This is my grandson's first Christmas and it's time to start a tradition that I hope will last for many years. So here's the question for everyone to think about. What is/was your favorite Christmas Tree layout? I have some ideas of my own but I would like to see or hear about those that have started this tradition before me.

Thanks,
Jimmy C

its 1974, and my mother set up a 4x8 in our livingroom. I was 5, and my brother was 8. he had a lionel 027 steam set in allstate. and I had a Ho track around the outside. still remember the engine, a little 0-4-0 dockside that said Baltimore & Ohio. pulled 18 cars. thanks for the trip down memory lane. now have a 4x12 in my livingroom in O.

My most memorable was a simple oval of track around the Christmas tree and a prewar Lionel train with steam locomotive and tender, Baby Ruth boxcar, Shell tank car, a hopper car, and red caboose--all in tinplate--that saw a whole lot of use, and wrecks, during the holiday season. I would lay on the floor for hours with the train and my toy soldiers, cowboy figures, and toy autos, and create all sorts fanciful scenarios for that train. Those were the days when we had radio, comic books, well-played-with toys, and our imaginations to work with, and little else.

But my suggestion is to create your favorite toy train and Christmas memory THIS holiday season. Take plenty of pictures and send them along to the magazine so we can feature an extensive album of personal treasures in next December's issue of the magazine. That way you'll have a nice and permanent memory to share with future generations of family and friends.

Tough call....there are 3 that are memorable for me:

3) When I was a young child my dad set up an AF set under the tree in a simple loop with a crossing gate and flasher. I only have vague memories of it other than some old pictures. The one memory I do have is laying on my belly watching the train enter a natural tunnel from low branches and tinsel on the back-side of the tree and coming out the other side. That memory and the "electric, toy train smell" are what I remember fondly today.

2) When I was about 10 and my brother 9, my dad surprised us one Christmas morning with a 4x8 HO layout complete with 2 separate trains and controls - one for each of us. It was my first "railroad empire", one which grew to be quite large in our basement over the years, though my brother soon lost interest in the hobby. It means so much to me as once I got older I realized just how impressive a feat it was for my dad to complete without us knowing. I can only imagine how many nights he dragged himself out to cold garage to build it for us when I'm sure he would have rather been in bed getting ready for a 5 am wake up to go to work each day.

1) When my son was 2 I built a small layout under the tree with several operating accessories. He came downstairs and started to go for all the presents but soon saw the layout behind them and promptly dropped the gift in his hands and started to push everything out of the way to get to the trains. Needless to say we had a blast. The set was a Lionel Pennsy Flyer set and he drove my wife nuts during the days ahead as he frequently derailed a car or two as he pushed them around the layout (he liked that more than using the transformer back then). Great memories!

--Greg