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Hokey smokes, Folks! It's only three months until Christmas! And of course we have to begin assembling our Christmas lay-outs even earlier than that!

Fortunately, I have collected a variety of Christmas railcar photos over the years. They are mostly Lionel6-110986-15091_86496-15097_71766-26489lg_1_16-27947_4928                                            O-scale, but there are a variety of others. And please feel free to add your own photos.

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Last year, "Cuddlee's Christmas City" was my first Christmas train lay-out. I hope some of you get some good ideas from it:

SUNP0001 [4)SUNP0001 [5)SUNP0003 [2)SUNP0003 [8)SUNP0004 [6)                                            Picture #3 shows foam buildings. They not only looked great, but they survived assembly and disassembly. Picture #5 illustrates a great model railroading truth: you can do a lot with gondolas.

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Vincent Massi posted:

!B38uGq!B2k~$[KGrHqF,!jUEybbnZq-MBMo!9jkSB!~~_3

OMG, I haven't seen that set in years!  We had that under the tree when I was very young until it ate too much tinsel, lol

Don't recall what year I started putting O gauge trains under the tree as I didn't get my first O gauge stuff until age 8 or 9 and didn't really switch over completely from HO to O probably until I was a teenager.

Always liked the Christmas box cars, started in the very early 80's.
Stopped in 2012, reason is that Lionel delayed the car coming out stating it would not be ready until July the next year.
This was very disappointing for me and that is when I stopped purchasing the cars.

I still have what I purchase and do like them and love seeing all of the photos that are on this post

Vincent Massi posted:

Doug, I have tried so hard to get ANYTHING, anything at all, from that Burl Ives (He was the snowman/narrator) Christmas special. Great-looking train!

 

There were some ornaments done by Carlton Cards quite a few years ago, not sure if that's what Doug used for his train or not.

The ornaments I've got from that series are of a size such that they easily could be put in a gondola like that if you wanted.

-Dave

Vincent Massi posted:

Doug, I have tried so hard to get ANYTHING, anything at all, from that Burl Ives (He was the snowman/narrator) Christmas special. Great-looking train!

 

enhance

It's available on Amazon

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Figures - Bring the Story to Life - Ideal for Holiday Decorating, Cake Toppers, Playtime - Includes 2" Figure of Rudolph, Hermey, Bumble and More - 8 Piece Figurine Set

Vincent. Thanks for starting this your getting me back in the mood to start a custom O scale Christmas train. I have a HO Custom Christmas Train that I made many years ago and made my own decals and Custom painted the cars we put it under the tree every year my girls loved it when they were young and my nephews enjoy it now  I still have a little more work to do on it and add some cars I would like for everyone to see it but it’s HO scale you say anything goes but I thought I would ask first 

BE8BCE47-088B-4CE5-8A8D-58F1A636B93DDAE3D52D-FD46-4AA2-BC03-47D7632C012AB4FB8BD5-8EB6-459F-B6AF-CA86B5FECEB41B2A01D8-0BF3-49E3-9855-265CB43FA71DEB2654B0-60CE-4334-8F25-24882D5E26C72FC7496D-F94B-4DA4-B307-E53D3CD29FDB50E9FF49-FE89-4AD2-9343-78792247B7E2Ok Vincent here’s you go I just took theses and ran my old Christmas Train awhile go this is my HO cars and F7. All cars are Athearn except the gondola which is a old Mantua. All decals were made by me. I used a font on our computer for the Santa’s Express and then I added the snow caps I hope I still have this down loaded I will be adding more cars and I will fix these up also I would like to get this done the wife want a snow sence this year with buildings and such. Enjoy the pics 

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Mark Boyce posted:

Christmas 2016

2017-01-01 16.42.15

Mark

is that gold car about the same size as a Menards car or is it the same size as a Old Lionel 6464 I just bought 2 of these the Lionel 1998 and 1997 I think and I have my eye on the gold one like yours. I want to pull them with my Lionel FA post war 202 I’m worried they will look to small behind it thanks for your help sorry to bother you 

Vincent Massi posted:

.........................

6-36850

If anybody can figure out the last photo, please explain it to me.

It's basically what it looks like.

You use this car on a loop/oval where the train will regularly pass by the "bridge".  When the boxcar goes under, the figures change positions.  The one on the car transfers to the bridge and the one on the bridge ends up on the car to go for a ride.  Repeat.  

It's based on a post-war classic called the cop and hobo car.

-Dave

Last edited by Dave45681

My Christmas train usually consists of a Lionel 627, 44 ton red diesel, Lionel 36743 Operating Santa Claus Bobbing Head Box car, two flat cars with Santa’s reindeer including Rudolph and one flat car with two reindeer and Santa’s sled and the fat man himself, a “CANDY” labeled gondola with Christmas Candy Canes, and a Lionel 26527 Christmas Work Caboose with Christmas gifts.

Trains, Rogers 12-27-2014 003

IMG_0460

IMG_0463

 

I added added as Santa, sled and 8 reindeers plus Rudolph the red nosed reindeer to my Christmas train.  I made the reindeer cars from three junker Scout sized flat cars and figures and reindeer from a Hallmark Cards Santa, Sled and Reindeer set.  I painted the flat cars white as reindeer like snow and will show up better with a light color. 

One car carried the Santa sled and two reindeer, a second car carried four reindeer and third car carried two reindeer and Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.  The reindeer were simply glued to the flat cars with 5 min epoxy glue.

IMG_0027

 

The original Hallmark Cards Santa sled was too big so a smaller one was made from balsa wood and sized for Hallmark Cards Santa.

IMG_0455

 

A blinking red light was installed in Rudolf’s nose and a power pick up was added to the car. 

IMG_0458

 

The Christmas Train is usually stationed on the hidden track behind the background and comes out by surprise for the kids after watching the trains run for a few minutes.  They all love the Christmas Train, Santa and the reindeer and of course the Christmas candy canes in the gondola!

 

Charlie

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Mark Boyce posted:

Vincent, that one hauling the gondola with reindeer looks neat with the big snowplow on it.

Thank you, Mark.

And this brings up a word of advice: If you're thinking of buying a Christmas train, look carefully at the railcars. Are they sharp-looking or plain-looking? And never buy a small plastic battery-powered train--they derail constantly.

Need something to add to a Christmas flat car (Between Halloween and Christmas)?

A new hallmark ornament which is the perfect size for O gauge.

Just google "Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas Here Comes Sandy Claws Ornament.

I did not want to post a picture as it may not be allowed, but google it and look for it in the stores

Here is the link, Thanks Dave, did not know it was OK to add this

 https://www.hallmark.com/ornam...ent-3299QXD6337.html

Last edited by RonH
RonH posted:
................

Just google "Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas Here Comes Sandy Claws Ornament.

I did not want to post a picture as it may not be allowed, but google it and look for it in the stores

Links are helpful though (they don't violate the copyright law since the content is not reproduced without clicking to go to the original source)!

Sandy Claws on Hallmark.com.

I may have to take a glance at that the next time I'm in a store.  I'd guess it's probably a little too big/heavy to mount to the top of an airplane pylon in place of the regular Santa Sleigh.

-Dave

Last edited by Dave45681
Vincent Massi posted:
Mark Boyce posted:

I have the PE LC Bluetooth version.  Indeed nice

You lost me there, Mark. The PE LC Bluetooth version of what?

Not to speak too much for Mark, but PE= Polar Express, and there have been quite a few variants. 

Original strictly conventional (possibly more than one), The earlier LionChief one, and finally the LionChief one with Bluetooth capability.

-Dave

Last edited by Dave45681
Dave45681 posted:
Vincent Massi posted:
Mark Boyce posted:

I have the PE LC Bluetooth version.  Indeed nice

You lost me there, Mark. The PE LC Bluetooth version of what?

Not to speak too much for Mark, but PE= Polar Express, and there have been quite a few variants. 

Original strictly conventional (possibly more than one), The earlier LionChief one, and finally the LionCheif one with Bluetooth capability.

-Dave

thank you, Dave

Vincent Massi posted:

Hokey smokes, Folks! It's only three months until Christmas! And of course we have to begin assembling our Christmas lay-outs even earlier than that!

Fortunately, I have collected a variety of Christmas railcar photos over the years. They are mostly Lionel6-110986-15091_86496-15097_71766-26489lg_1_16-27947_4928                                            O-scale, but there are a variety of others. And please feel free to add your own photos.

I need to get a Hershey's Bells car.  I do have a few Hershey's Christmas cars.  I will post when I get a chance.

DSC_1173

My first year of all Christmas trains under the tree was 2015.  The Hallmark Santa Toymaker train took my outside track while the Polar Express (with Hot Chocolate car and Disappearing Hobo car) took up the inside track. 

DSC_1180

I remember in the mid 1980s, adding Christmas decorations (mostly old cupcake toppers such as plastic snowmen or Santas) to the train layout we had.  I also cut out some of the decorations off old gift tags, and Scotch-taped them to the telephone poles.  My father was not amused.  I placed 6 (only 6) Hershey's kisses in an HO Union Pacific gondola, and he accused me of "wasting food."  Since he grew up in the Depression, I suppose he expected me to, also. 

Thank you for this thread, Vincent.  I hope to add more recent pics when my 2019 trains go up. 

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5CEEF9A8-ACCA-49E8-BD36-FE0192ABB38C77479893-BB64-4EDA-AA69-1C866F5835E189D3F6CD-17C4-4E75-B70F-CA09C7324A696530F88A-9A09-40D4-AD44-A159F18546E3Love this topic Vincent. Here’s some cars I’ve add to the Christmas layout under the tree thanks to you Vincent and this thread got me hyped up about a Christmas layout. This will probably do it for me on the rolling stock maybe  but as we add more stuff to the layout  I will post pics of them. The boxcars are the years my daughters were born except one or two I just liked them and so does Spencer’s our cat 

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Last edited by lee drennen
Vincent Massi posted:

5CEEF9A8-ACCA-49E8-BD36-FE0192ABB38C                                                     I'm gonna' eat that elf as soon as Lee turns his back!

That’s funny. He loves Christmas. Someone dumped him off by our house (we live in the country) 6yrs ago on December 22 he was a kitten had frost bite on his nose and still has the scar. He’s never been outside since I promised him he would never feel the cold again. By the way I’m not a Cat person 

Last edited by lee drennen

I know is about Christmas cars, But I just bought this as "Refurbished" from Lionel's email I received yesterday as a Christmas present for my 8 year old Grandson. Time to graduate from the "Ready to Play" Polar Express to a train like Grandpas. As the Dad says in "The Christmas Story", "I had one when I was his age". Actually it was a used 027 Marx freight set.

682545-01

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Jayhawk500 posted:

I know is about Christmas cars, But I just bought this as "Refurbished" from Lionel's email I received yesterday as a Christmas present for my 8 year old Grandson. Time to graduate from the "Ready to Play" Polar Express to a train like Grandpas. As the Dad says in "The Christmas Story", "I had one when I was his age". Actually it was a used 027 Marx freight set.

 

Not to be a downer, but definitely make sure to thoroughly check out the set before giving it to your grandson.  (That's sort of implied since it was refurbished, but just in case). 

I went through I think four of these sets at my dealer to assemble one set that was acceptable.  Several of the cars (and also the engine, IIRC) had coupling issues where they would not make it around a wide radius curve without coming unhooked, much less the O36 loop that came with the set.

If Lionel refurbished them properly, you should be OK, but better to check now than be surprised on Christmas morning.

-Dave

Last edited by Dave45681
Dave45681 posted:
Jayhawk500 posted:

I know is about Christmas cars, But I just bought this as "Refurbished" from Lionel's email I received yesterday as a Christmas present for my 8 year old Grandson. Time to graduate from the "Ready to Play" Polar Express to a train like Grandpas. As the Dad says in "The Christmas Story", "I had one when I was his age". Actually it was a used 027 Marx freight set.

 

Not to be a downer, but definitely make sure to thoroughly check out the set before giving it to your grandson.  (That's sort of implied since it was refurbished, but just in case). 

I went through I think four of these sets at my dealer to assemble one set that was acceptable.  Several of the cars (and also the engine, IIRC) had coupling issues where they would not make it around a wide radius curve without coming unhooked, much less the O36 loop that came with the set.

If Lionel refurbished them properly, you should be OK, but better to check now than be surprised on Christmas morning.

-Dave

Your not being a downer, rather, Thanks for the advise Dave. I'll do that!

Last edited by Jayhawk500
Jayhawk500 posted:

Your not being a downer, rather, Thanks for the advise Dave. I'll do that!

Hope it helps (of course, I really hope that there will be nothing found and it's all OK as it is!!)

I'd make sure it goes around the circle/oval a few laps in each direction.  (the dynamics of coming undone are different depending on which way the train is running, i.e. turning left or turning right on a simple loop or oval puts different motion on the couplers).

To Vincent, Sorry for diverting the topic of the thread a bit.  I'll make sure to come up with a pic or 2 of something not yet posted later.

-Dave

Here are a few Disney World Train decorations from last year:

One of the Walt Disney World Rail Road engines parked in front of the station that was decorated for Christmas:

IMG_9100

The train under the large tree when you walk into the Magic Kingdom: (The engine says Lilly Belle and the caboose is lettered for Carolwood Pacific)

IMG_9108

A Christmas train running on the G Gauge layout at the Germany pavilion at Epcot:

IMG_9710

IMG_9711

The train layout they assemble in the Lobby of the Yacht Club resort:

IMG_9868

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I'll try to come up with an O Gauge pic or 2 tomorrow.

-Dave

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Last edited by Dave45681

A few that I'm digging out to put under the tree that I haven't seen here yet…

1. K-Line Blinking Rudolph Boxcar (which, for some reason, I have three of…)

2. J&B Jingle Bells TOFC. Believe this was a TTOS convention car

3. K-Line Parade Car (from a set from the early 200s iirc) Note the Santa Claus figure is a replacement for the original policeman on horseback figure, which was actually too heavy for the belt and would always cause the belt drive to hang up.

 

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Here are some Christmas cars I run every year, some home-made:

1st:  A Lionel PW 027 Gondola full of presents made years ago by my Ex:

100_1089

2nd:  A Lionel PW 027 Frisco boxcar that I added wreaths to and lighted with a Lemax light string:

100_1093

Next is my wife's 0n30 Christmas train, beginning with the BLI 2-8-0 as built:

100_1095

Right behind the tender runs a plain high-sided Bachmann Gondola bearing the only Christmas Gift that matters, lighted with a small string of Lemax lights:

100_1098

Following the nativity is a Bachmann tank car I decorated in peppermint:

100_1099

Bringing up the rear is a Bachmann Christmas combine that I added more Lemax lights and some wreaths to:

100_1100

I apologize for the poor quality of the pics:  I am not photographer, the lighting is terrible, and our camera is bottom-of-the-line.

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I have only one truly Christmas railcar.  A G-gauge , in fact LGB Santa riding the rails.

IMG_4114

But decades ago bought this LGB 150-year German railroad commemorative set which definitely looks Christmassy. 

IMG_4106

It is a two car set.  This is a close-up of the add-on car.  Oh and the beer wagon is just another car.

IMG_4110

Ron

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Last edited by PRRronbh
palallin posted:

Here are some Christmas cars I run every year, some home-made:

1st:  A Lionel PW 027 Gondola full of presents made years ago by my Ex:

100_1089

2nd:  A Lionel PW 027 Frisco boxcar that I added wreaths to and lighted with a Lemax light string:

100_1093

Next is my wife's 0n30 Christmas train, beginning with the BLI 2-8-0 as built:

100_1095

Right behind the tender runs a plain high-sided Bachmann Gondola bearing the only Christmas Gift that matters, lighted with a small string of Lemax lights:

100_1098

Following the nativity is a Bachmann tank car I decorated in peppermint:

100_1099

Bringing up the rear is a Bachmann Christmas combine that I added more Lemax lights and some wreaths to:

100_1100

I apologize for the poor quality of the pics:  I am not photographer, the lighting is terrible, and our camera is bottom-of-the-line.

I like the lights on the combination car. The wires look like garland.

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