Christmas Fantasies and Realities

[Anonymous]

I hope to wake up on Christmas Morning. That will be worth celebrating.

[Anonymous]

I used to like going to my GrandDad's house at Christmas because he had a big preWW2 Lionel Standard Gauge layout in his living room. He told me about how he used to have trains at his house when he was little. I have a TM video about Christmas layouts called "A Lionel Christmas". It shows many cool layouts and the owners tell about their Christmases when they were little. I hope to have a "Lionel Christmas" like those. That's my Christmas Fantasy.

[Anonymous]

Opps

[daan]

Though X-mas is still far away, my hope is that all Moslim and Christian and whatever believe or culture there is else in the world enjoy their X-mas days in peace with the ones they love.
If everyone would bother about modeltrains instead of trying to blow things up, the world would be a much better place to live. I hope (against my common sense) for a peacefull place to live for everyone.
3 months, 8 day's and counting....

[Anonymous]

Xmas...

Interesting! This old dog has been taught a new trick!
Thanks Lionelsoni. I hope you still understand the gist
of my fantasy. Today's world has lost the true meaning
of Christmas. It is JC's Birthday! A time for fellowship,
peace, rejoicing and enjoying each other's company.
It has instead, become non-PC to use "Christmas" as
a designation for this occasion...even ILLEGAL in some
locations! (Yes! It's TRUE!) Instead today's "holiday" is
an over-commercialized time to see who can out-spend
the other, a vacation during the winter time, and a
"season" that starts in September (in stores) and is
over by about 5:00pm on the 25th of Dec. (except for
maybe a sports event on TV) No mention is made any-
more about kindness towards family and friends, no
mention is made about the Person who is the main
attraction of the Day (JC Himself!), and no mention is
made about Peace or the Co-Star of the occasion...
(Santa Claus) who rewards acts of kindness by bringing
good children their gifts.

There is now a whole generation out there that only
knows that Dec 25 is the end of a huge shopping orgy
that results in a lot of presents (deserved or not) and
family traditions are no longer "PC" and thus not dis-
cussed. Shame. My grandchildren don't know the real
story of Christmas or what a Christmas Play is (can't
discuss "religion" in school...not PC). They haven't ever
seen Santa Claus at the Mall (can't have a "religious
symbol/figure" at a public place...not PC). No school
plays...just "Winter Break". They know they will get a
gift at Christmas because the relatives will give them.
The family has tried to explain the concept of Christmas
and when they went to school and swapped stories
with their school-mates the teachers corrected them
and sent a note home to the parents reprimanding both
the children and parents for "offending the sensibilities
of (any) other children who may not believe as they do."

Stores no longer use the word "Christmas (or Xmas) in
their advertising for the "Holiday Gift-Giving Season", nor
do you hear any "Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth, Good
Will towards Men" on the "media" anymore. Shame.

My "Christmas Fantasy" is to see Christmas come back!
I'm over 1/2 Century old and I still believe!
I'm over 1/2 Century old and I still try to be good all year so
maybe...just maybe I'll get that locomotive that I've been
drooling over all year long. (The wife really likes that!) You
listening Santa?
I'm over 1/2 Century old and I'm not afraid to have a Birthday
Party for JC!
And as long as I'm alive and my wife is alive Christmas will
be alive at our house for anyone to come and enjoy as it is
supposed to be enjoyed!

And if that is now considered "fantasy", well then...that's my
Christmas fantasy!

PS...Yup. I've got Bing, Perry, Burl (Ives) and all the others on
the player!

[lionelsoni]

Paul, "Xmas" is an ancient abbreviation, not at all a modern euphemism for "Christmas". See http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19981223

[Anonymous]

Hey Ya'll


I agree with you 100%. Even though I am 13, I look forward to haveing children and helping them open their Lionel or MTH or Williams or Weaver Trains on christmas morning, hoging the ZW or Z-4000 transformer while the children keep asking, "Is it my turn yet Dad"?.

Helping my children expand the 0-72 circle around the tree with more 0-72 switches,0-72 curves, and large 3 feet sections of track until we have a large oval with a yard, some branches, and a turntable and roundhouse with a spur down the hallway and going into my room, my son's room, and the guest room then joining the main layout back in the living room.

While my wife and mom clean up the wrapping paper with my father standing over me and taking his turn at the transformer, while I take control of another one and my son at the other one. Then my wife and mom join me and dad in the living room. I'd like to do that with my grandchildren too.

I look forward to that moment like I look forward to that williams hudson and heavey wieghts on christmas morning. A Baltimore and Ohio Weaver Cincinnattianan locomotive would be nice too.

Nick

[Anonymous]

All of "Trainbud"'s list plus...

Having my parents and grandparents back.
Laying on the floor next to the layout while Dad runs the trains.
Smelling 3-in-1 oil and ozone.
Getting a train item for Christmas that I didn't know about or ask for!
Listening to my Dad and his parents talk about Christmas when they were children.
Actually getting to run the trains!
Neat pre-war operating cars and accessories!
Christmas dinner! (Mom's ham!)

And last, but not least........

Christmas being CHRISTMAS! Not "Xmas","Winter Holiday", "Winter Pageant", etc.

It USED to be that way (reality)...Now it's not. It's just a fantasy.

We need to show our children and grandchildren what CHRISTMAS was and
should be. For their sake. It doesn't have to be a fantasy.

[Anonymous]

1. To live out the story of "The Polar Express", because I believe
2. To discover there really is a Santa Claus
3. To recreate the sights, smells and sounds that I had at Christmas as a child for MY children
4. To be able to be enveloped in contentment in a room illuminated with the magic of Christmas lights, listen to the sound of childhood Lionels zipping around the tree as Perry Como sings Merry Christmas music, and the taste of a frothy mug of nutmegged eggnog whispering at the corners of my mouth as I watch the embers of a quieting fireplace.

[cnw1995]

I wish I associated trains with Christmas like you guys - my dad had these neat Lionel trains I never knew about. He never set them up. Now that i have them, I can run them year 'round. I've been using our few 'Christmas village' items to populate the layout - complete with 'snow' right smack in the middle of the greenery. But I think I'll have to surrender them when the holiday decorations come out. Because of the constraints of our family budget (meaning no non-homemade presents for yours truly) my fantasy would be to get a new engine and a few cars. I'm going to try to save up for one of the Beeps or the GP9s from Kline. My reality is maybe an inexpensive accessory (if I buy it for myself) like one of those semaphores But I still love the season and appreciate I can gather with family, and everyone's healthy. Only 99 shopping day s left!

[ChiefEagles]

Notch, good luck on that one. My son is Deputy Sheriff. Seems he is on duty about every holiday.

[Anonymous]

To not have to work on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and actually get to spend time with my family. Last year we celebrated the holiday 3 days late.

[ChiefEagles]

Mine would be that the upstairs rooms were empty of GROWN kids' stuff and the layout was being built. This one better come true or the GROWN kids will not have a Christmas. [;)] Seems they [especially the youngest who has 3,500+ square foot house] wants to use us for storage. [:(] Then next Christmas, I can have the "kid's" electric train Christmas. [:D]

[Anonymous]

Nick:

Your Christmas fantasy sounds very much like my Christmas reality of many years ago! That kind of memory is kept alive today by a Christmas layout (complete with a small artificial tree decorated exclusively with tin/metal train ornaments) that I keep up in my living room all year round. I converted it to On30 this year (complete with Bachmann and Broadway Limited Christmas trains and Dept. 56 Snow Village buildings) but will also have a separate small O27 layout up and running before the holidays this year. It will feature the recently announced Christmas BEEP from RMT, along with just a very small part of my fairly extensive O gauge Christmas train collection.

I do hope your Christmas fantasy because a reality in just a few months!

[jprampolla]

Hi Folks,

My Christmas fantasy is to wake up on Christmas morning and find that Santa brought me a Lionel Gold Bullion car with real gold bullion inside.

Take care, Joe.

P.S. Now is the time to start those Christmas layouts if you want to get them finished in time for the holidays. J.

[3railguy]

My fantasy is to wake up on XMAS morning in a Northern Pacific sleeper car. I get up, shower, and shave. Then head for the dinner for an omlet and a bloody mary. I finish my omlet and about this time the train is beginning to hiball up the rocky mountains so I climb up to the vista dome with my bloody mary for some sight seeing. The conductor comes by with a box of cigars and I take a Cohiba.

[Anonymous]

Hey Ya'll


I am here to tell you about my Chistmas fantasy. Post your fantasies and realities too. Its christmas morning, I rush in to the living room, to find a Williams Golden Memories Scale New York Central Hudson and Passenger cars sitting in front of the station on an 072 circle of track around the tree standing stiil with a snowy Christmas village inside the circle with the add on pack wrapped up next to the track. Unknown to me of course. I would find out later when we open the presents.

I run to my My MTH Z-4000 Transformer and send the train running. My family is awaken by the whistle and come in. My parents stand over me with a smile and an appreciative look on their faces. They go sit down and hand out the presents. In my family, we go around a circle with one person orpening one present until we are finished.

Then, we make breakfast consisting of the perfect Bacon and Eggs. We sit in the den and enjoy our presents. Then we go nextdoor to My Aunt and Uncles House for Lunch.

That is my Christmas fantasy. This Christmas, it just may become a reality, I hope.

Nick