belt.  If the accessory sits too long without use, the belt takes a set and no longer works…  Great!  Only my original Flyer accessories worked, but none of the others.

S

Last weekend we started the tree.  Which meant the interior of the layout had to be removed to make way for the tree.  We got it up only to discover we could not locate its controller – that means no lights!  Panic and a mad search for local stores that had pre-lite trees.  Most that listed trees in stock were really through internet sales.  We finally located a display model that Lowes was willing to sell ‘as is’.  At least it was a working tree and with the floor model reduced price and their GI discount, we got a really good deal.

So todays job is to move a 68 lb tree with a 20 lb base 6 ft into the middle of the layout…

To be continued…

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

Tom,

What a gorgeous setup, lots of buildings, you have a fantastic Christmas layout.

Thank you for sharing,


Ray

Just getting started on our Christmas layout and hope to finish up this weekend.  It's a modest oval that we insert into a bay window looking out toward the backyard. The family visitors have come to expect trains at Christmas time, so this checks the box.

Last year when we took it down, my wife suggested outlining where the Dept 56 river pieces go that run through the layout. To keep the noise down and without building a fancy table, we use puzzle piece rubber floor mats on top of a particle board screwed to an old coffee table. Added  2"x4" legs to the overhanging ends to eliminate any droop.

I got a kick out of putting the rubber mat puzzle back together last night. 8 year old granddaughter could have done it! Wife sure is the smart one. Now I just need to do the work to get it all set up. Photo of completed layout is from last year. Short video can be seen here -  Christmas 2021.

IMG_5026 LargeChristmas Trains 2021 Large

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@TomStoltz- great looking layout. Good luck with the tree sounds like quiet a job. We avoid all that, pack away tree fully decorated. Pull tree out of wrapper, put on tree table, plug in. Tree’s up!!

Happy holidays

Don

I couldn't pass this up Don..........when I saw this video on this other post ,all I could see was you and one of those unique trains you have.   Screenshot_20221215-080428Screenshot_20221215-080058   It is a neat video.

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@Mooner posted:

Just getting started on our Christmas layout and hope to finish up this weekend.  It's a modest oval that we insert into a bay window looking out toward the backyard. The family visitors have come to expect trains at Christmas time, so this checks the box.

Last year when we took it down, my wife suggested outlining where the Dept 56 river pieces go that run through the layout. To keep the noise down and without building a fancy table, we use puzzle piece rubber floor mats on top of a particle board screwed to an old coffee table. Added  2"x4" legs to the overhanging ends to eliminate any droop.

I got a kick out of putting the rubber mat puzzle back together last night. 8 year old granddaughter could have done it! Wife sure is the smart one. Now I just need to do the work to get it all set up. Photo of completed layout is from last year. Short video can be seen here -  Christmas 2021.

IMG_5026 LargeChristmas Trains 2021 Large

Very nice, Robert. Looking forward to seeing this year’s edition!

PD

Just about done with this:

Vintage cardboard houses and wind-ups on the table that typically serves as my desk. Still a few issues to resolve, primarily a bit of lighting and sluggish clockworks, but otherwise this is done. The tunnel/tree-stand works well with the exception of its internal lighting (totally due to my design idiocy).

Maybe a few better pics later.

PD

Christmas 2022  layout.

Done .                                                                                                Judy wanted to knit a representation of our house.20221216_162437

Buildings all done by her.

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MTH Nativity flatcar manger scene. 20221216_155014

MTH decorated container car.  ( darn elves everywhere )

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5×10 ft main area  /  30 inch x 8ft. top area.

A  HAPPY and PEACE  FILLED  HOLIDAY SEASON  everyone. 

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@Mooner posted:

Just getting started on our Christmas layout and hope to finish up this weekend.  It's a modest oval that we insert into a bay window looking out toward the backyard. The family visitors have come to expect trains at Christmas time, so this checks the box.

Last year when we took it down, my wife suggested outlining where the Dept 56 river pieces go that run through the layout. To keep the noise down and without building a fancy table, we use puzzle piece rubber floor mats on top of a particle board screwed to an old coffee table. Added  2"x4" legs to the overhanging ends to eliminate any droop.

I got a kick out of putting the rubber mat puzzle back together last night. 8 year old granddaughter could have done it! Wife sure is the smart one. Now I just need to do the work to get it all set up. Photo of completed layout is from last year. Short video can be seen here -  Christmas 2021.

IMG_5026 LargeChristmas Trains 2021 Large

the river pieces as a border around the village looks amazing.  great idea!

@pd posted:

Dallas, the display is great, and your wife's handiwork just brilliant. Takes handcrafted scenics to a new level!

Have a great Christmas.

PD

Thank you very much PD .   

You have a great Christmas also.   We are definitly going to have a great one .  Today we got our early Christmas presents..........20221217_130223

.............two 8 year old rescues from Ohio.

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
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