Good Evening...
I'm a bit of a newbie to model railroading. I last put up an HO set w/ my grandfather when I was in high school about 15 years ago, before he passed away. My dad recently survived his third bout w/ Lymphoma and gave me kind of a "bucket list" request to put up O gauge for him this Christmas. He used to put up O gauge w/ my grandfather when he was a kid. You could say I'm in the "purchasing" phase of fulfilling this request. Now I'm wondering if there is a reliable brand name for Christmas "village" buildings/structures that would look festive w/ a small layout I'm planning (5'6"x8' or so). I'd like to get a jump on things since I'm anticipating perhaps other parts of this process going slowly for me!
Any recommendations or personal experiences on this issue shared w/ me would be greatly appreciated. I really want to make my dad smile this Christmas!
Thanks a lot, and I'm sure you'll see me in this forum more frequently over the next several months!
Matt
Welcome to the forum.
Department 56 is "THE" brand on ceramic villages, also very pricy. There are many others available that look just as good. Most of the BIG BOX stores sell a line of their own that are very inexpensive. Last year I bought a couple at the local Dollar General.
Banks, Proud member of the OTTS TCA 12-67310
I would consider the size you gave to be LARGE for a Christmas layout. Maybe consider something more like 4x6 ? Building-wise I'm a fan of LEMAX as the cost much less, look as good (IMO), and offer a larger selection than Dept.56. Although LEMAX and Dept.56 buildings are the "right" size, the figures are closer to "G scale".
While I have a few Dept. 56 buildings, most of the ceramic buildings on my layout are by Lemax. These are sold by a great variety of stores and most of mine are from Ace Hardware or Michaels, or regional stores Menards and Steins Gardens and Gifts. They look good, and they are "priced to move." Laster Hobby Supplies has the 2011 Lemax Halloween and Christmas lines on their ehobbytools.com website.
Bob Keller
I have to second Joe's comment on Lemax. They can be purchased "in season" at Hobby Lobby and Michael's stores. Look for the coupons which typically are 40% or better. If they are not this week, they will be next on the coupon. Also, you can get really good deals after Christmas. Joe is also right in that the people that they sell for these buildings are the wrong size. Look in the train section of Hobby Lobby and they may have such figures. The size can be anywhere between 1/43 to 1/50 scale for such a set up.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
I have a lot of Lemax items in my village. They look pretty nice, and don't cost nearly as much as the Dept. 56 buildings. Michaels usually have big discount coupons that you might be able to spend on Lemax items.
watch?v=5UdXeVWtS2Q&feature=channelvideotitle
Thanks for the feedback! I have not heard of Lemax, but that sounds pretty promising. Looking fwd to seeing the video later today, should be very helpful to me to see some ideas for how it should look. I'm behind a firewall at work.
SantaFe........that is beautiful! Thank you for the video. My Christmas layout is far smaller, far simpler, and has to employ the wife's Christmas decorations, her buildings (village pieces). For some of these, scale is out the window. But it gets the job done and everyone is happy.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
Thanks for the feedback. What you said seems to be the consensus: Lemax and Dept 56 are the best choices, but the people are a little off. As for the size, I was envisioning two ovals, w/ a trolley or small "commuter" type train on the inside track. My grandfather drove a trolley for SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Auth.) for almost 40 years, and according to my dad, he always had a trolley on the platform. So for an homage to him, I'm trying to accomodate that. Do you think 8'x5'6" is still too big if I'm going to have two tracks?
Thanks!
Thanks, I'm 16 now and started with a Lionel NYC Flyer under the tree when I was 3 and then added my moms small Christmas village around 2nd grade (5 or 6 buildings) and it's grown over the years . It's always a lot of fun though. I add a few things to the village every year. Now I have trouble finding places to plug lighted buildings in.
The train collection has also grown a lot since the first set. I'm up to around 14-15 Locomotives (a small number compared to some collections) and somewhere between 30-40 cars.
I like the Dept. 56 buildings more than the other brands. I can pretty much tell a Dept. 56 building at a glance from other brands by the difference in quality. But I have a fairly large collection of the buildings and if I am ever able to build a permanent layout, the buildings are going to be a major part of it.
Everyone else is correct in that you can find other brands for less money. The majority of people are going to look at your Christmas village and think it is neat and not be able to tell one brand from another or even care. You can have a very nice Christmas village for far less money if you use Lemax or big box/department store brands such as Home Depot, Lowes, or Kohls.
If you do get any Dept. 56 buildings, they have different themed "villages", such as North Pole, Christmas in the City, and Snow Village, plus a few others. The buildings have different architectural styles, and are also different scales. Snow Village is probably the most popular, I've heard mention that they scale better with O scale trains, and the buildings are larger than the Christmas in the City buildings. It probably looks better if you stay within one "village", but a mix can look nice, too. I don't know if Lemax or the other brands have different "villages" or not.
As mentioned, the people that come with the village buildings, or can be purchased as separate accessories, are way out of scale for O scale trains. But, if you aren't concerned with scale, the people do add a nice touch and they are easier to see than the scale, but comparatively little O scale people. I've seen neat Christmas Village layouts that are pretty much scale, but I've also seen some really neat layouts that have a real mish-mash of buildings and people and toys in all sorts of scales and from all sorts of manufacturers that are really charming. There really aren't any rules for setting up a train around a tree at Christmas.
At the end of this month (August) Micheal's normally starts putting out their Halloween and Christmas displays and the items are normally discounted 10 to 20 percent. So it's not to soon!
SantaFe158 Thanks, I'm 16 now and started with a Lionel NYC Flyer under the tree when I was 3 and then added my moms small Christmas village around 2nd grade (5 or 6 buildings) and it's grown over the years . It's always a lot of fun though. I add a few things to the village every year. Now I have trouble finding places to plug lighted buildings in. The train collection has also grown a lot since the first set. I'm up to around 14-15 Locomotives (a small number compared to some collections) and somewhere between 30-40 cars.
By the time you get to be 42 you'll have purple hair and will wear nothing but blue and orange!
Lemax is definately the cheaper route and can be found year round on Ebay. Look under Collectables: Holiday and Seasonal: Christmas Current: Villages and Houses. Many Lemax and Dept 56 items command a high price especially if they're models from 3 or 5 years ago. I worked at Michael's for awhile and I can tell you if you want anything Lemax buy it the first week it's on the shelf. If you wait for sales/coupons you'll be out of luck.
I look for this kind of stuff every year and while I'm not a structure collector, I've noticed that some big box retailers like Target have reduced or diminished what they carry. You can do decently at Wal Mart and K-Mart but specialty and craft stores usually have more of the line. Dept. 56 you can usually only find at Halmark stores or high end retailers like Macy's.
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
msbsouthpaw Do you think 8'x5'6" is still too big if I'm going to have two tracks? Thanks! Matt
Do you think 8'x5'6" is still too big if I'm going to have two tracks?
My layout is usually about 16'*6' and that's including a narrow yard section on one end. I have two tracks, one is probably about 13' long and the other is a little more than half of that. I think you would be fine with that dimension with a short trolley track. If you have the room, you might want a little more to spread things out more. I have a platforms that most of the buildings go on and then the trains and a few other things are on the floor level. It helps give a little more height to things.
Watch my video in my other post. The section right under the tree (from the inner loop) will be a little bigger than what you are thinking of doing. I'm not sure how much stuff you want to put in there. If just a few buildings, the trolley and a couple loops of track then you should be good.
The figures that companies like Lemax make are a little smaller than G scale. They are big. If you keep them away from the trains a little, and not directly around a building then they look pretty good.
A few pictures for inspiration-
The track in front of the buildings is the trolley line
This is the trolley I use. It's made by Lionel. Not the greatest one, but I only use it at Christmas so it does the job.
A 4'*4' Christmas layout I had in my basement one year.
The first few buildings of my brothers Dept. 56 Christmas Story village (based on buildings from the movie). He's expanded a lot since then.
Great pictures Southpaw. I am aware of Dept. 56 and LEMAX, but sure wish there was some more European buildings. There isn't alot in O guage. I have bought a couple of the newer Lionel Polar Express sets for my nephew and grandson to get them into the hobby. I wrote to Lionel asking why they didn't team up with another company to reproduce the buildings from the movie. Never did get an answer.
I am not talented like Becky, no way I could make my own. But I just might have to try, as I see no other option.
Patrick
Patrick, I tend to lean towards the Lemax brand for their pricing structure but the Dept 56, if you are interested in say an English look, carry a line called Dickens Village.
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doug,
I had over 30 of the Dickens village buildings. The X hated them, but the judge awarded them to her anyway! :-) Heck of an investment. Just surprised that no company see's the opening in the market.
great stuff santa fe! that first color shot makes me wish it was christmas right now! the b/w stuff is nice too. reminds of some of the shots from the old Lionel catalogs my dad kept since the 60's.
thanks for the ideas. a lot of that is similar to what i was picturing in my mind about how it should look.
tailpipe62 Great pictures Southpaw. I am aware of Dept. 56 and LEMAX, but sure wish there was some more European buildings. There isn't alot in O guage. I have bought a couple of the newer Lionel Polar Express sets for my nephew and grandson to get them into the hobby. I wrote to Lionel asking why they didn't team up with another company to reproduce the buildings from the movie. Never did get an answer. I am not talented like Becky, no way I could make my own. But I just might have to try, as I see no other option. Patrick
Thank you! blush But it's really a lot easier than it looks! Give it a try, you'll surprise yourself!
Can anyone suggest a track plan for me? My idea is to have one freight train running, w/ some siding to put "idle" cars (my dad is very attached to some rather sad-looking pieces of freight we found stored away in grandmom's house), and a second track of some sort within that w/ a trolley or commuter train.
What do you all think of the Lionel Fastrack book? SGT Google (as google is affectionately known in my, and most, Army units) seems to reveal mixed opinions on it's usefulness.
I found some other sites w/ track plans, but nothing really exactly what I was looking for, and within my space constraints.
Thanks again for all the kind feedback.
If cost is a factor, I recommend the buildings at AC Moore and Joann Fabrics, if you have those near you. Starting on the day after Thanksgiving, they have sales and coupons that bring the prices of these buildings at the $15 or less per structure level. I just couldn't pass up those prices so I got a lot.
The same thing with Kohl's St Nicholas Square line. If you combine the sale prices with the 30% off coupon they give you a couple times during the holiday shopping season if you are a Kohl's card owner, you can get them for cheap. And I really like their buildings. High quality and many of them have blinking Christmas lights on them. They have a really nice train station that beats any station you'd find in any other line of buildings.
Lemax is good, but pricey. Use the Michael's coupons to bring the cost down. Ace Hardware also has some Lemax as well as another brand. Ace has sales that makes the cost of these affordable. Lowe's carries Lemax, but doesn't really discount them. Sears carries Lemax as well as buildings from "A Christmas Story" and Disney buildings -- both made by Dept 56. Sears has many sales where you can get them cheap. Last year Sears also had buildings from "It's a Wonderful Life". Last year Kmart had buildings from "Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus".
thanks for the feedback. I found about 18 Plasticville structures my grandfather used to have on his platform, so I decided to use them, rather than buy all new Lemax or Dept 56 or something similar. I decided I'd rather spend the money on track, woodwork, and maybe an operating accessory, than all new bldgs. That might be an investment in the future. I am, however, using a lighting system from Dept 56 to light up the plasticville houses and bldgs. Should be pretty neat b/c my dad hasn't seen this stuff in years, and doesn't know I found it at his mom's house. I'm planning on adding to the plasticville stuff w/ some of the smaller Lemax or Dept 56 accessories, like mini christmas lights, and trees.
I actually have an 8x8 area available, so I'm still wondering how I can get the following onto a platform of that size, using fastrack: a freight train (w/ some siding to display some of the older pieces), a passenger train, and a bump-n-go trolley. If anyone out there has a track plan that could accomodate those three things in an 8x8 space, I'd be very appreciative of you sharing it.
Thanks again to everyone that took the time to read and respond.
A good lighting source for your buildings would be a small string of LED Christmas lights, Lemax makes LED lighting sets but they would be more expensive. LED's would run much cooler and wouldn't melt plastics.
Check out this link for some layout ideas, even if you don't use one exactly as shown you may find one to your liking that can be modified to your wants/needs. http://www.thortrains.net/
LED's are a great idea. thanks Doug.
If the ceramic look appeals to you, and you aren't a purist about brands or locked into a specific theme, consider hanging around the local second hand store. It's amazing how much ceramic you can buy for the $80+ you'll pay for a single genuine Dept 56 structure. I have a mixture of the genuine article and knock-off, second-hand variety, and (for the most part) my wife is unable to tell the diffference. They usually hit the shelves of the thrift stores around October. Prices are never more than $10 bucks. I've yet to find the "Scrooge and Marley Counting House" that cheap, but there are lots of other structures that fit right in on my Christmas layout.
An 8 x 8 is definitely plenty of size to incorporate those three items. I think it's cool you wanna go "old school" with the Plasticville. Make sure you post some pics here (or SPF) as you go.
I also like the use of LED Christmas lights in the structures.
If you'd like to get a trolley to honor that heritage, I'd recommend these by Western Hobbycraft. Can't beat the price. I've also found very inexpensive ($10-14) 'off-brand' Plasticville by K-Line at local hobby stores.Fastrack is very nice track. If you're on a budget, there are many places to buy inexpensive 'traditional' three-rail track.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
thanks fife. yeah was definitely trying to go "old school" w/ the plasticville and some of the older trackside accessories i've found. i've cleaned the p'ville stuff in hot water and dish soap, and most look almost new. learning now about how to wire some of the accessories. will definitely post some pictures when i get the platform all set up for the holidays.
'95: thanks for the heads-up on those trolleys. the "Philadelphia" model looks just like the old PTC trolleys before the white/red/blue SEPTA scheme! i have pictures of my grandfather on one of those. unfortunately, i already bought a christmas trolley, but that PTC trolley might be nice investment in the near future, to run when the holidays are over. wish i would've found that website earlier!
yeah i've found the k-line "plasticville" stuff locally and it looks just the same to me, so it should fit into the layout nicely. some of my grandfather's p-ville stuff was not salvage-able, so i've replaced a few pieces w/ similar things from k-line.
I love Plasticville!
If I could jam all of this into a 4 by 6 layout in my bedroom, I can't wait to see what you can do with an 8 by 8!
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