The annual Tidewater Big Train Operators (TBTO) Holiday train show is the largest and longest lasting display that our club sets up. We take over an entire gymnasium and the show runs for eight days.
2017 was our second year with our own layout in the show and our first year setting up along the outside area. The elevated tables are 8 feet deep by 24 feet long. We are starting to collect more “stuff” to have on our layouts, but this year we also used some of the buildings the club has in its collection. Many items are donated to the club over the years and it is nice to see them come out for display every once in a while.
We used a bit of gimmickry in our layout this year. Both tracks ran out of sight behind a backdrop for a bit, but the train on the inner loop changed the load on its flat-cars while it was back there. Or at least that’s what we hoped the illusion was. We ran two identical trains with one having crates of presents as the load and the other a stuffed character Nativity scene. An electronic controller from RR Concepts stopped the train for a bit until the other reached a particular spot on the track, then one would exit from behind the backdrop as the other entered.
The building fronts in the background were an idea borrowed from Paul Race at Family Garden Trains. They are simply pictures of interesting looking buildings glued on to foam board and cut out. As a backdrop they worked great.
Dismal Creek Railroad 