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Do you have a train circling your Christmas tree?

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Do you have a train circling your Christmas tree?
Posted by Santa Fe all the way! on Saturday, December 19, 2009 12:56 AM

I usually have a small loop of N guage under a little 4' tree. Its a SF F7 pulling a streamline passenger train. How about you folks, anyone else?

Come on CMW, make a '41-'46 Chevy school bus!
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Posted by wholeman on Saturday, December 19, 2009 1:04 AM

You bet,

An Athearn BNSF GP38-2 manifest train in HO.

Will

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Posted by nik .n on Saturday, December 19, 2009 1:10 AM

 We dragged Dad's Lionel stuff out. They have not been ran in 13 years, and the Dremel and a 60+ year old bottle of Remington Gun Oil got them up and running again. Cool


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Posted by train18393 on Saturday, December 19, 2009 2:16 AM

Lionel 0 scale Thomas the Tank engine under the tree, my Daughter got me that for Fathers Day. Also I have a Lionel Christmas Trolly going back and forth on the fireplace hearth. I will probably put another loop of 0-72 with the Scale Lionel E7 A-A and 6-72' passanger cars.

The only odd thing is that I am a HO model railroader. I want to get my two grandkids interested in trains, so I want something they can play with.

Paul,

Dayton and Mad River RR

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Posted by tbdanny on Saturday, December 19, 2009 2:26 AM
I will have, as soon as the package gets here - the Bachmann 'White Christmas' train set in N scale.

The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, Oregon
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Posted by Graffen on Saturday, December 19, 2009 3:27 AM

 I have it every year. Here is this years edition.

 

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Posted by RedGrey62 on Saturday, December 19, 2009 3:30 AM

Ours is actually on a table next to the tree.  This year it is On30 to go with the Chirstmas Village.  By request, each of the cars have been painted and decaled for each of our dogs (we don't have kids). 

Ricky

"...Mother Nature will always punish the incompetent and uninformed." Bill Barney from Thor's Legions
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Posted by pajrr on Saturday, December 19, 2009 4:24 AM

I have my tree on a narrow coffee table against a wall. I have my Lionel Christmas Trolley going back and forth along the edge of the table. The trolley goes by my tree and a beautiful, animated Christmas Carousel that I have. The table looks magical

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Posted by Great Western Rwy fan on Saturday, December 19, 2009 6:56 AM

I don't have a train running under Our tree, but I do have the Lionel Christmas ornaments hanging on it. This years ornament is a 2-8-2 Mikado. They are about as big as N scale equipment and are available from Hallmark stores.

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Posted by Javelina on Saturday, December 19, 2009 7:18 AM

I've got the train my dad got me when I was little. I use a small circle of O-27 track, my old Lionel transformer, a red box cab electric (sans pantograph), a gon for candy canes, and an old Marx bobber caboose. Sometimes I switch out the loco for a Marx 0-4-0. I've drug it around since I left home 40 years ago and Christmas wouldn't be the same without it. Gotta have some ozone to go with the piney smell of the tree, dontcha know.

Lou

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Posted by CNJ831 on Saturday, December 19, 2009 7:26 AM

Probably not this year - for the first time in decades. Just too much effort and gruntwork for a man my age is necessary to set up this classic O-gauge Lionel, 1950's era, layout that serves as a platform base for the tree. However, below is a shot illustrating about 2/3's of the display from a recent Christmas season.

 

CNJ831  

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Posted by blownout cylinder on Saturday, December 19, 2009 7:28 AM

We have one put up as a part of a Lemax village scene-----only issue being that 'Spring' sees it as something to stalk and capture---

Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry

I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...

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Posted by railroadboy on Saturday, December 19, 2009 8:00 AM

If I did have one around the tree, it would be blocked with the amount of presents.

 

Plus my dog isn't house trained and he likes to pee on things that smell like me.

Death to Diesel!
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Posted by secondhandmodeler on Saturday, December 19, 2009 8:13 AM

I have a G Scale holiday train for one of the trees.  It's one of those that lights up with Santa, elves and other Christmas  thingys whirling and twirling.  The nieces and nephews like it because they can run it with sound.  My HO layout becomes chump change when the tree train is up.

 In addition, my Father in law gave me his 1952 Lionel train set two weeks ago.  It's an 027, starter set. I guess it's a bump up from the Lionel Scout set but not quite as nice as 'real' Lionel. It looks to be in fairly tough shape, rust on the track, etc. .  I hope to clean it up and use it for under our second living room Christmas tree next year.

Corey
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Posted by Doc in CT on Saturday, December 19, 2009 9:32 AM

 Hoping to have an HO Burlington Zephyr on wide radius Kato UniTrack (with a few buildings)

Doc

Co-owner of the proposed CT River Valley RR (HO scale) http://home.comcast.net/~docinct/CTRiverValleyRR/

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Posted by Driline on Saturday, December 19, 2009 11:02 AM

 Lionel with Marx lighted passenger cars

and Jeffery's house hanging from my tree Smile


Modeling the Davenport Rock Island & Northwestern 1995 in HO
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Posted by tatans on Saturday, December 19, 2009 12:22 PM
Like everyone else, there are so many presents under the tree they almost fill the front room, they are up to my waist, ain't it fun, this is the true meaning of Christmas, so much stuff, so much waste, what a time ! !  no room for trains, make room for more presents, isn't it supposed to be a "Holiday Tree" ??  must be careful not to use that other word.
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Posted by stebbycentral on Saturday, December 19, 2009 12:26 PM

The same setup as past years, Bachman On30 with our Christmas Village collection.  The old setup consisted of a loop with a passing siding that let me run two trains.  However I converted both of my locomotives to DCC with sound last spring, and discovered that there is something about the Bachman switches that my DCC system doesn't like at all.  So this year I only have a simple loop and run one locomotive at a time. 

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 pastorbob on Saturday, December 19, 2009 12:29 PM

Bah! Humbug! No stinking trains around my tree since the kids left many many moons ago.  First of all, we have a couple of old cats who have enough problems staying out of the tree.  In fact, we have a photo taken several years ago when we came home and found some disarray around the tree.  My wife suddenly grabbed her camera which was sitting on an end table and took a photo of the tree.  Then I took a second look and there was Patches, curled up in the branches of the tree with just the face and ears showing.  After that Christmas we went to a smaller tree.

Also, we don't have kids at home for Christmas, we go to their homes and make all the mess, so our Christmas time is us and the four legged kids, and then we leave.  But I do have the remains of an old Lionel set I had as a kid that used to come out when our kids were still home.

Bob

Bob Miller http://www.atsfmodelrailroads.com/
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Posted by chatanuga on Saturday, December 19, 2009 12:39 PM

I keep a loop of Lionel track up in my office all year for my original Lionel as well as the locomotive and cars I got from my late great uncle's estate.  Since I have two cats, I put my tree up in the office where they can't get into it since I keep the door closed.  The tree's up inside the oval on the one side by my window.  It's quite Christmasy in here.  Smile

Kevin

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Posted by PASMITH on Saturday, December 19, 2009 12:52 PM
Yes, of course. That's what got me into this hobby 70 Christmas's ago. Then it was Lionel. Now, it's LG B. Peter Smith, Memphis
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Posted by pastorbob on Saturday, December 19, 2009 1:53 PM

chatanuga

I keep a loop of Lionel track up in my office all year for my original Lionel as well as the locomotive and cars I got from my late great uncle's estate.  Since I have two cats, I put my tree up in the office where they can't get into it since I keep the door closed.  The tree's up inside the oval on the one side by my window.  It's quite Christmasy in here.  Smile

Kevin

Hadn't thought about that, but my office (which is in my home) has bookcases everywhere, plus two desktop computers (one is my wife's), a color printer, a laser printer, two desks, shelves for supplies, two chairs, and oh, my laptop which travels with me.  The cats also go in there.  I often find one asleep on the laptop which is closed, or on the chairs, or on a bookcase, or........  so other than a few decorations, my office is not Christmasy either, except for the notes on Advent services, sermons, Christmas program stuff, etc.  And there is one wreath my wife insists on putting up every year next to a wall hanging with Oklahoma Indians on horseback in the plains.  (I do model Oklahoma and come from there).

Bob

Bob Miller http://www.atsfmodelrailroads.com/
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Posted by R. T. POTEET on Saturday, December 19, 2009 2:03 PM

A couple of years ago  one of our eight months old kittens got into the branches on our Christmas tree and managed to topple it over onto the tracks. For awhile my trains didn't run around the Christmas tree, it ran through the Christmas tree!

From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet

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Posted by mcddhawk4 on Saturday, December 19, 2009 2:29 PM

image_area

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Posted by Southwest Chief on Saturday, December 19, 2009 2:54 PM

Funny story.

For years we had an LGB G scale train set under the Christmas tree.  Then as it grew larger and larger every year it eventually got too big for under the tree and we ultimately moved it outside.

The we used my dad's old Lionel O scale train set and well it too grew over the years until we built a year round layout for it.

So now we don't have a train under the tree because we're afraid we'll end up building yet another layout Wink

Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, CO
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Posted by SaltRiverRy on Saturday, December 19, 2009 3:18 PM

Unfortunatley, No. Too many big (and little) dogs running around and playing with whatever moves.

Like many others, that is what got me into the hobby. Hard to believe, but in the late 40's my dad and grandfather surprised me with an American Flyer oval under the tree. Had it until the late 50's, when I decided I wanted to "play with trains" more than a couple of weeks a year. Sold the AF and moved into HO.

 Never looked back, but will always remember.

Happy Holidays to all.

Salt River Railway - SRRy locally known as "the SORRy"
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Posted by GRAMRR on Saturday, December 19, 2009 5:12 PM

Over the years, the kids got big and moved out, the tree got smaller and smaller, but the train got bigger as the wife collected more and more village buildings.  Now, the tree is a little three foot table top but the train is a 4' x 8' setup in one end of the living room.  Last year was this old 0-27 Marx; this year is an 0n30 Bachman & passenger cars painted for the "home road." (no pics yet)

Actually, the engine shown below is on the Xmas layout this year.

Chuck

Grand River & Monongah Railroad and subsidiary Monongah Railway

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Posted by richg1998 on Saturday, December 19, 2009 5:35 PM

 Not anymore. The 0-27 Marx Tinplate noise will drive anyone out of the house in short order.

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.

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Posted by wholeman on Saturday, December 19, 2009 6:19 PM

richg1998

 Not anymore. The 0-27 Marx Tinplate noise will drive anyone out of the house in short order.

Rich

That could work to your advantage if you had annoying relatives like I do.Laugh  Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Will

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Posted by rs2mike on Saturday, December 19, 2009 7:36 PM

Yep I got the ol lionel out again. I have my moms scout and cars, her alco AA set in burlington colors and a 2-6-2 2026 I got for christmas from my father in law a couple years ago.  My wife and I have started collecting christmas village stuff to have under the christmas tree.

alco's forever!!!!! Majoring in HO scale Minorig in O scale:)

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