I have always wondered why trains go under the christmas tree. My friend and local modular layout group coordinator Bill Rooke has this setup at the local mall:
And I have a "layout" around our tree, with "staging" under the couch.
Harrison
Homeschooler living In upstate NY a.k.a Northern NY.
Modeling the D&H in 1978.
Route of the famous "Montreal Limited"
My YouTube
There's a straightforward explanation, actually. Way back when, Christmas gifts for children weren't wrapped. They were just placed under the tree. So a train set would put there like any other gift. Somewhere along the way, they became a decor piece.
My first train was under the tree Christmas morning around 1951. A 0-27 Lionel steamer with smoke and whistle in the tender. Operating milk car, log car, lighted flat car. Couple other cars I have since forgot about.
Gave some Marx 0-27 tinplate to a nephew for his son a few years ago. Too noisy under my tree. They rattleGave a Bachmann large scale steamer set to son in law for his two sons.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
When I was young in the early 1970s, I always had a Tyco train set under the tree, but it was in its box and wrapped in shiny paper.
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We never had a train running around the tree, but my dad had stories of his father always setting up a Lionel set around the tree in the 1950s. The way dad told the story, they were my grandfather's trains, and not his.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I love this subject. My pike is 2850 sq. feet and took over 30 years to build, and still some visitors ask if I set this up every Christmas or when do I take it down. I feel this trains under the tree tradition will continue on for a very long time, but will be mis-understood.
My dad told me he had trains around and under the tree during the 20's. I'd love to kown how and when the tradition began. I began in this hobby in 1941 with the ubiquitous Lionel train clicking off scale miles under our tree. Note, in my collection, I still have some of Dad's early trains.
HZ
I found this in a quick search about trains under the Christmas tree. This kind of goes along with what Nittany Lion talks about.
https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-people-put-toy-trains-under-christmas-trees
Mike.
My You Tube
Actually being Jewish I grew up without the tree but having married a Catholic we keep both traditions (Christmas and Hanukkah ) and both, of course, involve trains. However, I did not pull the Lionel Hanukkah train or the M & M Christmas train from their year-round displays this year and have a plastic ”Holiday Train” running round the tree and past the menorah.
Joe Staten Island West
Actually being Jewish I grew up without the tree but having married a Catholic we keep both traditions (Christmas and Hanukkah ) and both, of course, involve trains. However, I did not pull the Lionel Hanukkah train or the M & M Christmas train from their year-round displays this year and have a plastic ”Holiday Train” running round the tree and past the menorah and Nativity.
When I was a kid in the late 1960s and early 1970s the tradition in our family was that presents from family members where wrapped and placed under the tree in the days leading up to Christmas. Then in the middle of the night on Christmas eve Santa would leave unwrapped toys under the tree so that when kids woke up early on Christmas morning they could have something to play with before the adults got up. When I was in preschool and kindergarten it was Child Guidance plastic toy train sets from Sears. In first and second grade the unwrapped gift was Hot Wheels cars and track. Then in third grade it was a Lionel train set! I think sometime in the 1980s train sets were no longer the toys of choice of children and video games took over however people who were nostalgic for the old days wanted toy trains to be part of Christmas and people started using electric trains for decorations. I remember in the 1980s that electric trains started to be packaged and marketed as Christmas decorations. Nowadays I model HO scale but at Christmas I pull up the old 1970s Lionel train set and use it as a decoration. On top of that several of the ornaments on our tree are locomotives which is cool because they look like a bunch of toys hanging on the tree. And of course to keep the females happy there are miniature Barbie dolls on the tree as well.
My first interaction with model trains (with 8mm home movie proof) was running an HO train around the tree when I was about 2 years old. Prior to me coming along, my parents had a room-size layout in what became my bedroom, which was up year-round. I did have some pictures, but over the years they've gone missing. Once we moved, we didn;t have room for a permanent layout (actually, we did, until my sister came along, so we had 2 years, I guess it just never came up) so we would set up a layout over the holidays, starting Thanksgiving weekend and usually torn down the weekend after New Years. This was set up in our family room - the tree always went up in the living room, and for whatever reason we never put a train around it. One year we were all sitting around and my dad went up in the attic and pulled out his old Lionel, which we got working. I think we ran it set up on the floor for a while, then packed it away. Once or twice, several years later, I did set it up around the tree (by then I had either a small permanent N scale layout or a larger HO one up in my bedroom, so the old temp layout was no longer being used).
I did last year take the large scale Thomas I got for my oldest back when he was 3 and set it up around the small tree at work - I have to do that again Monday.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Whatever the orgin, it is a great tradition. It provides animation around the tree and I don't know of any kid that is not enamored with trains even if (s)he has never rode on one. We sometime complain about the hobby dieing out but this kind of tradition will always spawn new RR modelers. Even great movies like The Polar Express will excite kids and spark an interest in trains.
Paul D
N scale Washita and Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Oklahoma circa late 70's
Growing up in New Jersey in the 60's, my parents would take me to downtown Perth Amboy during the holiday season to see the decorations. Alot of store fronts had a Christmas tree and a train running around the tree especially in shoe stores. It was quite common. My dad would put up the Lionel train layout in the living room away from the tree for two weeks. It went back to the basement every Jan 2nd, thus the reason I dislike January.
joe323 Actually being Jewish I grew up without the tree but having married a Catholic we keep both traditions (Christmas and Hanukkah ) and both, of course, involve trains. However, I did not pull the Lionel Hanukkah train or the M & M Christmas train from their year-round displays this year and have a plastic ”Holiday Train” running round the tree and past the menorah. I came from a religious Jewish family, but we always had a tree...if only to keep the dust off of the electric trains. When dad was asked about the tree and being Jewish, his reply was classic...."Wasn't Jesus one of us?" HZ
Howard ZaneI came from a religious Jewish family, but we always had a tree...
I have a couple of Neil Diamond Christmas albums. I think blended religions are fine
Happy Holidays, Ed
I've had something similar on a circular table. Last year I ram an RS-3 New Haven loco wirh 3-4 Lima New haven painted passenger cars. This year, am rebuilding it to a constant minimum radius of 11 inches (N scale) so I can run other passenger equipment. Working on a Delaware & Hudson train set---some with rapido couplers and one with knuckle couplers!...With the usual Christmas jimcrackery...placed around it all! :)
I was seven in the 1950s and already had a Marx windup set. After every Hanukkah my folks set up a little paper Christmas tree on a bridge table covered in green in the living room so I could enjoy Santa Claus. When I woke up Christmas morning the table was piled high with orange and black boxes labeled Lionel. My first 027 set from Mr. Claus. I was overjoyed and overwhelmed. My dad had to help me set up, especially the wiring to the cattle platform, formidable at the time. -Rob
Well, as a life long resident of the Mid Atlantic region, being of German heritage, and being in an occupation that involves some knowledge of 19th century history (historic restoration consultant), I think I can shed some light on this subject.
Chirstmas trees are a German tradition, that spread to England and the US with German immigrants, but really took off when Victoria (Queen of England) married Albert (German Prince) in 1840.
Germans also had another Christmas tradition that came along to England and the new world with Prince Albert - the Christmas "Garden". Or, a small model village set in a winter scene. Christmas Gardens were placed sometimes under the tree, sometimes on a separate stand or table, and often included the nativity manger scene.
In areas of the US heavily settled by Germans, these traditions remained very strong. The Mid Atlantic is one such region.
By the end of the 19th Century trains were very much a part of everyday life, and toy trains had begun to appear. So placing a "toy" train in the Christmas "garden" village was a natural extension of these traditions.
By the early 20th century, we have electric trains - the Christmas garden is now animated with working trains, electric lights, etc.
In this region it became popular for individuals to set up moderate sized train displays, or "Christmas Gardens", seperate from their tree, or under their trees.
Also, public Christmas Garden displays are still a local tradition, many still being set up at Fire Stations.
When I was a child, a significant number of local Fire Stations had such displays. Several notable ones are still set up every year in the Baltimore area.
Also when I was a child, my father set up a full blown HO model railroad "Christmas Garden", 5' x 18', in our living room, just for Christmas every year. We would buy a very small tree and place it in one corner of the layout. He would start on Thanksgiving day, and it would stay up well into January - until we had a basement - then it was built even more elaborately and soon turned over to me as my first model railroad.
So under the tree, or as a separate display, trains at Christmas have their roots in the merging of traditions during the Victorian age.
This may well be the whole basis for the evolution of our hobby........the German "Christmas Garden"........
Sheldon
PS - and this explains why many of Howard's visitors have asked him if he takes the layout down after Christmas - he too is here in the Mid Atlantic......
For more on the topic, google "Baltimore Christmas Garden".
My grandmother would always set up a Christmas village every year. I think that was an inspiriation to me to want to make scenes on my layout rather than just having trains. Here is the Christmas scene on my layout.
I betchya dear grandma's village scene didn't include Santa's helpers!
There's something quite nostalgic about having a tree with a train. Apparently, the two are quite common during the holiday season. I found a fantastic article about the history of trains under a tree here:
https://familychristmasonline.com/musings/trains_n_christmas/trains_n_christmas.htm
I bet the article brings back fond memories for most.
I can't recall who set the Lionel train set up, but it was probably in the early to mid '50's, with the steam locomotive, gondola, tank car, coal hopper and a caboose. Then, probably in the late '50's or early '60's a GP7 was used. I think the motor burned out on the steam locomotive. The GP7 would pull anything; it had Magne Traction which, I think was an electromagnet that kept it adhered to the track and it prevented slippage. Anyway, that train set, in part, fueled my interest in trains at a very early age, along with being only feet away from the tracks of the prototype.
This year's tree, including rollbys and onboard video.
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
Howard Zane joe323 Actually being Jewish I grew up without the tree but having married a Catholic we keep both traditions (Christmas and Hanukkah ) and both, of course, involve trains. However, I did not pull the Lionel Hanukkah train or the M & M Christmas train from their year-round displays this year and have a plastic ”Holiday Train” running round the tree and past the menorah. I came from a religious Jewish family, but we always had a tree...if only to keep the dust off of the electric trains. When dad was asked about the tree and being Jewish, his reply was classic...."Wasn't Jesus one of us?" HZ
Yes he was
The first year I moved into my wife's house the only thing that bothered me about Christmas was that she tended to over decorate. Then Hanukkah came in and it just got worse. Finally I got used to it and she has toned it down.
Now this may be a disappointment to some, but neither the Christmas Pickle ornament, nor the Christmas Village or a train under the Christmas tree is a German tradition. The origin of the Christmas Village is to be found in the Moravian Church, one of the earliest protestant churches founded long before Martin Luther, established in the former Kingdom of Bohemia and its crownlands Moravia and Silesia. The denomination always remained a minority in a region predominantly populated at first with people of Roman Catholic and later on, Lutheran belief.
A German tradition, however, is to set up a nativity manger, either under the tree, or on a console next to the tree.
Electric trains started to appear shortly before WW I, but hardly anyone other than the richest or noble families could afford them. I doubt that this could have been the basis of a tradition. After WW I, people were simply too poor to afford any toys.
The Christmas Pickle is solely an American tradition no German would understand.
Sorry if I have busted a few myths or stepped on someone´s toes.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Tinplate Toddler Now this may be a disappointment to some, but neither the Christmas Pickle ornament, nor the Christmas Village or a train under the Christmas tree is a German tradition. The origin of the Christmas Village is to be found in the Moravian Church, one of the earliest protestant churches founded long before Martin Luther, established in the former Kingdom of Bohemia and its crownlands Moravia and Silesia. The denomination always remained a minority in a region predominantly populated at first with people of Roman Catholic and later on, Lutheran belief. A German tradition, however, is to set up a nativity manger, either under the tree, or on a console next to the tree. Electric trains started to appear shortly before WW I, but hardly anyone other than the richest or noble families could afford them. I doubt that this could have been the basis of a tradition. After WW I, people were simply too poor to afford any toys. The Christmas Pickle is solely an American tradition no German would understand. Sorry if I have busted a few myths or stepped on someone´s toes.
Ulrich,
Maybe I was not clear or too "general" in my explaination or terms. Trees, trains and Christmas gardens are what Americans did with all these traditions centuries later.
And yes, I likely used the term "German" a little too broadly, but not everyone here in the US has a good grasp on European history....... I kept it simple, it was still a long post.
I never suggested that these traditions ever came together the same way in Europe, or at the same times in history, as they did here.
But there is plenty of written and oral history right here in Baltimore, heavily German, Czech and Polish settled, to support my earlier comments.
Again, the melding of Christmas trees, Christmas gardens, and later electric trains is an American melting pot evolution. But only found in regions heavily settled by peoples from central and eastern Europe.
Many other Americans have never heard of a Christmas Garden as we know it here in the mid Atlantic.
Later, the department store window display spread the idea to more people, but without the deep roots it has here.
Sheldon,
My post was meant to criticize you, but merely as an addition to what you have stated. I understand that people in the US are sometimes pretty quick in calling something a tradition from godknowswhere, hence my attempt to clarify some of the ongoing myths.
In Europe, we often have quite a different understanding of the word tradition. When we talk about family traditions, my family can go back into the 12th century, anything younger than 100 years would be as a nice custom, but not yet a tradition.
Just a quirk from someone from the old countries.
Havign been raised in the Moravian church, I'm very familiar with their traditions. Indeed it is they who more or less started the Christmas Village, or Putz. I also hang a Moravian star in my house. Adding trains was just sort of a natural evolution.
Ulrich, I understand. I did tell a "simplified" version, so I too just wanted to be clear.
Yes, we are still a "young" country by European standards.
From the stories I have been told, many people who would have hardly known each other in the "old country" found they had lots in common once they came here.
And those already well assimilated into American culture often did not understand or notice the differences of those new to America, German, Czech, Polish - not all that much differenent to some 4th generation working class English speaking American in 1860 or 1900......
But eventually we shared each others customs, traditions, foods, and developed our own blended versions.
My family, Stroh, is German Lutheran, and came here in 1849, originally beer brewers from Kirn, Germany.
But, I also have a Great Grand Mother who was a Cherokee Princess...
Welcome to the melting pot....
PS - Pickles?, don't know anything about any pickles.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL...Pickles?, don't know anything about any pickles.
I've been in a few, and also make dills and bread & butter pickles for my kids and grandkids, but they're not Christmas pickles....it must be difficult to add the decorations, too, especially the lights. Do Christmas pickles have to be placed in water so they don't shed their needles?
Wayne