On the Road Again: Christmas Train Layouts

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.