The Christmas trainset.

Just after last Christmas I bought a Hornby 'Santa Express' trainset from Hobbycraft, for the sum of £25. This was when I staying at my Mum's, and due to space constraints in my wife's car there it stayed. The intention was to pick it up in during our next visit, but due to Covid that visit has yet to happen. The plan was to use it as intended, a small oval circling the Christmas tree. After much thought I decided to use Kato Unitrack rather then the Hornby track included in the set, and that decision meant that I could go ahead and build my Christmas layout without the set as I have a controller and stock anyway.

Kato Unitrack was chosen as wanted track that is easy to take apart (it just clips together), durable (no fishplates) and looks pretty good as its on a ballasted base. I didn't want the track to be fixed in place as the board will sit in the loft for most of the year, probably buried under a pile of stuff.

I started by making a bottom board. This has a cut-out that fits around the top of the coffee table that our tree sits on. On top of this is another board, which is 10mm bigger all round than my oval of track. As this thing will be heavy I used a tank cutter to drill lots of lightening holes. These two boards are made from scrap MDF packaging obtained from work, and were glued and screwed together. On the top I cut another board, which is the same size as the inside of the oval of track, from 4mm MDF. This was in fact made from 3 pieces and was glued and pinned in place. Before I fixed it down I drilled 4 holes in the top, into which locate the legs of the tree stand. Once all of the boards were fixed together I used the tank cutter and my jigsaw to cut a slot on what would be the rear of the board, this so that the wire for the fairy lights can pass through without interfering with the track and to double as a carrying handle.

Having the upper board cut to suit the inside of the oval means that it holds the track in position without recourse to nails, pins or glue.

The materials for this were free, as has been said the main two boards were made from scrap packaging and the 4mm MDF top was leftover from another project, the only purchase being a tube of wood filler. I painted it with white primer, which again we had laying around the house.

The light-up buildings have been acquired over the past couple of years, from The Works and Aldi. A few old die-cast vehicles sit around, so far there are two Landrovers (Matchbox and Husky) and two split screen VW vans (both Matchbox, to different scales). Which says a lot about my interest in cars!

For the trains themselves, 4 wheeled locos suit the setting best. So there are Dock Shunters and a couple of the 'industrial' 0-4-0s that Triang/Hornby produced. Of the latter the shiny-domed '25550' version both looks and runs the best, an ideal Christmas trainset loco. As for rolling stock Hornby's annual Christmas wagons are fun, and judging by eBay prices a sound investment, and a Callard & Bowser butterscotch van fits right in.

This will I know divide opinion, some will love it and others will not, but I don't care. I can sit beside the tree, with the stove blazing away, watching a train chase its tail, completely relaxed. Perhaps with a glass of something strong and a mince pie. A Very Merry Christmas!

Paul.