We have been working on portable Polar Express layout for three years now. The layout is 6’ by 9’ and runs a three time around type of track plan. The first year, the scenery was wadded uyp newspaper covered with white bed sheets. The second year brought the current track plan and scenery that was about 1/2 paper mache and the other half white bed sheets.
Improvements this year include yet another re-work of the scenery, this time plaster cloth over spray foam - much more durable than the previous incarnations. We have also replaced rock and stone walls that were printed on paper in previous years with stone work made using carved plaster in some areas and broken ceiling tile in others.
It is running well, and the kids enjoy watching it - most of the parents get a kick out of it too. I’ve overheard stories about smoke pills being told by grandparents. One neat touch is hot chocolate ‘flavored’ smoke fluid I am running. Yes, the hot chocolate car is in the consist.
One of the problems with the previous versions was the need to ‘drive’ the train. The down grade is so steep that the throttle needed to be reduced to make the curve at the bottom, which did not always happen. We have proven that the Polar Express has the glide angle of a rock when it leaves the table!
This year, I built a voltage splitter and broke the layout into three blocks - uphill that gets full voltage, level which gets medium voltage, and down hill which gets low voltage. The voltage splitter I built gives 8 steps of voltage, controlled for each block by rotary switches, as different locomotives want different amounts of voltage for each block. The blocks also give me the ability to sound the “Alll abooard” on the announcement coach and not start the bell ringing by parking the locomotive in a different block than the announcement coach and switching a second CW80 in