There's nothing like the finished look that a Village with its own train
provides! Almost all of the Villages have train stations, and even if you don't
have one, who cares?! This is, after all, make-believe... The clever Village Nut
who wants a fabulous setup this year will tap into the model railroad train
world for inspiration on train sets and the terrain around them.
When I first decided that my Village needed a public transportation system, I started to look at model railroad sites. The first thing I needed to decide was what size train would look best with my Village and the space I had - a bigger one that looks more proportionate to the people and buildings, or a smaller one that wasn't to scale but was more available and cheaper. Holy Smokes! I thought this would be relatively easy, but I got hit in the face with terms like gauges and scales and 3-rail tracks and electrical issues. I had no idea what these terms meant, and was frustrated by what I thought was an unnecessary amount of technical talk. I just wanted a nice little train for my Village! I didn't want to become a model railroader.
So, just as I put together different buildings and accessories to please myself rather than someone else who had different design ideas, I thought why don't I just get a train that I like and to heck with the scales and gauges! So I did, and I ended up buying a Christmas Train from Bachmann. For the record, it was in HO scale...
For those of you who'd like a little more technical info, I'll just give you a bit. There are two main size references used in model railroading. The first one is Gauge, which is the space between the train track rails. The second is Scale,
which is the proportion that the item is to it's real-life counterpart. For
example, a 1:1 scale means that the item is life-sized. You definitely aren't going to be putting one of these in your Village! Here is some of the more popular train sizes and what they look like:
Gauge HO Gauge: 1" = 87 real-life inches,
or a 1" tall figurine equals a 7.25' real-life person (not very realistic)
S Gauge: 1" = 64 real-life inches, or a 1" tall
figurine equals a 5.3' real-life person (closer to reality)
O
Scale: 1" = 48 real-life inches, or a 1" tall figurine equals a 4'
real-life person (reasonably realistic)
G Scale:
1 =
24 real-life inches, or a 1" figurine equals a 2' real-life person (not very realistic)
I've found that most
Villagers I know like the O scale
O Scale trains are the most popular ones out there so the
selection is good. The set looks great in all the Department 56 and similar-sized Villages and
is easy to set up and keep running. This is important if you just want to enjoy
the Village and not have to keep tending it, as the smaller-sized trains have a tendency
to derail! An interesting fact I found was that O Scale trains are considered
collectible, and therefore have the potential to appreciate in value. The
downside is that it is more expensive to buy, and it runs on more expensive
3-rail track (which is electrically safer than the other Scales which run on
2-rail track). The new Lionel Harry Potter Hogwart's Express train set is O
gauge.
HO scale trains come in a large variety of sets, including quite a
few Christmas-decorated sets, and is the most economical way to go. This is nice
if you just want something out-of-the-box to set up. You can get tighter
turns in HO Scale too, if space is an issue. But the smaller size of this scale
makes it out of proportion with most Villages except perhaps small ones like
David Winter Cottages. They tend to be more fragile than their larger
counterparts, and they are fussier about having a level surface to run on. Also
(and this was the deal-breaker for me!) HO Scale trains like to fall
off their tracks easily AND they are a little difficult to put
back on. Lastly, they lose value quickly.
S
gauge also fits well with most Villages. It doesn't derail easily and
runs on the less expensive 2-rail track. The downside is that there
are fewer models to choose from and they are expensive. The 2-rail track
systems are known to cause some electrical problems.
G gauge
trains are the big ones we're used to seeing go around the Christmas tree (even
if just in the movies!). While many folks consider these to be too large
for Department 56 and similar-sized Villages, I personally like them to run
around the outer perimeter of the village. The train runs on the less expensive
2-rail track and the cars do not derail easily. High-end brands have the
potential to appreciate in price. The downside is that you need a LOT of room
for these, the 2-rail track systems can cause some electrical problems, and they
are EXPENSIVE.
As an FYI, I've found that model railroaders are
SUPERB reality-creators in their train displays. If you've ever gone to a train
store, you've seen the most amazing variety of realistic terrain and landscaping
items you'll ever see. Small bags of rocks of every size and color, fake grass
that looks better than the stuff in your lawn, cinders to go around the tracks,
dirt, trees, moss, shrubs - you name it. Lots of folks are cross-overs
between the train and Village worlds, and their displays are
spectacular.
If you want to have
a realistic display, then you want to have your train and Village items in
roughly the same size category. But the whole point about about Christmas
Village displays is to help bring joy into the Christmas Season. If you get too
bogged down in realism and perfection, you'll miss out on a lot of fun.
Enjoy!
