I put an oval of three-rail Lionel track (including two original O42 turnouts that we bought more than a few years ago in excellent condition) around the Christmas Tree this week-end and I have been having a blast playing with it. The trains are relatively simple: # 675 K4 Pacific, # 622 NW2, CPR SD-24, numerous Postwar freight cars, a couple of modern cars, and a few non-operating accessories. This afternoon I had a tin Marx train towing six-inch freight cars around the tree, sparks and all.
I admire the elaborate displays featured in CTT, but there is just something about a simple carpet railway that adds a sense of mystique to the Christmas season. The smell of the older trains and the detail of the newer trains running quietly along with their lights aglow is indeed relaxing. With all the sizable locomotives (with equally sizable costs), massive layouts, and huge collections, I wonder if there are some “restorationists” out there, interested primarily in toy trains as miniature amusements as was so common “back in the day.”
The January 2010 issue of CTT includes a description of what constitutes a “toy-rail” layout or a “hi-rail” layout. Who establishes these conventions? Indeed, my Christmas tree oval could be construed as “hi-rail” should I operate the trains in a realistic manner. Likewise, a 50x50 layout complete with detailed landscaping and intricate wiring could be considered a “toy-rail” layout if the trains ran mere laps around the track. Merry Christmas to all.
I run my trains at a separate, temporary location away from my home on a carpet central. I vary scales (Maerklin gauge 1, Flyer, O gauge). I vary track (Super “O”, Fast track, SHS track and Maerklin gauge 1 track).
What I have learned in the ten years I have been doing this is that I have as much fun as my “fixed” hard layout. There is variety. It is simple. Its a quick set up and take down. I turn off the lights and have fun.
My answer is to play and have fun. Everyone’s idea of playing and having fun is always a little different, but what is most important is your having the fun and play time. Don’t use dollars chasing what someone else thinks you should do, only do what makes you happy. Not sure, then ask questions and use what works for you. My Fastrack layout would certainly be toylike and that is fine with me. I built it for my son and I to play and have fun. Who knows who decides what label works? I don’t and the most likely is so someone could explain what they like, not to judge others.
If someone doesn’t like what I have done, I can always fire up my TMCC army loco and run it over to them and shoot some missles at them[:-,]!
Trains are made to play with. I run trains a lot like the real ones. Switch cars and build trains. Not much on scenery. I my layout was once referred to a the plywood desert [its not plywood but Soundstop painted dark brown]. Got a few buildings and etc. I can load and unload piggybacks and containers, load and unload coal, load oil, load grain and load and unload box cars. Dual main lines run through two rooms which allows long trains and switching directions or from one mainline to another. Those who love scenery, go for it. I’ll get there one day but playing with trains is my thing. Each his own.
I’m primarily interested in vintage postwar 027, and I like the idea of recreating a layout that would have been up-to-date in, say, 1953 or thereabouts. If that makes me a “restorationist” by your definition, then count me in.
I do buy modern cars, but only the ones that recreate the old original 027 cars that I can’t afford to buy today. Lionel’s short 027 streamlined passenger cars are a good example. I have a complete string of NYC passenger cars behind my 1951 2026 locomotive, and I’m in the process of accumulating Pennsylvania Flyer cars for the 1949 675 locomotive. All my freight cars are originals.
I’ve done plenty of scale modeling, but for the Lionel 027 equipment, scale means very little to me. I pick up vintage toy plastic cars when I can find them at flea markets at reasonable prices (who would have thought those little dime-store cars would someday be selling for $20?). Many of my structures are little wooden houses built by my grandfather for my mother’s toy-train layout, back in the Thirties (and yes, I do have her original locomotive and rolling stock), So scale is out the window for my Lionel equipment. If “hi-rail” means running scale equipment on 3-rail track, then you can put me in the “toy-rail” camp.
I like your “restorationist” term, though. Since I really am trying to recreate what would have been a layout that one would have seen in the early Fifties, that seems to fit well.
A layout on the floor or just a sheet of wood is fine … that’s how it all started and is still that way today ! Enjoyment and the amazement of the engines is where it’s at … watching them roll along with fantasies in your head of them being the real thing . I’ve got cases of buildings … engines … cars not put into a layout … just my test track I call it … still a thrill just to run them . It takes me back to when I was 9 years old everytime … with my first engine … no one should NEVER make any remarks on another’s setup . I never have or never will . [2c]
My entire family can’t wait for the train to go up around the Christmas tree. We usually have two maybe three around the tree, and then one IN the tree. (Battery operated that Smokes, Whistles, Rings Bell, & plays Christmas carol. Track has a hub that clamps around tree stem, then has plastic supports for the plastic track. Cost $20).
I have a 14 x 16 permanent layout out in the “train room”, but during Dec., the trains around the tree get all the attention. I will simulate train operation outside, but any train officionado would cringe at the method of operation, but it is fun.
I also belonged to a train club in the LA area, it is 18 x 70 layout. Has 2 main lines and many spurs. And LOTS of scenery, the name of the club is “xx High Railers”. What the members do, is run their trains single file around the 2 main lines. We did have a “Operating Session” for awhile but their were only 6 guys out of 30 that participated. The sessions were short lived, primarily because it interfered with the scenery, and subsequent scenery planning. So they now run the trains in circles again, and let it go at that. Are they High Railers? I Think not, but they are enjoying what they do, a few build scenery, the rest run in circles. Overall, it provides a gathering point for friends to get together and share a common intere
I love all that is available to the O crowd now. There are so many choices, that it is easy to create your own miniature world in a relatively short time.
That being said…run 'em around that Christmas tree, and I 'll plop down on the floor next to ya for hours…[8D]
Actually, it would appear that some people have a need to be able to pigeonhole stuff, our trains included. I don’t much care for all them categories, too many different ways to have fun, which is what toy trains are really about.
We have ours next to the tree, but a Christmas layout nonetheless! Only time I get to set up in the living room.
We had the trains running the other morning, just sitting with my 2-girls, watching the trains, and talking about…stuff. The running trains create a relaxing atmosphere.
You know, I never really thought about it before, but you’re right. The sound of a three-rail train going round its layout is relaxing. Maybe it’s the association with Christmases past, or maybe it’s just a white-noise effect, or maybe it’s something more elusive altogether, but the effect is definitely soothing.
Whether, on a scenic layout, on plywood without scenery, or on the floor, it’s all exciting to me and of course the best is around a Christmas Tree for everyone and Santa Claus to enjoy!
My Daughter’s son and two Dachshunds get excited when I run the trains under the Christmas Tree. And when the track power is off, the two pups carefully go under the tree and explore the trains, whatever buildings and people that are under the tree, without damaging anything.
As, for my Grandson, we keep an eye on him.
In addition to the tree layout, the table height layout is also a favorite of the three.
All of us enjoy all types of the layouts.
Until recently I had a permanent layout, and it was intended to be toy-like. A layout like you would see in the 50’s or 60’s. We had lots of fun with it but we had as much fun with an oval on a piece of OSB with indoor outdoor carpet. But the thing that sets the mood is the living room illuminated only with Christmas lights, the smell of train smoke and the clickey clack of a train going around the tree. I hope we are instilling into the grandkids, a memory that will be treasured when they grow up.
The hobby of model trains can go from simple to complex, and that is a great aspect of toy trains. They are fun, and can be shared.
