Mark your calendars! The Trusty Train Tracks Christmas Open House is always the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and this year was our biggest yet! We had a whopping seven trains running inside, plus the beloved garden train. Apologies, the snow beat the video camera outside, but you can still check out the incredible action in the video of the indoor layouts!
On the shelf we have an MTH Railking Christmas Trolley. This train is the only permanent indoor layout at the Trusty Train Tracks household. It’s right by the front door, up on a shelf eight feet in the air. It’s wired to a light switch, making it the first, mandatory stop for the grandkids the second they arrive!
Under the tree is the Dillard’s Holiday Express with several add-on cars. We picked up this G scale set at a train show. Every car has bright lights and moving objects. Our absolute favorite? The ice skater on the third car! He whirls at a dizzying, non-stop pace, a true marvel of engineering (and magnets). The engine has two settings: ‘Fast’ and ‘You Better Hold On!’ The video is recorded at the slower speed.
Listen closely as the Broadway Limited PRR EMD SW7 Switcher roars (thanks to its incredible Paragon 4 sound system!) right through the heart of our Christmas Village. This beautiful engine was a special gift last Christmas.
The big layout in the fun room is 18 feet long and four feet wide. It has three N scale trains plus an O scale train. On top is the 2017 Kato Operation North Pole Christmas train running on the Kato N V2 Single Track Viaduct Set. The upper deck is held up by a set of Lionel FasTrack trestles.
The upper layer crosses the lower layer at three locations, and bridges are installed at each crossing.
The lower level is made using pieces from the Kato V11, V14 and V16 double track sets. The inside lane has an Arnold GG1 (Brunswick Green) pulling five Lima Pennsylvania Railroad Pullman cars. The other features a magnificent pair of Kato E8A diesel engines powering the massive PRR Broadway Limited, a sight to behold with the ten-car set plus the four-car sleeper add-on (that’s 14 cars in all!). Around it all is the last train that grandpa Tom purchased before he passed away. It’s a 2016 Lionel Christmas set with Bluetooth control running on O scale FasTrack. I swapped out the caboose for an MTH Pennsylvania unit.
The layout is on top of four 4×4 and one 2×4 pieces of peg board. Three different tables are under that with layers of foam acting as shims to make the whole thing level. On top of the peg board are two layers of felt cloth from Hobby Lobby.
Here is the layout with just the O scale train. Once this was set up, the N scale was added inside the FasTrack layout.
Challenge Time! For our newer enthusiasts, we’ve set up some fun size comparisons. Find the O scale GG1 and compare it to its tiny N scale twin on the lower level. Or spot the two PRR RS-3s, one G scale and one N scale, and marvel at how the giant G scale engine absolutely dwarfs the miniature N scale version!
https://www.TrustyTrainTracks.com
Questions or comments: conductor@trustytraintracks.com
Fantastic to get all of the details behind the amazing video. GREAT idea to line up the 3 scales all together. GREAT to see the Fun Room filled with trains again. Thank you for sharing your joy of trains Alvin. Your videos in particular have inspired me to post videos on You Tube as well. Merry Christnmas to you and your family. “See you” in the New Year.