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OUR ELECTRIC
TRAIN DISPLAY
In the early 1940s, Lew received
an electric train set for Christmas. Both he and his parents got sick
of him setting it up and playing with it in the living room. His father
built a table for it in the basement of their home in Chester, Vermont.
When Lew's parents moved from Chester
to Brookfield it was packed up and stored. A few years ago, Lew unpacked
it and set it up in the Christmas Barn. The initial set that Lew played
with as a boy was a Louis Marx brand. In recent years he has purchased
used Lionel equipment to augment the display. Now, after several seasons
of numerous technical problems with the main layout, Lew has made some
significant changes.
The toy trains of his youth
have been put on display above the layout. What made those trains
so much fun to play with as a boy, the need for constant care and
attention, made them unsatisfactory as an operating feature of the
Christmas Barn.
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A Louis Marx 2-4.2
"999" locomotive pulling a short consist over a bridge. |
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At the urging
of, and generous assistance of his neighbor, Bob Deforge, he installed
a large scale (G gage) train on the existing platform. This train
layout has provided more reliability and required far fewer trips
up the step ladder to coax it into reluctant operation. He has kept
the bumper car display because that generally worked better and
fascinated children of all ages.
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| New Train Layout |
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The train, which includes
a replica of a late 19th century wood burning engine, has morfed
into four trains. They have predominently Christmas cars. In 2011 we have added a second main line with additional sidings. Three of the engines have sound
systems to thrill the kid in most of us. |

The
2-8-0 Consolidation pulls a small consist on the main line. |
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To keep the rails
clean and conductive, Lew runs a maintenance car around the layout
on daily track cleaning sessions.
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| 0-4-0
Switcher waits in the South siding to pull the track maintenance
car. |
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This display is open during the
Christmas tree season (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) November 25th
through December 18, 2011, free of charge to customers and non-customers
alike.
There is one caveat. Attention
to the needs of our Christmas tree customers must come first! The number
of trained and approved engineers is very limited by necessity. We hope
you understand.
If your group would like a special
tour, give us a call or send us
an e-mail.
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