We have found over many years that an operating electric train fascinates most of our customers, regardless of age, who come into the Christmas Barn. It now has two elevated, separate loops that run around the 18 foot by 30 foot inside perimeter of the barn. Each separate loop has two sidings to allow us to park an extra engine with a consist (railroad talk for a number of freight or passenger cars). It is G or Garden scale (45mm between the rails).. Some of the engines have sound systems with whistles, bells, and engine noises to be more realistic. There are both steam and diesel engines, replicas of various periods. It takes quite a bit of time and effort to keep the tracks clean and the engines operating. The tracks must be hand cleaned before the tree season starts and we have track cleaning cars for each loop during the season. Some of the cars have a local influence.
WEST LOOP:
This was the first loop constructed. We move the trains around between the two loops as circumstances require sometimes and engine requires more TLC than we have time to provide during the season. Here you see the 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive pulling a consist with a track cleaning car included traveling on the West Loop.
EAST LOOP:
This was the second loop constructed. It is at the end of the Christmas Barn with the entrance. Here you see our Rio Grande ALCO RS 3 diesel pulling a freight consist around the East loop. If you look carefully you will see the snow plow on the front. We have adjusted the sound level on the locomotives so that they can be heard but will not drown out all of the many conversations going on in the Christmas barn during busy times.
OPERATION:
The Christmas Barn is normally open and the railroad operating only during the Christmas tree season (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), November 28th through December 21, 2025, free of charge to customers and non-customers alike. We try to give the engines frequent cool down periods. There is one caveat. Attention to the needs of our Christmas tree customers must come first! When we get really busy, our attention may be limited with the railroad. 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.
HISTORY OF OUR RAILROAD:
In the late 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 and then having to tear it down so the family could use the room. His father built a large table for it in the basement of their home in Chester, Vermont. Lew spent many hours in the basement near the furnace playing with his train set.
When Lew's parents moved from Chester to Brookfield it was packed up and stored. A number of 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. The Louis Marx brand trains had a slogan saying that the trains had more "play value" than competing brands. Much of the "play value" may have been putting the train cars back on the track after frequent derailments. Later Lew purchased used Lionel equipment to augment the display. Now, after several seasons of numerous technical problems with the main layout, Lew made 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.
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 Lionel bumper car display because that generally worked better and fascinated children of all ages.