Show us your under the tree layouts!

Finally finished.  

- Nick

Finished layout looks great, Nick!!  I sprinkled snow on mine two years ago, but didn't last year.  I haven't done it yet, but may do so.  I like the icy look of the edging on your table a lot!  The hockey game looks good there!  Reminds me I have the old hockey game my brother and I used to play with the twisty sticks to control the players.  Actually it is the second one.  We got one about 1970 and as my dad said, we didn't break it, we wore it out.  So I bought another in the late '70s and still have it.  Of course it is bigger than that nice rink you have!!

Thank you, Mark!  I love the look of the sprinkled snow, but I'm not looking forward to cleaning it up! 

Nick, Yes that was the problem.  I was careful not to put any snow on the track or engines, but when I got them out this year, there was snow on them from two years ago.  I think it came from not getting it all off the snow blanket.

carsntrains posted:

pennytrains posted:

Postwar mayhem featuring a Lionel paper train!  Enjoy! 

Hey I saw that blow mold teddy bear!  COOL..  Very nice layout and filming!

Thanks!      Part of my outdoor display that I've been too sick to set up for the last 15 years.

Note the Coca Cola Sundblom Santa playing with the Standard Gauge train.

Rudolph, Hermie and misfit toys ride in 512 gondola while chocolate milk from "Holly Berry Farms" arrives in 516 oil car.    Loco, tender and caboose were based on Hallmark ornaments.

Mickey and company were supposed to look like they were on the platform of a heavyweight observation with the bell plaque acting as the drum head.

Christmas 1972:

This train started it all for me on Christmas day 1969.

Under a small tree:

Mark Boyce posted:

Nick, Yes that was the problem.  I was careful not to put any snow on the track or engines, but when I got them out this year, there was snow on them from two years ago.  I think it came from not getting it all off the snow blanket.

I sprinkled a layout I had on a ping-pong table in the basement with....you ready for this?......lime.    You know, that white powder stuff dad used in the garden?     I'll take cleaning up plastic snow flakes over the mess that lime made any day! 

Jerry Williams posted:

Looks great Jerry!

I just got home from deployment just in time to set up my seven month old daughter’s first Christmas train layout. It isn’t much, but it’s been great sharing the hobby with her.

Finally got to picture of the layout this year under the tree!

Merry Christmas to all!

Dennis

These pictures are from the Christmas layout that our club runs at the Toledo Zoo for the Lights Before Christmas (the #1 light display in Ohio!) The zoo is the section of the layout that I am in charge of.

Andrew Gallousis posted:

I just got home from deployment just in time to set up my seven month old daughter’s first Christmas train layout. It isn’t much, but it’s been great sharing the hobby with her.

Thankyou for your service, Lt.  Go Argonauts

Andrew Gallousis posted:

I just got home from deployment just in time to set up my seven month old daughter’s first Christmas train layout. It isn’t much, but it’s been great sharing the hobby with her.

Thank you for your service and may you and your faintly have one of the best Chrimas’s ever

chinatrain99 posted:

And here is why I can’t have a layout under my tree.   And this is only 1/4 of the problem.  

This photo would be a beautiful Christmas card and especially appealing to cat lovers, of which there are many.

Andrew Gallousis posted:

I just got home from deployment just in time to set up my seven month old daughter’s first Christmas train layout. It isn’t much, but it’s been great sharing the hobby with her.

Andrew, I suggest when your daughter is a little older, that you put O Scale figures on your layouts. Then, you can tell her stories of where the little people are going, what they are doing, etc., like I did with my daughter when she was little. It's like playing with dolls and in my experience little girls love this.

Andrew Gallousis posted:

I just got home from deployment just in time to set up my seven month old daughter’s first Christmas train layout. It isn’t much, but it’s been great sharing the hobby with her.

Thank You for your Service!

Nick R. posted:

Finally finished.  

- Nick

the vehicle lights really make it pop.  great job!

                 don't have room under the tree with all of  IZZY'S presents there...

                             here she is counting down the days till Christmas

                                        have a  Merry Christmas everyone !!

My modest little Village under the tree. 

Here's mine. I was waiting for this thread to pop up again. Our tree this year, is the top to our normally 12' tall tree. It's just the wife and I this year and she wanted an all Train theme. The ornaments are all of my Hallmark Lionel ornaments collected from over the years. The buildings are Santas Workshop, Dept 56, and Heartland Valley. My mom did the embroidery panel a few years ago.

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

chinatrain99 posted:

And here is why I can’t have a layout under my tree.   And this is only 1/4 of the problem.  

This photo would be a beautiful Christmas card and especially appealing to cat lovers, of which there are many.

Our orange tabby didn’t stake out space under the tree, surprisingly, but she is the only one of the five cats that we have had over 17 years to invade my basement layout.

We have had a Christmas tree train for the last few years, which was limited in space thus I used Lionel O31 track with 10" straights on long side and 5" straights on short side. 

This year we rearranged the living room and delegated a little more Christmas tree space. We agreed that the train would completely distract from the tree. I also decided to upgrade the track to O42 curves and appearance with Ross track. 

I decided on a Williams UP GP9 followed by two MTH Christmas boxcars, a Lionel red CNJ PS-2 covered hopper, and ended with a MTH Chessie yellow bay-window caboose.

(notice the my newest purchase: a Menards panel truck)

I love all the photographs of the trains under the trees everyone. 

Andrew, Congratulations for getting home in time for Christmas with your family.  Thank you very much for your service!!  

Andrew Gallousis posted:

I just got home from deployment just in time to set up my seven month old daughter’s first Christmas train layout. It isn’t much, but it’s been great sharing the hobby with her.

It's because of great men like you, Andrew, who have served this country so well, that we can all dream and pursue happiness with our children and trains. Isn't it wonderful that you, Andrew, can do that now with your daughter and trains.

Wishing you all, my fellow train enthusiasts and dreamers, joy and happiness during this holiday season.

My outdoor Christmas Train!  

The last Christmas Train Garden my father and I built together before he passed in 1977 was the Lionel disappearing train layout.  One of my greatest memories.  40 years later, my son and I created our own version 

Merry Christmas

Andrew Gallousis posted:

I just got home from deployment just in time to set up my seven month old daughter’s first Christmas train layout. It isn’t much, but it’s been great sharing the hobby with her.

Thank you Andrew.  Enjoy the season with your beautiful daughter.  

Nick R. posted:

Finally finished.  

- Nick

Delightful layout, excellent pictures!

dennish posted:

Finally got to picture of the layout this year under the tree!

Merry Christmas to all!

Dennis

 

These pictures are from the Christmas layout that our club runs at the Toledo Zoo for the Lights Before Christmas (the #1 light display in Ohio!) The zoo is the section of the layout that I am in charge of.

Santa Claus won't want to ever leave your house!

Thank you also to Dan for his outstanding service to our country (which I just read in his profile) and for introducing me to "Follower" on this forum. 

Thank you everyone for the comments!  It's truly great to be home with my family.  

Merry Christmas to you all!

2017 Christmas Layout featuring my new.   20-20764-1 Santa Fe F3 A unit PS3 2016 Engine.   I have a mix of scratch built structures including the switch tower pictured and several others along with alot if Menards fill in structures along with some animated Lemax scenes and over 1200 lights if you include the tree which is part of the layout. All of it is turned on and off by a few remotes . I have up to 3 trains running at the same time. 2 on the main line and siding and 1 on the separate modified figure 8 track.  They are all controlled by 1 DCS Remote. All engines are MTH.  I used over 75 pieces of Lionel fastrack. This year I used Scarm to design the layout before building it. It seemed to work out much better using that design software.  I have 1 TIU and 1 AIU with 2 remote switchs for the main line siding. The layout is approximately 16ft by 5ft.  I installed over 175 passengers in the Santa Fe cars including a full vista dome car which had about 16 screws to disassemble but worth the time. I cannot run long trains on the main line because I'm operating 2 at the same time and only have a 14ft siding which I can only park a shorter train which works out well since both are only being pulled by 1 working engine. It takes about a month to finish it but I keep it up atleast until mid February.  I started this 8 years ago when my grandson was born and it's grown every year. I have several videos over the years showing the expansion and growth of the layout on you tube under (David McVicker) which is simply put down on the carpet over a white blankets and the fake snow rolls to cover 10 miles of wire lol. I have several LED lighted vehicles I made thanks to Evans designs in Colrado. A few Illinois State police cars pulling over a drunk driver who's sitting on the hood of his car. A few other vehicles and I also use several of there LEDS  in all of my structues from a wood burning stove in the fire lookout tower to the police cars.  I have 3 blue LED bendable 3ft trees that run on 2 d batteries that come on at 4pm and shut off at midnight. I used LEMAX field lights to highlight several of my animated scenes and a pictures wirh Santa Claus  scence i made. I could go on and on but the pictures and videos speak for them selves.i hope you enjoyed my Christmas O Scale train layout. 

SteveC posted:

The last Christmas Train Garden my father and I built together before he passed in 1977 was the Lionel disappearing train layout.  One of my greatest memories.  40 years later, my son and I created our own version 

Merry Christmas

David,

What a great tribute to your dad!  The layout looks great!  That's a lot of elves working hard, and ready to take a break 'surfing'?  

You have a lot of great scenes all captured in a relatively small area!

Lowes2win posted:

2017 Christmas Layout featuring my new.   20-20764-1 Santa Fe F3 A unit PS3 2016 Engine.   I have a mix of scratch built structures including the switch tower pictured and several others along with alot if Menards fill in structures along with some animated Lemax scenes and over 1200 lights if you include the tree which is part of the layout. All of it is turned on and off by a few remotes . I have up to 3 trains running at the same time. 2 on the main line and siding and 1 on the separate modified figure 8 track.  They are all controlled by 1 DCS Remote. All engines are MTH.  I used over 75 pieces of Lionel fastrack. This year I used Scarm to design the layout before building it. It seemed to work out much better using that design software.  I have 1 TIU and 1 AIU with 2 remote switchs for the main line siding. The layout is approximately 16ft by 5ft.  I installed over 175 passengers in the Santa Fe cars including a full vista dome car which had about 16 screws to disassemble but worth the time. I cannot run long trains on the main line because I'm operating 2 at the same time and only have a 14ft siding which I can only park a shorter train which works out well since both are only being pulled by 1 working engine. It takes about a month to finish it but I keep it up atleast until mid February.  I started this 8 years ago when my grandson was born and it's grown every year. I have several videos over the years showing the expansion and growth of the layout on you tube under (David McVicker) which is simply put down on the carpet over a white blankets and the fake snow rolls to cover 10 miles of wire lol. I have several LED lighted vehicles I made thanks to Evans designs in Colrado. A few Illinois State police cars pulling over a drunk driver who's sitting on the hood of his car. A few other vehicles and I also use several of there LEDS  in all of my structues from a wood burning stove in the fire lookout tower to the police cars.  I have 3 blue LED bendable 3ft trees that run on 2 d batteries that come on at 4pm and shut off at midnight. I used LEMAX field lights to highlight several of my animated scenes and a pictures wirh Santa Claus  scence i made. I could go on and on but the pictures and videos speak for them selves.i hope you enjoyed my Christmas O Scale train layout. 

 

 

 

Great looking layout!  You went all out, especially with the lighting and all the passengers!!  I really like the overall effect besides the small scenes!  I also like the big cross on the wall above!

Have a blessed Christmas!!!

Andrew Gallousis posted:

Thank you everyone for the comments!  It's truly great to be home with my family.  

Merry Christmas to you all!

I'll say it again; I'm glad you are home with your family, and I thank you for serving our country!!

Merry Christmas!!

Mark Boyce posted:

SteveC posted:

The last Christmas Train Garden my father and I built together before he passed in 1977 was the Lionel disappearing train layout.  One of my greatest memories.  40 years later, my son and I created our own version 

Merry Christmas

David,

What a great tribute to your dad!  The layout looks great!  That's a lot of elves working hard, and ready to take a break 'surfing'?  

You have a lot of great scenes all captured in a relatively small area!

The one time a year when HO fits into O gauge fun. 

I watched Gremlins last night and wondered if I could melt these guys into monster shapes and put them next to all the PS2 engines that have blown boards. (maybe N scale people - for next year)

Thanks for looking.  

Garret Shelly's Diner looks good.  You should have posted in the Diner's on Layout thread a while back.

Steve C. Love the elves.  Are they HO people?  that was a lot of red and green paint.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and God's Blessings from the Princeton Railroad Museum.

Mark Boyce posted:

Lowes2win posted:

2017 Christmas Layout featuring my new.   20-20764-1 Santa Fe F3 A unit PS3 2016 Engine.   I have a mix of scratch built structures including the switch tower pictured and several others along with alot if Menards fill in structures along with some animated Lemax scenes and over 1200 lights if you include the tree which is part of the layout. All of it is turned on and off by a few remotes . I have up to 3 trains running at the same time. 2 on the main line and siding and 1 on the separate modified figure 8 track.  They are all controlled by 1 DCS Remote. All engines are MTH.  I used over 75 pieces of Lionel fastrack. This year I used Scarm to design the layout before building it. It seemed to work out much better using that design software.  I have 1 TIU and 1 AIU with 2 remote switchs for the main line siding. The layout is approximately 16ft by 5ft.  I installed over 175 passengers in the Santa Fe cars including a full vista dome car which had about 16 screws to disassemble but worth the time. I cannot run long trains on the main line because I'm operating 2 at the same time and only have a 14ft siding which I can only park a shorter train which works out well since both are only being pulled by 1 working engine. It takes about a month to finish it but I keep it up atleast until mid February.  I started this 8 years ago when my grandson was born and it's grown every year. I have several videos over the years showing the expansion and growth of the layout on you tube under (David McVicker) which is simply put down on the carpet over a white blankets and the fake snow rolls to cover 10 miles of wire lol. I have several LED lighted vehicles I made thanks to Evans designs in Colrado. A few Illinois State police cars pulling over a drunk driver who's sitting on the hood of his car. A few other vehicles and I also use several of there LEDS  in all of my structues from a wood burning stove in the fire lookout tower to the police cars.  I have 3 blue LED bendable 3ft trees that run on 2 d batteries that come on at 4pm and shut off at midnight. I used LEMAX field lights to highlight several of my animated scenes and a pictures wirh Santa Claus  scence i made. I could go on and on but the pictures and videos speak for them selves.i hope you enjoyed my Christmas O Scale train layout. 

 

 

 

Great looking layout!  You went all out, especially with the lighting and all the passengers!!  I really like the overall effect besides the small scenes!  I also like the big cross on the wall above!

Have a blessed Christmas!!!

Thank you.  My Grandson made that cross out of 2 simple 2x4s left over from a project his dad was working on 4 years ago. It' very special to me. It' slightly off center when he put it together but that gives it character.  That' the meaning behind all of this. When I see that cross it grounds me and reminds me of the true meaning behind all of this.  Bless you and your family and thank you for your kind comments.  I am keeping the cross up even after the layout is removed 

Such great pictures and Christmas spirit here on this thread!

Wishing everyone a safe, restful and Merry Christmas!