Christmas Train Layouts - Seattle Area 2016

Christmas Train Layouts in the Seattle Area 2016

I woke up this morning anticipating a day of touring the local area Christmas train displays.  I had two planned, the Model Train Festival at the Washington State Historical Museum in Tacoma and the Winter Train and Village at Winterfest at the Seattle Center.  Looking out the window of my living room across the golf course I see the finest snow fall I think I have ever witnessed.  It appeared as fine as particles of powdered sugar and was coming down ever so lightly.  Walkways were becoming white from the dusting but the grass was still highly visible as the dusting fell.

I jump in the shower, get dressed and head out the door.  It's a chillingly brisk morning, 25 degrees according to the temperature gauge in the car.  The windshield is covered in a white blanket.  With the wipers I wipe away the light dusting but the windshield is covered with a beautiful crystal pattern created by earlier moisture and a cold night.  It took the scraper to clear my view.

It's a quick stop at McDonalds for one of my favorite breakfasts, Sausage McGriddle, hash browns, and a small orange juice.  As I leave the drive through and head down the road I find I have two sausage and cheese McMuffins instead of the McGriddle.  Disappointed but already on the road, I make due and quiet my hunger.

One hour to Tacoma from Everett, the drive is not bad.  No horrible backups. I arrive at the Washington State Historical Museum anxious to see the displays.

Washington State Historical Museum - Tacoma

Tacoma Union Station

Note that the museum architecture is very similar to the Union Station and is next door to the station.

What follows are numerous scenes from the various layouts in the museum.  The layouts are spread throughout the museum, some found on each of the four floors.  If you love trains and model railroading and are in the Seattle/Tacoma area it is a must see.

Now for train layouts for your visual enjoyment:

Second floor, Kitsap Live Steamers display:

My favorite - the B&O 99

Windows back in time, when railroads were king!

Fourth floor, Mount Rainier N-Scale:

Third Floor, main entrance, Pierce County Lionel Train Club

I've had Lionel Trains almost from the day I was born.  My Myers Grandparents gave me my first set for Christmas either for my first or second Christmas.  Trains and the love of trains runs deep in my family.  My Father and his Father were both firemen, then engineers on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.  My hometown, Brunswick Maryland, was the junction of the Baltimore and Cumberland divisions of the B&O.  Brunswick was a real railroad town, the industry that built the town.  So my love for trains runs deep and long.

View from above.  Note, this and several of the other layouts are modular.

Always fun to watch them run.

Fifth floor, Pacific Northwest Railroad layout:

Also on the fifth floor, Tacoma Northwestern Model Railroad Club, representing Tacoma railroading in the '50's.

For more information about the Train festival check out the following link:

http://www.washingtonhistory.org/visit/wshm/eventsprograms/festivals/trainfest/

The Washington State Historical Museum had much more to see beyond trains.  I will give you a tour in a later blog.  Right now it's time to head back to Seattle and see a more traditional Winter Holiday Train Village and layout.

The location is the Seattle Center, home of the 1962 World's Fair, in the Armory.  The period of the layout is the turn-of-the-century (19th-20th).

So here we are at Winterfest 2016:

Doesn't this help bring a Christmas spirit to you? It sure does for me!!

I hope you've enjoyed the winter scenes here.  It's one of the better Winter/Christmas layouts I've seen.

A few more views from the Seattle Center follow.  It remained a cold winter day with occasional snow flurries.

Here is a link if you'd like to know more about Winterfest 2016:

http://www.seattlecenter.com/winterfest/

The Monorail:

The Space Needle:

Lastly,  I stopped at the Fisher Pavilion, home of the Winterfest skating rink:

Well, that's it for today.  I hope to post a retrospective of Myers family Christmas celebrations including years of Christmas train gardens.  I also am continuing to work through the photos of my trip to Maryland during the month of November and will be posting more blogs about that trip.  Thanks for stopping by.  Until later, be safe and have a very Merry Christmas.  Love to all of you.

Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas to all!!

Home again, view of a beautiful winter evening and sunset!!

View from my living room!

Maryland in November

It's o-dark-thirty the morning of November 2nd.  How wonderful to have fabulous friends that will volunteer to take you to the airport at such an early hour.  Thank you Monique. Flight time is 8:15 so that means being at Sea-Tac airport at 6:15.

Photo from Naveen Kumar Kotta

Leaving from the North Terminal at the airport it's an Alaska Air flight directly to BWI in Baltimore.  We arrive early, around 4 pm, and it's off to the rental car.  I've rented an economy car but few cars are available and they upgrade me to a Chrysler 200.  I guess it's a true thing, as we get older we become set in our ways.  My how things have changed, no keys, no gear shift, no break peddle.  Everything is a switch.  It takes a few minutes to get adjusted to all of the controls.

Next stop dinner!!  What do I want?  Silly question!!  It's been almost a year since I was last in Maryland.  As much as I love living in the Seattle area there are two food items I miss and crave that are not available on the west coast, "real" crab cakes and country ham.  Yes, they do have crab cakes in Seattle but they in no way resemble the delicious flavors of a Maryland crab cake.

Just a few miles from the airport is a restaurant I've been going to for crab cakes for most of my adult life, Timbuktu Restaurant in Hanover MD.

http://www.timbukturestaurant.com/

The crab cakes are filled with large chunks of crab and seasoned to perfection.

Satiated for the moment and feeling quite content, I head north to Bel Air MD to visit with my friends Jack and Penni Hopkins. Jack and I worked together for numerous years at Westinghouse Defense in Linthicum MD. We spend a brief time visiting and then it's off to bed.  It's been a long day for this old man.

Thursday is a day to catch up, share old memories and spend some time working on Jack's genealogy.  I gave a try at his ancestry a number of years ago.  Armed with new tools, new resources and more time we find one of the branches of his family had been in error.   Thursday evening Penni and Jack host a wonderful lasagna dinner.  Len and Donna Shiloh and Pat Piepenbring are in attendance.  Len, Jack, and I worked together.  Pat's husband Gary was part of the Westinghouse gang of four.  Unfortunately we lost Gary in 1992, way to young at the age of 47.  It's always a great time when we get together, taking a walk down memory lane, updating on what's happening in our respective families, discussing politics, and always jokes and humorous stories.

Friday arrives and it's a boy's day out.  This visit, it's a trip to the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey PA.  It's a beautiful day and a pleasant drive from Bel Air to Hershey.

http://www.aacamuseum.org/

As we leave the parking lot and head into the museum we see one of my favorite cars parked by the curb:

The 1962 Studebaker Avanti

The following are a number of the automobiles and displays throughout the museum:

What a beauty - a '39 Ford Coupe - note the headlight.

1931 Cadillac Town Sedan

1910 Otto Roadster - similar in appearance to my favorite, the Mercer Raceabout

1932 two tone - Studebaker Saint Regis Brougham - the picture does not do this automobile justice.  It was amazingly beautiful.

1948 Tucker

The museum houses the largest collection of Tucker automobiles and materials as collected by David Cammack.  Preston Tucker was the designer and manufacturer of this amazing automobile.  It had many advanced and safety features later adopted by other auto manufacturers.  The engine was in the rear.  The interior is spacious and comfortable.

Manufacturing was in Chicago.  The car in this photo was serial number 1001.  It had a Franklin 334 cubic engine developing 166 horse power.  The museum provides the following description:

This car utilizes the Tucker Y-1 transmission, a Tucker-modified Cord 810/812 front-wheel-drive unit.  It also features the rubber torsion tube suspension, which was plagued by severe toe-in during braking. It is painted in its original Tucker maroon 600 color scheme.

Jack decided it was time to take a spin in the 1939 American Bantam

The museum has a nice collection of trucks and busses as well.

The All American Hamburger/Snack Bar

Looks like Jack couldn't pass up an opportunity for a bite.

Burger, fries, a milkshake and pie.  It doesn't get much better than that.

So what could be better than an automobile museum you ask?  Well, how about an automobile museum with Lionel Trains.

Pre WWII Standard Gauge Lionel on display

A layout with Lionel O Gauge trains and plasticville houses.  Memories of good times from my childhood in the 50's.

All good things must come to an end so it's time to find a bite to eat then head back to Bel Air.  One of the local police officers suggested a restaurant on our way out of town.  We had a yummy meat ball sub. Back to Jack's and then on the road again.

But wait, what a surprise.  I get a call from my son Keith and he won two tickets to Saturday's Ravens game with Pittsburgh.  He won them in a raffle at his employment at Saft.  There's more to this story that makes it amazing but I won't share that at the moment. What a great time, a pro football game with your son. 

Great seats on a beautiful day.

Our view.

Salute to the flag and the national anthem.

Behind us.

"the Goose" our section cheer leader

It was a great day, beautiful weather and the Ravens beat Pittsburgh. Joe Flacco and his team did all they needed to do.  Thanks Keith for a wonderful time and great memories.

After the game it's off to Hagerstown MD to visit and spend some time with my cousin and partner in crime Holly Garrett.  That story to follow soon.

Thanks for stopping in to check on my latest adventures. Love to you all.