Rockin' Around

Light it up!

With yours truly's holiday-birthday, Christmas has always been kind of a big deal in the Matteson homestead. Aside from the seasonal decorations on every wall/ledge/handrail, there're usually two trees: a real pine in the family room for Santa to drop some gifts under, and an artificial tree in the front living room. The latter has our 'town'.

As any real boy should have an electric train set, I was no exception. Around my 5th birthday I got a traditional Lionel Trains starter set, and every year the collection has grown. Nowadays my younger brother is in on it as well, so the layout surrounding the tree has slowly annexed more and more living room floorspace... perhaps slightly encroaching on the dining room's capabilities to host Christmas Day Dinner.


These photos are from the past 2 years; those with keen eyes will spot the differing track layouts. Lionel puts out a new seasonal boxcar every year, and the Christmas Trains usually replace the typical freight cars after Santa drops off a new addition. Department 56-esque buildings provide a small town center, North Pole, and farm/countryside to fill in the gaps between tracks.

Long-exposure + trains running = Cool