We have had a train under the tree for the last 70 years. Kids in the family learn when they are at my house, they never touch anything that don't belong to them. For those that do, they are asked to leave.
For those who don't put up a train because the other half says no, GET A PAIR. It's your house to, put them up.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Several of the decorations on our tree are train themed including locomotive shaped ornaments, boxcars with presents, and an ornament of a train going around a Christmas tree.
Last summer I found and bought a copy of my first train set, in mint condition. It’s the Lionel 027 Dockside Switcher train set. The original was a Christmas present back in the 1970s, which was set up in front of the tree when I woke up on Christmas morning. I received additional cars for presents which I opened up later. So this year I’m going to set it up in front of the tree, and going forward this Lionel set is going to be my official Christmas train set.
Every year, my 1950's era Lionel 027 gauge set makes it's appearance under the tree. A few cars have been added over the years, and the layout is more than a circle, but it's not Christmas without the train under the tree (and in the family room).
Emman
I'm almost 66 and I've had trains under the tree since my earliest memory.
Right now there are 3 trains under the tree: an American Flyer S scale passenger train, an O scale American Flyer passenger train and a Lionel Pennsy Turbine with a freight. Every two or three years we swap out and use our old Bachmann 4-6-0 freight train we got from Sam's about 30 years ago.
My daughter grew up with trains under the tree and now she has her grandfathers old Lionel 2-6-4 and freight train running.
The grandsons love them all and hopefully I can keep all this antique stuff cooking for many more years.
My favorite is the Flyer 326 Hudson and 650/651 cars. Just can't beat the smoke and choo-choo!
Roger Huber
[quote user="riogrande5761"]
fieryturbo
I stay away from stripey hats, christmas trains, or anything that might suggest the toy/child side of railroading. I thank that aspect for pretty much ruining steam for me and turning it into a cheesy kids' thing. So yeah, no tree-trains.
I stay away from stripey hats, christmas trains, or anything that might suggest the toy/child side of railroading. I thank that aspect for pretty much ruining steam for me and turning it into a cheesy kids' thing.
So yeah, no tree-trains.
Bah humbug? C'mon now, if you've got minature trains, you have toys no matter how serious a face you want to put on it. Look, if it helps, we won't tell your manly man friends!
[quote]
*shrug* That probably came out wrong. I know there are people that like that stuff, that's fine, and I wouldn't want to take that away from them, but you have to understand where I come from too. When I was a kid, if I said I liked a freight diesel or some piece of rolling stock, to adults that apparently meant "Oh he wants a stripey hat and a wooden "choo choo" ". It left a really, really bad taste in my mouth, and is probably part of the reason I didn't come back to this hobby sooner.
I'm so glad I'm too old for Thomas to have been around, or I'm sure someone would have bought that crap for me too.
Julian
Modeling Pre-WP merger UP (1974-81)
Another no here. I don't get into the Christmass thing anymore since its all about gifts now. We have a tree, but only because the little lady requires it. We have no children, very little close family. and I have my layout so, a train around the tree seems redundant to me.
fieryturbo I stay away from stripey hats, christmas trains, or anything that might suggest the toy/child side of railroading. I thank that aspect for pretty much ruining steam for me and turning it into a cheesy kids' thing. So yeah, no tree-trains.
Our tree is in the front yard. I do have some Fn3 stuff, but the weather this time of year makes for rough RRing, plus who's going to watch it 24/7 so it doesn't "walk off"?
New Haven had that slogan, "Weather or no", how can you let the Rio Grande, a mountain RR for heaven sakes, be upstaged like that? Ok, well, maybe if you live in the bad part of town you'll need the RR police to patrol!
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
Fortunately, plenty of trains in a nice, warm basement
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Our philosophy is that a tree isn't fully decorated until it has a train around it. We have a train around all the Christmas trees. Floor trees get G or O size while the ones up on a platform or on tables get HO or N.
I had a 18" radius circle of EZ track and a few cars. My grandfather in law brought over some life-like cars, so they got added. Then I swapped the Bachmann F7 for a quieter Walthers diesel.
Now I have an Amtrak Dash-8 pulling 8 freight cars and a santa fe caboose in a 3 foot circle. It works...
This year's tree:
watch?v=z1jp2vtaz8g
Last year's tree:
watch?v=icM1OQ1NtVc
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
Use to run 1940's Marx Tin Plate around the tree but very noisy compared to Lionel plastic.
Gave it all to nephews son to play with.
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.
We've got a Bachman On30 passenger train running around the base of our tree. Since the tree is set up on a table the grandchildred haven't been able to complicate operations...YET. Merry Christmas to all.
Me. But only when I'm supervising. My 2 year old loves to grab the trains.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
Hello All,
"She who must be obyed" won't allow it!
I offered and she nixed it.
Bah humbug!
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
No Christmas tree, no Christmas themed train.
Even as a kid, I've only ever liked the gritty, noisy side of railroading, which I associated with poorly-running Metra E units and what was left of the CNW stuff still running through here in the 80s.
Steven Otte I don't usually, because the cats don't like it (or, rather, they like it too much).
I don't usually, because the cats don't like it (or, rather, they like it too much).
I've never had a cat until I married a cat woman and we finally moved into our own house where we could have a pet. We weren't there more than a few weeks before Emi, our half Maine Coon rescue cat moved in with us. This year she set up the tree shaped cat toy - IOW, standard Christmas tree with all kinds of tempting shiny things and when we lit it, Emi's eye's lit up and she was totally hypmotized. Of course there are already a couple 2 or 3 broken balls but the thing I'm most worried about is the British police phone box ornament my sister gave us - my wife is British.
I don't have any trains that are cat proof or cheap enough that I wouldn't be bothered if she did what cat's do. I don't think nice detailed HO Athearn RTR, Athearn Genesis or Atlas loco's would would fair to well under the tree. It's on my long term want list to get a tree train but so far spare cash has gone to new Tangent, Athearn Genesis and ExactRail cars - not cat with a Christmas tree friendly!
An HO scale Thomas circles the base of the tree to the delight of my 3 1/2-year-old son.
Heh heh, that reminds me, my wife and I just saw Ant Man we rented from Red Box and there is a scene where he uses these little discs which can shrink or enlarge objects. Ant Man is fighting with a bad guy who can also shrink and one of his disks hits a childs HO electric Thomas the Tank engine; it enlarges to full sized train and lands out in the front lawn on it's side with the eyes wagging back and forth. It's a hilarious scene. Of course my wife knowing I'm a train nut always reminds me how much she is thinking about me when there is any train in a scene, even a subway, which I say to that doesn't really count! heh heh.
An HO scale Thomas circles the base of the tree to the delight of my 3 1/2-year-old son. He looks like one of those kids in the old Lionel catalogues lying on the floor with his chin in his hands and his feet up in the air.
I don't usually, because the cats don't like it (or, rather, they like it too much). But this year we have guests coming by, so I probably will. It's just a circle of Bachmann E-Z Track and an old Mantua DC 4-6-0. But it runs, and that's the key thing for non-train guests.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Merry Christmas
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
We have a Lionel Polar Express with a couple of extra cars running on a 48"-radius oval under the tree.
This is the 7th or eighth year for this train. Before that it was a series of battery powered "G"-Scale trains.
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
We have in years past, but with twin eighteen-month-old grandsons visiting this year, we decided against it.
Richard
Well, between small dogs and young grandchildren (1 and 4) I do not. I wanted to do a smaller tree on a table with train, but my wife wanted a big tree.
Paul
This year I got some spare 22" r EZ track from my old layout and so I added that under the christmas tree and grabbed a Rivarossi 0-4-0t, a gondola, a boxcar, and a caboose and let it run
Charles
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Modeling the PRR & NYC in HO
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/@trainman440
Instagram (where I share projects!): https://www.instagram.com/trainman440
This year it is a Lionel Thomas the Tank engine with two passanger cars, and the ceramic houses with two churches, two stations and various other buildings.
Last year it was a Athearn Sounder with 5 sounder coaches DCC with sound.
Year before it was a set of Lionel E-7s with 8 coaches, but it went around the whole room including the tree. You see a diffferent train set around the tree every year. In the garage is my Dayton and Mad River RR which is an Ho 20 by 23 walk in layout and it has a Christmas tree in the town park. I have Lionel and othere O SCALE in the exercise and game room. My grand kids really enjoy running the layout and the oldest is 9.
Dayton and Mad River RR
I've got my Standard Gauge American Flyer train around the tree this year.
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I don't have a train that runs around a Christmas tree, but, I do have a Christmas themed train set up that I put together when It's our time to host the family Christmas Eve.
If you click on my Youtube link, and scroll down, you'll see it in action in 2009, when I expanded it. It's changed over the years, and currently is a double track main, with a train running in each direction. I'll be setting it up next year, as it's the year we will be hosting our grandson, and the family, and I will take some updated pics and video.
Mike
My You Tube