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Written by Paul D. Race for Family Garden Trains

December, 2006 Update from Family Garden Trains and Big Christmas Trains Note: This is an HTML version of an combined e-mail newsletter from the Family Garden Trains and Big Christmas Trains websites, which publish information about big model trains and related topics. (We are sending out a combined newsletter for December 1.) If you would like to subscribe to the Family Garden Trains newsletter, please join our Mailing List, and specify that you want to receive e-mail updates. To subscribe to the Big Christmas Trains newsletter, please join our Big Christmas Trains Mailing List Fine Print: If you are receiving our e-mail updates and you no longer wish to subscribe, please e-mail me with a "Please Unsubscribe" message (worded any way you wish), and we will graciously remove you from our list. Topics discussed in this update include: Special Article: What Do Trains Have to Do With Christmas? Big Trains in December Christmas Train Photos and Ideas Wanted Special Article: What Do Trains Have to Do With Christmas? Since the Family Garden Trains web site added the Big Christmas Trains pages in 2004, demand for information about big seasonal trains has exploded. No, we have not kept up with everyone's questions about trains for Christmas trees, trains for holiday villages, trains for outside Christmas displays, and so on. But all of these questions got me wondering why American's fascination with trains seems to increase so dramatically around Christmas. Another question is why I seem to be seeing a resurgence of interest in Christmas trains in general. So I sat down to write a simple five-or-six paragraph article for the newsletter, and suddenly it was several pages long - far too long to e-mail to anybody. Please click on the following link - you may be encouraged as well as enlightened when you take the time to think about why, to most Americans, a train around the tree seems as normal as a star or angel on top. http://familygardentrains.com/blog_like_content/06_12_blogs/06_12_01.htm Big Trains in December In the not-so distant past, people responded to cooling temperatures, shorter days, and falling leaves by bringing in evergreen branches and providing extra light in the home, at least until the days started getting longer again. Many garden railroaders respond by bringing their trains and accessories inside, and trying to find a place to set up at least a few of them. Here's some ideas for keeping your train hobby alive during the coldest days of the years. (Yes this list is targeted somewhat to garden railroaders, but I know that most folks who are interested in Christmas trains will find something of value here, too.) Build a "Test Track" for your smallest Large Scale train - You may not have room for a permanent indoor railroad, but do you have room for a 5'x5' piece of plywood that you can set out on a card table in the basement or garage? Line the bottom with felt or something so it doesn't scratch whatever you set it on, then add some of that no-slip rubbery shelf-lining stuff so if the whole thing doesn't slide off easily if someone bumps it a little. Consider putting "indoor-outdoor carpet" or something on the top (and on the edges so you don't get splinters).. You probably have a loop of 4'-diameter track you're not using outside (if you've ever bought a Bachmann Large Scale train, I KNOW you do.) Lay the track on the surface, draw a line around the inside and outside, remove the track, paint the astroturf where the track will be gray or brown, and fasten the track down. (If you want you can glue Tidy Cat litter, aquarium gravel, or used swimming pool filter sand between the ties and along the edge.) Choose a couple buildings that don't take up much room, set out your smallest train, and you're ready to go. You can even use the lamp sets and figures they sell for Christmas villages. By keeping it portable and simple, you can also easily take it to school or church on special days to make things a little more festive and draw new people to your hobby. Alternately, you could . . . Start an On30 Railroad - Bachmann, the same company that made garden trains affordable for many families, has a line of O-scale trains that run on HO-gauge track. They were originally manufacturered to look good with Christmas villages, but now they're popular in their own right. And you can use ANY O-scale products with them, as long as you have space. By Large Scale standards, you can get a ridiculous amount of trains and accessories into a relatively small space. In fact, Bachmann even makes an On30 back-and-forth trolley set you can put on a mantel, shelf, or spinet. Ironically, most Lemax figures and many accessories that are sold to be used for Christmas villages will work on your garden railroad when you move outdoors again in the spring, anyway - they're better proportioned for garden trains than for indoor trains. (Some garden railroaders may complain that I am encouraging hobbyists to dilute their interests. But actually, I've discovered that many garden railroaders already have On30 railroads anyway, and it keeps them interested in trains year-round.) Display Your Trains - Even if you can't run them, you can display them on a shelf somewhere as part of your Christmas decorations. A station platform and a few figures can make a display that will draw the attention of every visitor. Consider a Winter Open House - Pete Wine, in the Miami Valley Garden Railway society, used to have an open house around Christmas or New Years come snow or shine every year. Every time I got ready for one, we had a blizzard or ice storm, so I haven't had one yet myself. But I guarantee that garden-train hobbyists starved for the sight of trains running outside will turn out. Build Something - Building kits, etc., make wonderful Christmas presents, and are a good way to keep in touch with your "railroading side" when you can't actually do any railroading. And, if you've built a "test track," you can always keep set your "work in progress" near the train to get an idea of how the thing will look with the rest of your railroad eventually. Surprise People by Giving them Fresh-Cut Greenery - Okay, your conifers and holly bushes needed trimmed anyway. But this is a great time of year to make certain the trimmings get put to good use for a few days, at least. Christmas Train Photos and Ideas Wanted These sites flourish because our readers are always sharing ideas. This may be a dangerous thing to ask in the days of digital photography, but if you have a Christmas village, train garden, train-related shelf display, outdoor Christmas train display, or anything else train-related that you take pride in this time of year, let us know about it. I would like to have a "gallery" of photos that will encourage and inspire others, as well as a more organized list of ideas than I presently have on the Big Christmas Trains pages. I won't have space to use every photo or publish every idea we receive, but we will give credit for every photo we use or every original idea we publish. Best Wishes for the Holidays and for the New Year Once again, the "heart" of this newsletter is actually the article I was planning to publish here, but which got too big. So take a look when you get a chance, please. In the meantime, I have answered questions from almost everyone on these mailing lists, so I feel like I know most of you in a way, and I certainly appreciate your support and wish each of you and your families the very best for the holiday season and the coming year. Enjoy your trains, and especially enjoy any time you have with your family in the coming weeks, Paul Race FamilyGardenTrains.com BigChristmasTrains.com To view the newsletter for November, 2006, click on the following link: http://familygardentrains.com/fgt_newsletter/06_11_newsletter.htm To read more, or to look at recommended Garden Railroading and Display Railroad products, you may click on the index pages below.

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