September, 2009 Update: Trains-N-Towns<sup><small>TM</small></sup>


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Written by Paul D. Race for Big Indoor Trains^TM and Big Christmas Trains^TM

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Trains-N-Towns^TM, the Official Newsletter of BIGIndoorTrains.com and BIGChristmasTrains.com

This newsletter is for people who like O scale trains and Christmas trains, including people who combine On30 or O gauge trains with collectible villages. It is produced in conjunction with the Big Indoor Trains^TM and Big Christmas Trains web sites.

If you did not get this Trains-N-Towns^TM newsletter through your own e-mail, and you would like to get the newsletters in the future, please join our Trains-N-Towns^TM Mailing List
On the other hand, if you don't want to receive our e-mail updates, please e-mail me with a "Please Unsubscribe" message (worded any way you wish), and we will graciously remove you from our list.
Also, if you would like to subscribe to our free newsletter for garden railroaders (people running big trains outside), please join the Family Garden Trains Mailing List. By the way, you can subscribe to either, both, or neither, and we will just be glad to be of service, no matter what you decide.

In this Issue

We had really hoped to get September's newsletter out in early in the month, but things are as hectic as ever here. If volume of questions and new subscriptions is any indication, interest in big model trains is continuing to grow.

One area of interest that has exploded recently is Halloween-themed trains and towns. Our BigChristmasTrains.com site used to have a single page called "Halloween Trains" that listed the most popular products we could find. But we've expanded to add "primer" pages that cover most of the questions we've been asked. This also gives us a place to list future articles and updates, as questions and reader suggestions continue to come in. Don't worry, we aren't "stuck" on Halloween, just recognizing the heightened reader interest at this time of year. Our big project article for next month will work on almost any indoor railroad, and it is big in every sense of the word, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, if you're looking at the web version of this article, you might like to know that Howard Lamey made the "base" covering for the display in the title photo from a piece of burlap that he sprayed lightly with different shades of green and brown paint. And that our Spook Hill^TM articles have free plans and instructions for most of the buildings shown in that photo and in the blowup you can access by clicking on it.

In the meantime, we know that many of you (like us) are still affected by the recent economic downturn. So we hope to continue offering free plans, patterns, and ideas for inexpensive projects to make your indoor railroads and display villages more fun.

And, we still appreciate your support, prayers and patience.

Once again, if you have an article idea or photo you want to share, please get in touch. Through our readers, we are constantly finding out new ways to enjoy our trains and towns.

Topics discussed in this update include:

New Article: Halloween Trains and Towns Primer
New Article: Halloween Updates to Popular Projects
New Article: A Brief History of Christmas Villages
Song of the Month: At the Heart of my Heart was the Music

Note: As always, we have more articles in the works, so check our site often.

New Article: Halloween Trains and Towns Primer

After starting out as a fun outgrowth of the Christmas trains and towns hobbies, Halloween trains and towns have now taken on a life of their own. Not only is our list of free, downloadable "Spook Hill" and related projects growing, but so is the list of commercially available Halloween trains and village collections. This "primer" answers beginner questions and provides links to many related topics, including:

Click on the link below to go to the Halloween Trains and Towns Primer page.

http://btcomm.com/trains/special_offers/halloween/halloweentrains_primer.htm

New for 2009! - Halloween Updates to Popular Projects

In 2009, Howard and Paul cooked up a number of projects based on early 1900s stamped metal buildings that were sold to go with tinplate trains (and in some cases, with Christmas villages). Then we figured out that at least two of these "Tribute to Tinplate(tm)" buildings would make great Halloween projects, simply by repurposing the graphics. We have also supplied new graphics for one of our Glitterhouse projects, to repurpose the "Picture Window House" for Halloween as well.

Click on the link below for free instructions and graphics to make the Halloween version of our tinplate-inspired cottage.

http://bigindoortrains.com/primer/buildings/lackie/tin_house/tin_house.htm

Click on the link below for free instructions and graphics to make the Jeckyll Park Station, the Halloween version of our Lewis Park tinplate-style train station.

http://bigindoortrains.com/primer/buildings/lackie/lewis_park_station/lewis_park_station.htm

Click on the link below for free instructions and graphics to see the Halloween-themed options for our "Picture Window" glitterhouse project.

http://bigindoortrains.com/primer/glitterhouses/picture_window_house/picture_window_house.htm

New Article: A Brief History of Christmas Villages

Looking past Halloween - Sure, many of us grew up with trains and towns around the Christmas tree. But did you know that the first "Christmas villages" were probably elaborate Nativity displays going back to the early Renaissance? How did we get from Nativities to Lionel railroads around the Christmas tree to Dept. 56 buildings on the mantle? And what can we learn about this centuries-old tradition that can make our own Christmas trains and towns more fun? Our sister site, Family Christmas Online^TM, has posted an article that addresses these questions and more.

Click on the link below for more information:

http://familychristmasonline.com/decorating/christmasvillages/history/christmas_villages.htm

Song of the Month: At the Heart of my Heart Was the Music

This month's "Song of the Month," "At the Heart of my Heart Was the Music" is a four-minute summary of forty-odd years of involvement playing and writing music of all kinds. If you like music, and especially if you perform or write music, I think you'll enjoy this song.

To jump to the "Song of the Month" section of my music page, with links to this and other songs, please click the following link:

http://paulracemusic.com/prmusic.htm#song_of_month

Keep in Touch

Each month, we get more interest in this newsletter, in the site, and in the trains and towns we discuss. We welcome your questions as indicators of what we should be working on next (also, we always try to answer reader questions quickly). In addition, if you have any photos, tips, or articles you'd like to share with your fellow hobbyists, please let us know. The hobby grows best when we all learn together.

In the meantime, please accept our very best wishes for a great autumn!

Paul Race

BigIndoorTrains.com
BigChristmasTrains.com
FamilyGardenTrains.com

To view the Trains-N-Towns^TM newsletter for August, 2009, click on the following link:

http://bigindoortrains.com/trains_n_towns/09_08_newsletter_indoor.htm

To read more, or to look at recommended Garden Railroading and Display Railroad products, you may click on the index pages below.

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Villag

Visit our BIG Train Store<sup><small>TM</small></sup> Buyer's Guide Pages

Add realism and interest to your O scale railroad or village display.

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Note: Spook Hill^TM is a trademark of Howard Lamey, North Jacksonville, Florida. Big Indoor Trains^TM, Trains-N-Towns^TM, Big Train Store^TM Family Garden Trains^TM, Big Christmas Trains^TM, Garden Train Store^TM, and Tribute to Tinplate^TM are trademarks of Breakthrough Communications^TM (www.btcomm.com). All information, data, text, and illustrations on this web site are Copyright (c) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 by Paul D. Race. Reuse or republication without prior written permission is specifically forbidden.
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