|
|
 Posted - November 23 2011 : 09:31:20 AM
|
It's getting time for Christmas!
I was interested in seeing what trains you all have under your Christmas trees. Post photos when you can!
I'm working on mine now. Trying to get as many trains as I can under the tree, but I'm limited to a 39"x60" area, so I have some challenges.
Happy Thanksgiving to all,
Mark
|
Country:  USA ~
Posts: 293 ~
Member Since: January 17 2010 ~
Last Visit: September 29 2023
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
Pierce
Big Six
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - November 23 2011 : 2:54:13 PM
|
| I am no grinch but can we at least finish up November :)
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 204 ~
Member Since: August 19 2008 ~
Last Visit: January 21 2022
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 23 2011 : 3:49:23 PM
|
Just saying that WHEN you do your layout, put a picture up if you can.
NO HURRY!
Mark
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 293 ~
Member Since: January 17 2010 ~
Last Visit: September 29 2023
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 23 2011 : 4:40:11 PM
|
My beloved's and my first Christmas tree...she had never heard of or seen a Christmas garden before...
As then, I still make out own buildings out of cardboard, she paints them...
Here's our layout now...42" x 60"
Edited by - shaygetz on November 23 2011 4:41:17 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 23 2011 : 5:03:58 PM
|
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 385 ~
Member Since: August 08 2007 ~
Last Visit: October 10 2023
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 23 2011 : 7:18:35 PM
|
Ahhhhh, nothin like the smell of hot oil,and ozone from a postwar Lionel train!
Nice job Tayco!
Carl T.
President of the Cape James Terminal RR.
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 691 ~
Member Since: April 16 2006 ~
Last Visit: November 01 2020
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 23 2011 : 9:07:10 PM
|
quote:Ahhhhh, nothin like the smell of hot oil,and ozone from a postwar Lionel train!
Carl T.
Originally posted by choochin3Â -Â November 23 2011Â :Â 7:18:35 PM
|
You said it Carl !!! under the tree this year is gonna be a vintage 1950 773 Hudson that needs 16 volts of AC just to move !!! Crank her up to 20 volts she will trot around the tree at safe pace but the heater element will gobble up about a 1/2 dozen original pills in about a hour....original SP pills to me thats a real Christmas smell !!!
BT
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 385 ~
Member Since: August 08 2007 ~
Last Visit: October 10 2023
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 23 2011 : 9:23:21 PM
|
| Lionel is definitely the way to go. We just set ours up today. I don't like to do it so early, but it works well for us to do it while everybody's got some time around Thanksgiving. Right now we're running a 2037 on a 1033 transformer, with a simple oval track. I didn't want to bring the ZW downstairs this year now that I've got a semi-permanent setup. Pictures will follow when we get the buildings in place.
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 1166 ~
Member Since: October 18 2009 ~
Last Visit: December 23 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 23 2011 : 10:16:09 PM
|
quote: Right now we're running a 2037 on a 1033 transformer,
|
2037 !!! one word ...."bulletproof"
A great ozone generator in its own right...and as long as there's electricity it will run another sixty years !!!
The 1033 another reliable performer too !!!
What I find amazing is pretty much all of the "Bakelite Bulldogs" that Lionel produced in the late 40s ,50s and 60s are still working today !
You cant say that about the sheet metal dc packs that were made by Scintilla and K&F or the early Brooklyn made MRC packs....quite frankly I would be afraid of plugging any of those in !
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 385 ~
Member Since: August 08 2007 ~
Last Visit: October 10 2023
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 23 2011 : 10:25:43 PM
|
quote:Ahhhhh, nothin like the smell of hot oil,and ozone from a postwar Lionel train!
Nice job Tayco!
Carl T.
Originally posted by choochin3Â -Â November 23 2011Â :Â 7:18:35 PM
|
I hafta add a Marklin HR800 to that list...that old bird on my layout makes ozone like a fine perfume...
|
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 23 2011 : 10:48:08 PM
|
hey Taycotrains I recognize the maker of the Global Van Lines truck as Ralstoy from Ralston, Nebraska  I has one but in North American Van Lines
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 14894 ~
Member Since: February 23 2009 ~
Last Visit: April 29 2025
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 24 2011 : 09:06:46 AM
|
I'm not sure which train I want running this year.
It's a tie between my Lionel 685,or my Marklin stuff.
Maybe both! I can put the tree on the dining room table with the marklin stuff directly under it,and run the Lionels around the table on the floor.
This is gonna be fun!
Carl T.
President of the Cape James Terminal RR.
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 691 ~
Member Since: April 16 2006 ~
Last Visit: November 01 2020
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 24 2011 : 8:07:37 PM
|
quote:| As then, I still make out own buildings out of cardboard, she paints them... |
Shaygetz: The cardboard buildings look great! Do you use cereal box cardboard or...?
I have accumulated a nice collection of porcelain buildings. Zellers/Canadian Tire used to sell them for $1 each after Xmas Those usually go under the tree along with a Disney Monorail  I'll get some pics once everything is set up!
|
Country:  Canada ~
Posts: 3412 ~
Member Since: September 22 2006 ~
Last Visit: April 10 2025
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 24 2011 : 9:08:41 PM
|
quote: quote:| As then, I still make out own buildings out of cardboard, she paints them... |
Shaygetz: The cardboard buildings look great! Do you use cereal box cardboard or...?
Originally posted by DaCheez - November 24 2011 : 8:07:37 PM
|
Thank you...I use every kind of plain, uncoated/unprinted cardboard I can find, from shirt boxes and packing boxes mostly. Plain white typing paper is used for roof seams and windows, with details draw in pencil and colored with felt tip pens.
Edited by - shaygetz on November 24 2011 9:09:53 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 25 2011 : 06:39:50 AM
|
Shay, Your carpentry and structure building are really admirable. I'm impressed by both.
Alco Fan
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 2496 ~
Member Since: August 03 2006 ~
Last Visit: September 17 2024
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 25 2011 : 1:15:17 PM
|
i hate to say it but i've lost all interest in chrismas. every year all the big stores start putting out their christmas stuff earlier & earlier. they have sucked the christmas sprite right out of me. we haven't put up a tree in the last three years now. our kids have grown up & we have two cats that would be into everything. the whole holiday is B.S.
jerry
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 553 ~
Member Since: January 14 2009 ~
Last Visit: September 13 2024
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 25 2011 : 6:16:12 PM
|
I just finished putting up the lights outside, and plugged in the prelighted tree I got on sale last year, I put it up Monday.
I probably won't have trains under the tree this year and now I wish I had picked up the used easy track at the hobbyshop, would have been cheap and not required a table on the carpet. I may still do something and I still have the layout in the basement. Dad had a custom table made for us as kids, that was 5'x9' and we ran his 671 Steam Turbine set and our Athearn HO set on and held the tree in a house with tall ceilings.
Shopping and facing the crowds is not for me so I plan for the optimum times to shop.
My daughter just asked recently if they might start pushing sales for Christmas in August, her birthday month.
From Thanksgiving to Christmas day is a busy time. I usually have a huge backdrop to paint for a Children's play at church and making at least one gift so the time usually flys by.
Thanks for sharing your Christmas layouts, if I can find a picture of an old one I'll post it.
I still enjoy Christmas because I know the reason for the season is not mass-marketing.
Alco Fan
Edited by - Alco Fan on November 26 2011 09:29:04 AM
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 2496 ~
Member Since: August 03 2006 ~
Last Visit: September 17 2024
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 25 2011 : 8:54:59 PM
|
quote:i hate to say it but i've lost all interest in chrismas. every year all the big stores start putting out their christmas stuff earlier & earlier. they have sucked the christmas sprite right out of me. we haven't put up a tree in the last three years now. our kids have grown up & we have two cats that would be into everything. the whole holiday is B.S.
Originally posted by smokie - November 25 2011 : 1:15:17 PM
|
Christmas Sprite? I like that with a slice of lime....
Seriously, though, I can totally understand where you're coming from. All the commercial stuff is way out of control. Look at the headlines today: a woman pepper sprayed a crowd to get to the things she wanted to buy. My parents and in-laws have given us so many "decorative items" that we have to store them in 5 giant plastic totes, then drag it all out each year. The whole idea of getting together and sharing good cheer gets put on the back burner too often. If I didn't have kids, I wouldn't do much to celebrate either.
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 1166 ~
Member Since: October 18 2009 ~
Last Visit: December 23 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 25 2011 : 9:11:51 PM
|
In addition to everything else mentioned, one thing that puts a damper on Christmas for me is the proliferation of those tacky inflatable ornaments that make people's lawns look like they were attacked by roving bands of carnival folk. I'm sorry, Santa in a jet plane doesn't do it for me.  Some people never got the message that less is usually more.
The Tyco Depot
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 3927 ~
Member Since: June 20 2007 ~
Last Visit: November 19 2015
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 25 2011 : 10:33:07 PM
|
As my faith grows, Christmas falls more to the wayside in all the trappings that surround it now. I still enjoy my fond memories of it and do the best I can to give those to my children. I find the gift obligations annoying but do my best to find things that truly are a blessing to those I give them to. Quite frankly, I'd sooner not get any myself, but only because I'm content with what I already have. I do wish I could take my layout public more often but, my job prohibits such things in the very places that are easiest for me to get to.
I truly thought that I had lost it all after 8 years in retail and the Christmas madness I worked in for 3 months prior. It started into high gear working 8 hour shifts on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve found me quite burnt out every year. It took a few years but the sparkle in my kid's eyes that morning (we teach the legend of Santa, not the reality) brought it back. We've never made it a day of avarice and materialism...none of our children got to ask for anything, it is always based on what money we have to spare and what we know they'd appreciate.
I'll always enjoy the holiday, just not to the level I grew up with or worked around.
|
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 25 2011 : 10:53:49 PM
|
Shay:
I'd say thats all pretty normal.
I will try to do something special on Christmas day for someone, likely a complete stranger.
I too do not join in the "normal" festivities but in my case having lost my faith several years ago, doesn't feel like it's anything to do with me in a sense. I'm not much of a consumer which seems to be the reason most people look forward to it.
Still I do enjoy a bit of spark that moves people at this time of year. I wish they could sustain it. I do very much enjoy seeing people enjoy it and I wish them great joy as I will here on this forum though not celebrating it myself. I think it is enough to be happy for others. Thats a grace itself.
-Gareth
PS: Shay, I'm glad you're here, and that your AV software got in the Christmas spirit! 
"A is A"
-Aristotle
Law of Identification
Edited by - romcat on November 25 2011 10:59:59 PM
|
|
Country: Canada ~
Posts: 4200 ~
Member Since: January 08 2006 ~
Last Visit: November 09 2021
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 26 2011 : 01:04:58 AM
|
quote:Shay:
I too do not join in the "normal" festivities but in my case having lost my faith several years ago, doesn't feel like it's anything to do with me in a sense. I'm not much of a consumer which seems to be the reason most people look forward to it.
Originally posted by romcat - November 25 2011 : 10:53:49 PM
|
Romcat, you and I might agree on more than I thought. This sounds like something I would say.
(cue the sappy music)
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 1166 ~
Member Since: October 18 2009 ~
Last Visit: December 23 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 26 2011 : 01:35:49 AM
|
and on that note, a gently fading adagio I'm heading for bed!
-Gareth
"A is A"
-Aristotle
Law of Identification
|
|
Country: Canada ~
Posts: 4200 ~
Member Since: January 08 2006 ~
Last Visit: November 09 2021
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 26 2011 : 7:53:26 PM
|
Geez, get a room, you two. 
/tyco/forum/uploaded/NickelPlate759/20111126195011_hahaha-024.gif
The Tyco Depot
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 3927 ~
Member Since: June 20 2007 ~
Last Visit: November 19 2015
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 26 2011 : 7:56:32 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by shaygetz - November 25 2011 : 10:33:07 PM
|
I knew it! They're reproducing and building their own armies. 
The Tyco Depot
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 3927 ~
Member Since: June 20 2007 ~
Last Visit: November 19 2015
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 26 2011 : 8:18:57 PM
|
quote: quote:
Originally posted by shaygetz - November 25 2011 : 10:33:07 PM
|
I knew it! They're reproducing and building their own armies.
Originally posted by NickelPlate759Â -Â November 26 2011Â :Â 7:56:32 PM
|
Hey....where'd you get the picture of my house?
I'm not even kidding. If my mother keeps buying things for my kids, this is what it's going to look like.
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 1166 ~
Member Since: October 18 2009 ~
Last Visit: December 23 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 26 2011 : 9:08:53 PM
|
NP;
Snork!
-Gareth
"A is A"
-Aristotle
Law of Identification
|
|
Country: Canada ~
Posts: 4200 ~
Member Since: January 08 2006 ~
Last Visit: November 09 2021
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - November 26 2011 : 10:06:29 PM
|
Was in a Toys R Us the other day, and noticed near the front door, they had a Christmas tree train kit, to mount a plastic framework on the middle of the tree, and run a cheap train around. Unfortunately, the radius is not suitable for standard 9 inch curved, but I was thinking maybe flex track would work, and run a small diesel switcher on it. or even a gandy dancer would be cool. Kit was $25, and I didn't have the extra $ then, I may consider getting one though.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 3974 ~
Member Since: January 04 2009 ~
Last Visit: January 11 2019
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - December 06 2020 : 4:37:39 PM
|
Nice Christmas memories.
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 7041 ~
Member Since: February 12 2014 ~
Last Visit: April 29 2025
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
Home
Forums
Events Calendar
Forum Admins & Mods
Register
