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Christmas Layouts: Post your pics!

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Posted by Buckeye Riveter on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 7:31 PM

Wow!! Great layouts and photos!  

Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum. Smile, Wink & Grin

Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..

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Posted by tinplatacis on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 7:28 PM

Sure it isnt "where theres slow there's flyer?"  It may be Christmas season, but the friendly joshing between the loyalists of the various companies doesn't have to stop. (AND I MEAN FRIENDLY).

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Posted by Major on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 5:54 PM

For those three rail modelers Gilbert used the phrase "Where there's smoke there's Flyer" in their advertising. I modified it for the season!!! HO HO HO. Here a pic from Christmas Past

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Posted by phrankenstign on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 5:17 PM

"....where there is Snow there is Flyer!!!"  LOL

 

It looks like the bridge is out for those drivers!

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Posted by Sturgeon-Phish on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 5:00 PM

Great to see AF so well represented!

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Posted by Major on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 4:49 PM

Great photo's all! But remember where there is Snow there is Flyer!!!

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Posted by phrankenstign on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 12:39 PM

Nice setup, Buckeye......although I suspect you caught that cat in the middle of some kind of sabotage!  The pic with the kids at eye level with the trains probably parallels what a lot of us remember doing as kids.

 

vsmith, your design was rendered very elegantly!

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Posted by vsmith on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 11:57 AM

This year I made a tiny tiny Christmas theme O gauge oval for my Marx wind up trains to fit on top our coffee table. I bent two sections of Gargraves flex to do it.

   Have fun with your trains

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Posted by Buckeye Riveter on Sunday, December 20, 2015 5:20 PM

Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum. Smile, Wink & Grin

Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..

Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR

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Posted by fifedog on Sunday, December 20, 2015 4:46 PM

phrankie - I put the insulation pins at just the right spot.  Top line is actually a tri-oval.  2 LW's (placed just behind buildings inside bridge) supply the power.  The top line and coal mine are running together at 8 volts,  the Lower line runs at 12, with accessories tied to same.

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Posted by scrambler81 on Sunday, December 20, 2015 4:13 PM

phrankenstign

Scrambler81, I like that layout you designed!  It looks like you were able to pull a fairly long train through a few straightaways!  Great job!

 Thank you. The set came with the 4 cars in these pics, and there were 4 additional cars made available shortly after the set came out. They are all on there right now, and there is just enough room to handle the inner loop without the locomotive biting the last car in the butt at the crossover.

KRM
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Posted by KRM on Sunday, December 20, 2015 11:05 AM

All are very nice,,,,,,,,thanks!!!!!!!!!

Joined 1-21-2011    TCA 13-68614

Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL. Whistling

 

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Posted by phrankenstign on Sunday, December 20, 2015 9:55 AM

Scrambler81, I like that layout you designed!  It looks like you were able to pull a fairly long train through a few straightaways!  Great job!

Fifedog, you took some very interesting shots of your setup.  It looks to me like the upper level is an oval.  At first, I couldn't figure out what the design of the lower level was.  Upon closer examination of pic #7, I realize why.  I thought the Naughty joined with the North Pole Express inside the tunnel.  I guess it doesn't.  That makes the caption about using an SPST make sense.  How do you keep the Naughty from rolling off the trestle?

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Posted by fifedog on Sunday, December 20, 2015 9:36 AM

Here is our 2015 version of our North Pole village:

Everything below the top of the arch-under bridge is new this year.

Krylon Colormaster leather brown/satin was a near perfect patch for the Gingerbread Junction set, and my youngest princess detailed the superstructre, tunnel mortar, and piers with white housepaint "piping".

I opted for a train shed, in lieu of another portal, and fashioned this one out of dowels, cardboard, and an old roll of thin multi-wire computer cable.

Snow is a mixture of Flora-craft winter snow + Buffalo snow flakes on the horizontal surfaces, with what seemed like 5 metric tons of glitter wisped onto the vertical faces.  Again, common house paint was applied first as the bonding agent.  When the sun hits the layout just right, you need a welder's mask.

The 1862 was added this year for the Naughty mine run.  The 2 position e-unit is ideal for the run back-and-forth, with the push of a Kadee SPST button.

Gingie is also operated via SPST.

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Posted by scrambler81 on Sunday, December 20, 2015 5:51 AM

Built this when my oldest son, Jarrett, was one year old in 2001. It has run every year since. It actually has green carpet under there, but this year I added some snow and some misc. Christmas buildings to make it more Christmas-like. The tree stand is built through the platform, and I wired in outlets and a switch for the tree lights. This year I also upgraded to a GW-180 to give me a bit more juice.

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Posted by rtraincollector on Saturday, December 19, 2015 8:35 PM

Sturgeon-Phish

How do cats manage to go right where you don't want them to go?

 

Because asleep or awake they have to be the center of attention

Life's hard, even harder if your stupid  John Wayne

http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/

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Posted by Penny Trains on Saturday, December 19, 2015 7:51 PM

That question has been mystifying humanity for thousands of years!  Big Smile

Trains, trains, wonderful trains.  The more you get, the more you toot!  Big Smile

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Posted by Sturgeon-Phish on Saturday, December 19, 2015 6:54 PM

How do cats manage to go right where you don't want them to go?

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Posted by rtraincollector on Saturday, December 19, 2015 6:19 PM

The other night I got the layout put up on the Dinning room table as really not enough room on the Floor with other things in the room any way you will be able to see how things progressed as it went this is all within 20 minutes 

And this is where I lose ownership completly 

Life's hard, even harder if your stupid  John Wayne

http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/

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Posted by cnw1995 on Friday, December 18, 2015 10:40 AM

Holiday Layout for today is at Home State Bank in Crystal Lake IL with three loops of post-war Lionel trains and ringed with accessories that are button- activated.

Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.

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Posted by cnw1995 on Wednesday, December 16, 2015 3:56 PM

Today, I visited another holiday layout in McHenry Savings Bank in McHenry, Illinois. This was just spectacular with beautiful Hoge, Lionel, Hafner, American Flyer, Ives trains from the early 1900s through today on display. You can control a separate loop of track from each corner (although I was a tad self conscious as the roar of the train fills the entire bank). 

Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.

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Posted by Penny Trains on Tuesday, December 15, 2015 7:00 PM

Wowsers!  That IS impressive!

Trains, trains, wonderful trains.  The more you get, the more you toot!  Big Smile

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Posted by cnw1995 on Tuesday, December 15, 2015 3:56 PM

 I went to visit this nifty holiday layout today - it is put on by the Kishwaukee and Eakin Creek Model Railroad Club in Sun City (in Huntley, Illinois). Each layer is a different gauge: G, O, HO and N. What a nice setting too! Running daily through Dec. 27.

Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.

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Posted by jwse30 on Sunday, December 13, 2015 8:34 PM

A week ago or two ago I did a bit of trading and ended up with a 226e passenger set that I've been eyeing for a year or better now. This afternoon I had a bit of time to open it up and do a quick cleaning and lube. It runs a bunch better now. I had to snip the wires on the cars though as they were all pretty bare.

 

What does all that have to do with Christmas? Well, here's a short video of it doing laps under my tree:

https://youtu.be/8oYno54H1vM

 

 

The set still needs work, but it runs pretty fair, and I've only got a CW-80 powering the track, so it's not drawing much.

 

J White

 

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Posted by chatanuga on Sunday, December 13, 2015 7:36 PM

phrankenstign

Hey Chatanuga, your video reminded me of Railscope---only IN COLOR!!!  Oooooo!!!

I hadn't even thought of that.  I just rubberbanded my digital camera to a flatcar and let it run.  Had to stay at the transformer, which you can see in a couple clips.  My floor is a little uneven, and the end of the oval away from the tree is lower than the other end.  So while the camera was on the train, I was constantly adjusting the speed to keep it from going from slow to lightning speed.  Plus the camera made the flatcar top heavy, which would have made a spectacular video had it gone off one of the curves.  Stick out tongue

Kevin

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Posted by Penny Trains on Sunday, December 13, 2015 7:11 PM

phrankenstign
Penny, your stuff is amazing!  How long did it take you to work on it?

Officially this is the 5th year for Disneyland but Main Street station and Sleeping Beauty Castle were built ahead of the decision to build a layout.  Prior to that the layouts used G scale or Lionel Standard Gauge.

Trains, trains, wonderful trains.  The more you get, the more you toot!  Big Smile

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Posted by stebbycentral on Sunday, December 13, 2015 6:32 PM
Phrank, the track is a mixture of Gargraves S and as you surmised, original Flyer with wood ties added.

I have figured out what is wrong with my brain!  On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!

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Posted by phrankenstign on Sunday, December 13, 2015 4:07 PM

Hey Chatanuga, your video reminded me of Railscope---only IN COLOR!!!  Oooooo!!!

 

Stebby, what kind of track is that?  The straights look like the Pikemaster track my brother had, but the curves look markedly different.  Is that traditional American Flyer track with homemade ties added?  What locomotive, tender, and rolling stock does your train have?

btw The lighted village looks great!

 

Buckeye, is that a Bachmann On30 Christmas train?

 

Penny, your stuff is amazing!  How long did it take you to work on it?

 

J White, I assume there's an elevator for the people on the plateau to get down, right?  LOL!

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Posted by tinplatacis on Sunday, December 13, 2015 3:28 PM

phrankenstign

 

 
emdmike
 Just my father's 1948 Lionel 1423w set featuring the 1655 steamer and short freight train.  Even the transformer is the original one to the set.  She has been either under the tree or on a table around a small tree every single year since I was a child.

 

I used to run my dad's original scout-type set every year also with it's original transformer.  Since the new millenium started, I've used mainly new transformers with the whistle controller built in.  This year is the first time I didn't run my dad's set.  My daughter moved back in with me (until she completes college next year), and she brought her cat.  She wanted the Large Scale Thomas and James going around the tree, so I took those out.  Once we were done setting them up, she asked if we could get the K-Line Coca-Cola bears handcar in there somewhere.  The only room left was inside the Thomas loop.  So I grabbed the track and tranformer from the Crayola set, and I set up an O27 loop there.  With such a small circle, there's not much room for my dad's set to run on.  So far, only the bears have been circling around it.  Maybe I'll dig out my dad's train for a short spin around the loop sometime within the next week and a half.  Now that I think about it, it would be a drag for his train to miss a year.  After all, what's Christmas without the smell of Lionel smoke in the air?

 

Agreed phrankenstien! My family trains always make it out for the holidays, except one year I used a new set. Never again. Gonna throw down some tubular Christmas Day, some Marx engines, some prewar Lionel to go with it, and go. To. Town!

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