I still have some more painting and lighting to do, but I wanted to have a chance to show it before I finished. I have three Lionel Holliday type trains with my wife’s collection of porcelain houses, which got me started on O-scale.
The layout is 8x9 3 level with a sub level for a harbor. I have it on wheels so I can pull it out from the wall. I have a total of 16 casters holding it up because I wanted to distribute the weight with 5 wheels directly under the tree for extra weight and stability.
Having the wheels made it real easy to set up a ladder in back to decorate. The tree also rotates so the ladder doesn’t have to move.
That is fantastic work. I cannot wait to see the finished product and hopefully some videos. Are you going to have to tear it all down after Christmas? It is superb enough to be a permanent layout.
Joe’s comments matched my reaction…just fantastic. It reminds me of the window display at Fields back in the day in Chicago…better than quite a few I have seen in public display. As a kid I was mesmerized by it and any kid will certainly have the same reaction to yours… I am glad to see you made it portable as there’s a chance it can be retained as it is, and not be dismantled.
Thanks everyone. I am going to make a video when I finish and I’ll post here.
All my neighbors & friends say that I should just remove the tree and leave it up all year. I thought about since the kids are grown we rarely use the living room anymore. Unfortunately there is just too much Christmas stuff on it, although the icy winter scene might help cool those hot summers down here in the desert.
It is too big to push through the door so I do have to take it down and store it through the summer. I built it into 7 main modules that unbolt into pieces. The outside track loop comes apart in 3 pieces that bolt around to the 8x6 main section. Then the other levels bolt on top of each other.
There are also 7 triangle wheel bases that screw to the bottom when on its up on its side I have to remove the wheelbases because the main level is too heavy for me to pick up. When I take it down I might strategically remove some of the ¾" plywood by cutting large holes underneath the foam to lighten it up.
Oh I also have a Harbor on wheels that slides in front below the track. It was carried over from last year, but I’m going to be adding to it a little.
Thanks, we always had natural trees, but I had to abandon that as the layout got higher. The wife and I aren’t as strong anymore and just can’t pick it up.
We saw a really nice Nobel Fir the other day and we are looking for another place in another room to put it. We really miss the smell of a fresh tree.
The one advantage of the artificial is we don’t have to water it and don’t have to worry about it drying out. We always got at least a month out of them, but a few needles would still drop on the tracks and sometimes stick to the underside.
As far as the cat goes probably not for decorating, the cat is cross eyed and nearsighted. There’s no telling what it will look like if the cat does the tree. It sure likes watching from high places and I haven’t figured out what it sees or how it manages to get up there. [:D]
Wow! Really REALLY nice! There’s a lot to like, for sure, but for some reason I am super impressed with your faux tree trunk with the pipe inside. Maybe it is b/c it took my dad, my brother and I half an hour of grunting and arguing to get our tree–our artificial tree–to stand up straight in one of those 3-leg tree stands this year! And it still doesn’t have real-looking trunk like yours!
Oh thanks for asking. I made the trunk out of screen and plaster. I then painted it. I had a little trouble finding a pipe that the tree would fit in so I split a piece of electrical conduit to open it up a little and welded it to an old saw blade as a tree stand. I ground some slots in the hard steel blade to secure it with screw to the ¾" plywood underneath.
It went in so easy that both the wife and I were amazed. I carried the tree on my shoulder up one side of the ladder with my wife on the other side and all I had to do was bend over and my wife guided it into the hole.
I have to say that it also worked well that I could rotate the tree in the pipe which made it real easy to decorate from one side.
Well I’m done with most of it I just have to fill-in the bottom to hide all the wires and keep the cat out from underneath. She likes to chew on wires.
I had a section made out of Lemax Christmas Village Façade to cover the front but it’s a little short this year. I haven’t decided if I should order another and extend it or do something else. I probably should seek advice from someone who is more design oriented. It actually hangs from the platform.
The last photo shows the harbor which still being remodeled. I’m reusing it from last year and making modifications to fit properly since the layout is so much bigger this year. I’m also extending it just a tad to add a yacht club that we’ve had for years and never had a place to put it.
I am at a loss to think of a superlative…again, it reminds me of a store window display back in the day…The way the multi-levels of track was worked into the design is really terrific and original and it could not look more like Christmas in your house. How about a video?
I’m working on a video now. I can’t find my tripod and I can’t hold the camera steady enough for making videos. I think I lent it to someone, but can’t remember who. I need to buy another tripod of figure out how to hold the camera steady. It just occurred to me that I may have a set of crutches around her someplace. I’ll see if I can find them.
I still don’t know how to use this camera very well, but I think there is some settings to smooth it out
