Train under the Christmas tree

[SpeedracerX]

Hey there gang... Was just wondering how many members out there put a train up under their Christmas trees, or how many have grown up in homes where there was one. My dad has always been a Lionel collector since before I was born (Im 44 now) and he got me into it at a very young age.. I had train shelves in my room by the time I was 7 or 8.. He had (and still has) a huge collection.. Our basements were always finished, and they were his train rooms.. Wall to wall, floor to ceiling trains.. I have a pretty big collection myself now, but not that big.. lol

Anyways, when I was a kid, we always had a train up at Christmas time. He would start by bringing the platforms in a few weeks before Christmas.. rearrange the living room to make space.. wire it all up.. street lights, houses, stations, you name it.. My fondest memories of Christmas were always those layouts.. It would stay up for weeks after the tree came down..

When I was married the first time, and my kids were little, I did the same.. my layouts werent as big, (usualy a 4x8 layout) but I detailed it out just like he does.. After I got divorced and the kids were older, it was just me, and the kids were only there on weekends, I decided I didnt want to put the work into the Christmas layouts with no one around.. So I built a permanent all year-round layout in the basement to play with my trains... well back in 07 my current wife (girlfriend at the time) and I decided to live together, I sold off the house to finalize the last of my divorce issues.. moved into her house..this house is smaller and my train collection is packed away.. Her kids were already approaching teenage years, so I didnt think much about a Christmas layout... until this year.. the birth of my grandson 6 months ago, got me thinking again.. lol

I decided for the first time since I stopped doing it 10 years ago, to put a train under my tree again.. Its not the elaborate layouts i used to put out (I will wait til Jameson is a couple years older before I do that, and hopefully we will be in a bigger home) its just some snow on the floor, a lighted village and a circle of track.. but it has awakened so many pleasant memories of my childhood, and when my kids were young.. I hadnt realized how much I missed this.. and cant wait for my grandson to see it...

Below is just a quick pic I took to post on here.. Anyone else feel the way I do about trains at Christmas? If so, please share your memories and some pics... and early Merry Christmas to you all...

 

[inkjunkie]

My Dad & I had one. He went as far as using a half sheet of plywood and made a permanent layout, complete with mountains, a frozen pond with skaters etc. That thing was heavy. We had a shelf in the garage that we kept it on. When we, some day, get our house done would love to have another. Been along time, I believe it was HO scale?

 

[fanofpetty]

cool.....I'v always loved trains, and had a huge layout as a kid.

 

[SpeedracerX]

My Dad & I had one. He went as far as using a half sheet of plywood and made a permanent layout, complete with mountains, a frozen pond with skaters etc. That thing was heavy. We had a shelf in the garage that we kept it on. When we, some day, get our house done would love to have another. Been along time, I believe it was HO scale?

It was always O scale in our house.. but I love all trains.. I think theres something relaxing and theraputic about them... lol

 

[MiradaMegaCab]

I got the Lionel Polar Express steam set with add on cars around the tree. Always had a train layout growing up.

SpeedracerX, get your grandson into trains and Mopars!

 

[inkjunkie]

It was always O scale in our house.. but I love all trains.. I think theres something relaxing and theraputic about them... lol

The first year we had it set up it took us a day or two to convince our Irish Setter that it was not her toy. A few years once we had it all set up we left the train running til we took the tree down.
My Dad built a layout that took up one room in the basement. Had 3 layers. An AFX track as well. He had it configured so you could run 3 different trains at once, park on a section of track and turn it off. Took My Dad and my Uncle George a couple of weekends to wire it all up. It had 4 different transformers. Of course, it started out as my Christmas present one year. Once he got it set up he locked the door to the room it was in when he was not home.....and even when he was he would not let me in that room....

 

[plum crazy dart]

When I was about 5-6 I came out to the tree christmas morn and there was a lionel train going around the tree. It was just the coolest thing in the world. Smoke was coming out of the locomotive. We put that train up around the tree every year until what was prob my teen years. I still have the train in the cellar of the house that I grew up in where my sister lives now.

 

[inkjunkie]

My Uncle gave me an old Flieschman steam locomotive. It was still in the original package. Went and had it appraised it was worth quite a bit of money.....strangely, it vanished right after my Ex moved out.....

 

[SpeedracerX]

When I was about 5-6 I came out to the tree christmas morn and there was a lionel train going around the tree. It was just the coolest thing in the world. Smoke was coming out of the locomotive. We put that train up around the tree every year until what was prob my teen years. I still have the train in the cellar of the house that I grew up in where my sister lives now.

Get it and put it out!! lol

 

[SpeedracerX]

My Uncle gave me an old Flieschman steam locomotive. It was still in the original package. Went and had it appraised it was worth quite a bit of money.....strangely, it vanished right after my Ex moved out.....

well that sucks...

 

[SpeedracerX]

I got the Lionel Polar Express steam set with add on cars around the tree. Always had a train layout growing up.

SpeedracerX, get your grandson into trains and Mopars!

Pics?? and I already had him pose with the Dart when he was a week old, and I had him sitting in the car with me last month before I put it away... I will do everything I can to pass the torch lol

 

[ocdart]

We also always had one around the tree when I was growing up. My dad was an Engineer for Union Pacific RR and I got "my" Lionel for Christmas when I was 3 (yeah, sure, "my" train!). My dad passed away just a little over 4 years later but I've still got the train in the original boxes.
After I got married back in '69 we used to set it up every year for the holidays. I stopped setting it up when our grandkids were real small because I didn't want it damaged. We picked up a larger scale "Christmas Train" a few years ago just for the Holiday use.
All of my Lionel stuff is very early '50s vintage.

 

[ragtopfury]

I put a big ole' Bachman (bigger than O guage) loop under the tree.. Been doin it since Jake was 1... It's got a lot of miles on it....His lil brother is trying to wear it out now....lol

 

[SpeedracerX]

loving the responses already.. would love to see some pics.. Kind of like the 'these should bring back memories' thread.. I am gonna try digging up pics of the Christmas layouts when I was a kid, and when my kids were little to add... so anyone, if ya have pics.. post em...

 

[SpeedracerX]

My wifes sleeping at the moment so I cant fire up the train and pull it around front for a pic, but here is the train I am running this Christmas (I took this pic over the summer the day I picked it up) Its a reissue Lionel put out back in June of their pre-war Blue Streak set.. My dad was mainly into the Lionel trains from the 50's and early 60's, but as I said his collection is huge, and he had a good deal of choice pre-war tinplate.. among them was the Blue Streak.. when I was little, this was one of my favorite trains to run at Christmas time.. the colors, it being a streamliner train.. just made it cool to me.. When I was mid teenaged years, my folks split up, and my dad had to sell a good chunk of the collection to pay off some debts and whatnot.. the Blue Streak went with that stuff... now he has since re-aquired most of what he sold, and then some... but never got this particular train back.. 2 years ago when Lionel cataloged it again, I pre-ordered it the day I got the catalog (an original was just too pricey for me... not that this was by any stretch of the imagination cheap LMAO) .. month after month they release date was put off... I finally had almost given up hope it was ever coming out... So running this train is just adding to the flood of memories coming back to me this Christmas... Now I get to pass that on to Jameson.. and eventually I hope he's running my Blue Streak for his kids, long after im gone..

 

[Mr2.4]

We have a HO Scale under our tree. It belongs to my 3 year old son. He absolutly loves trains. We just went to a train show up in Raleigh this past sunday. Needless to say we found the engine that we have been wanting to get for a long while.

Here he is all tuckered out after a few hours at the show.

My lil man showing off his new CSX. That is the kind of train that passes our house.

Setup and running under the tree

Gotta love madel trains. Great way to bring the family together!

 

[SpeedracerX]

Mr2.4, that is priceless...

 

[Princess Valiant]

i used to be into model railroading...only HO scale...i had Bachman and Athern and some Proto-2000 stuff ...then i got really into finding old Tyco stuff from the 80s ......that only lasted a couple years bcoz that stuff gets expensive and i needed more mopar money so off to ebay everything i had went and hello more cars and parts LOL

My favorite were first generation diesel ....the ALCO PA-1 is the most beautiful loco ever created IMO

 

[Mr2.4]

Mr2.4, that is priceless...

Yes it is. One of those things that gets shared through the generations. I remember how great it was as a kid with my dad. But being a dad and sharing the experence with my son is soooooo flippen amazing.

 

[SpeedracerX]

i used to be into model railroading...only HO scale...i had Bachman and Athern and some Proto-2000 stuff ...then i got really into finding old Tyco stuff from the 80s ......that only lasted a couple years bcoz that stuff gets expensive and i needed more mopar money so off to ebay everything i had went and hello more cars and parts LOL

My favorite were first generation diesel ....the ALCO PA-1 is the most beautiful loco ever created IMO

I agree the ALCO PA-1 is a looker for sure.. I however am a steam engine fan.. I have always been fascinated by them for as long as I can remember

 

[SpeedracerX]

Yes it is. One of those things that gets shared through the generations. I remember how great it was as a kid with my dad. But being a dad and sharing the experence with my son is soooooo flippen amazing.

I agree.. my son liked the trains and all (both my kids did) but neither of them picked the bug to continue the tradition, (though my daughter had a winter wedding and insisted on a Christmas tree with a train under it at her reception LOL) .. I am hoping my Grandson carries on the love of trains.. and Mopars lol

 

[Abodybomber]

Was given a HO scale Lionel Santa Fe train kit 40 years ago.Still have it. My brother in laws mother just passed.Her husband had the whole basement dedicated to HO scale trains.Bess guess ,Somewhere between 100 to 150 car sets.Beautiful stuff.Neat post,Speed,and Merry Christmas.

 

[Mr2.4]

That is cool about your daugther! Im sure your grandson could get the train bug. It all starts with one little kit.

 

[SpeedracerX]

Was given a HO scale Lionel Santa Fe train kit 40 years ago.Still have it. My brother in laws mother just passed.Her husband had the whole basement dedicated to HO scale trains.Bess guess ,Somewhere between 100 to 150 car sets.Beautiful stuff.Neat post,Speed,and Merry Christmas.

Same to you

 

[SpeedracerX]

That is cool about your daugther! Im sure your grandson could get the train bug. It all starts with one little kit.

I think he'll be the one that gets the bug for sure LOL