Polar Express Lionel Christmas train platform layout

[contraption22]

This is really great. You should be proud of this layout!

[grizzleybearz282004]

very nice work i love the polar express set by lionel

[ZZincorporated]

At first I thought this was just some idiot playing a clip from the movie. Awesome layout!

[Paraffinmeister]

Pretty smart man, good work!=)

[Paraffinmeister]

@Cockroach2008 Seriously, grow up, you're just being pathetic now.

[Paraffinmeister]

@Cockroach2008 You're trolling on a video of a model railway built by a guy and his son by slagging off their hard work and effort. Any remaining respect anyone ever had for you has just evaporated!

[Paraffinmeister]

@Cockroach2008 Just be quiet ok, it's not that difficult and you might keep some dignity too.

[Paraffinmeister]

@Cockroach2008 I'll say it again, BE QUIET! You're trolling, it's not big and it's not smart, it just makes YOU look like a fool.

[Paraffinmeister]

@Cockroach2008 "An empty vessel makes the biggest noise". Your head in this case.

[Paraffinmeister]

@Cockroach2008 No, you only have one and it's rattling round inside that great void making an awful racket.

[Paraffinmeister]

@Cockroach2008 Just be quiet ok, let people enjoy this clip for what it is without your mindless drivvel filling the comments section.

[Paraffinmeister]

@Cockroach2008 Bone headed illiterate fool.

[supermiigalaxy]

This is Awsome it looks like the movie!

[debzilla13]

very cool! Love all the details from the story! Great job!

[JohnnyNCindy]

Very cool, I didn’t know you could do that with that kind of track and you remained true to the move. Bravo!

[JohnnyNCindy]

Very cool, I didn’t know you could do that with that kind of track and you remained true to the move. Bravo!

[JCapaldi]

You did a really great job with this. What is the size of your layout?

[imscoope]

Hi. The Santa Claus is actually a Dept 56 Heritage Village Santa's Sleigh and I believe that it is retired. I also made a few modifications to it. You could probably find one on ebay

[abusepawallecat]

This is awesome! I love Lionels polar express. Keep up the good work! (:

[chinatrain99]

Where did you get your elves? If you made them, what type of figure did you start with? Jeff

[NatureCountryGirl]

This is SOOO cool!!!! How in the World DID you do it?!?!?!? (P.S. You must live near a train store. (LOL!) =D

[NatureCountryGirl]

@NatureCountryGirl Or a hobby store.......

[imscoope]

I'm glad that you like my video. Please check out my other train video, it shows what the platform looks like now.

[ojam4263]

I really like the polar express train vids but i want one for Christmas!

I hope i get one this year!

[imscoope]

The best price for a lionel polar express set is on ebay!!

[TheManutd1995]

GOOD JOB !!

[TheManutd1995]

GOOD IOB MATE!

[MrFL303]

WOW this is great

[MrHack26]

this is amazing

[southern4501isawesom]

the only thing u are missing is the steep grade part ....

[NatureCountryGirl]

@southern4501isawesom Yea it would go super fast and they'd have the litle boy on the man's back and there would be a wire attached to make them go up and down to make it look like there jumping!!

[Ray32]

Amazing,

I bought this Lionel train set 400$ to my 3 kids to next Christmas. This train Smoke for real. Now I see yours work...Wow, just amazing.

From a happy old kid :)

[msj191961]

The layout looks just like the movie!

[TomyTrackmastertrain]

just like the movie i like it. me and my old man tried to build of with all th o scale trainstuff we have and we bought the o scale polar express set for 300 dollars combined all the track together but i didnt turnout as great as this one did

[SuperHOTrains]

why are you not talking in the video

[sanddragon99]

nice use of reversing loops!

love the spiral that was used in the movie scene!

if you had more room Id bet you would make the causeway long and zig zaggy!

[imscoope]

Thanks! Please see my two other train video's that show some changes that I made after taking it down and putting it back up. Also, see if you can find my Z scale steam engine.

[jimtherat8]

So cool. Lucky kid.

[KaTzaNdSTuFf]

Wow. I remember when I watched this video last year. I remember your description said the train struggles up the mountain:) Nice layout! I wanna do something like this someday.

[imscoope]

Hi, please be sure to look at the two train videos that I made of my updated platform last year!

[yolo22]

hey, good job! really neat

[imscoope]

Thanks! Please look at my other two train videos. I took them after I Disassembled and then reassembled the platform after a few changes.

[TheRascalFlattsfan6]

where did you get that train set? its so cute!

[imscoope]

Thank You. The trains are just the standard lionel Polar Express set, The rest of the platform I made myself out of wood , plaster and alot of imagination.

[TheRascalFlattsfan6]

that train set looks exactly like the movie,. Awesome!

[imscoope]

Thanks! Please look at the changes that I made for the 2008 platform. There are two other videos.

[kathsteph]

This is a wonderful setup. We love the mountain and the bridge! Good work!

[imscoope]

Thanks for the great comment. That was my original platform, unfortunetly I had to take it down, but this past Christmas I put it up again rearranging it a little. Please look at the two other videos that I made of my current design. I made it bigger and used less space and also made some other improvements. You could also just search polar express platform 2008. Thanks again!!

[coorslightzw]

Hi this is Hal, How wide is the mountain, and how high is it? How many pieces of track did you use?

[Weichhase]

wow! wonderful!

[imscoope]

Greetings to Germany! Thank you for the comment!

[bowler811]

Great track plan. It is interesting and it breaks up the perception that the train is going in circles.

[imscoope]

Thanks, please look the 2008 version of this.

[luvlethr]

Where did you get the elves and the Dept store building from the movie? Thanks.

[imscoope]

The elves are ho scale unpainted figures, I hand painted them red and green and then glued them into place. I hope to add more for next year. I made the department store building out of thin balsim wood and printed a small brick pattern on thick paper for the walls. For the sign I just printed it on plain paper, glued it from the inside and then just lit the building.

[imscoope]

Please see my current version of this platform. just search polar express platform 2008.

[cngowens]

Thanks!

[cngowens]

What did you use to make the snow on top of the cars?

[imscoope]

The snow that I used for the entire platform, including the cars, came in big plastic bags and is just craft, plastic snow or department 56 snow. I bought some at Home Depot (christmas department)and some at our local christmas shop. I only dropped it on the train cars and it stayed on pretty much by itself.

[cngowens]

That helps a lot! Thanks for helping me!

[cngowens]

Thankyou for your help!

[cngowens]

I think your polar express is the coolest one I saw. I have another question, what do you use to make the Mountain?

[imscoope]

I actually layed out the track the way I wanted it and then I sawed out 1/4 inch plywood to support the track around the mountain. The rise of the track is .5" per track section. I supported the plywood probably approximatly every 16 " and screwed the supports to the table. after I made sure it worked good, I used chicken wire screen to form the mountain and then covered it with newspaper and plaster. after that white paint and fake snow. hope that helps!

[cngowens]

I have a question, does the back observation car have a red light that lights up?

[imscoope]

No, It dosen't light up in the back like the movie. It probably wouldn't be that hard to install a light there. Right now I am starting to put the platform up again for this year. It will be a little different because I want to make it a little smaller to conserve some space.

[cngowens]

Your polar express is the coolest train layout I have ever seen!!!!!!!!!!!!All of it looks just like the movie!!!!!!!!!!I am getting a polar express O gauge for my tree.

[Barrygohean]

Hey this is to cool. I'm wanting to get a train and village for Christmas. Thanks for an amazing video. Barry

[imscoope]

Thanks for the great comment, good luck on your train platform!

[1mangaguy]

Hey, not too bad! Not bad at all! Must been a lot of hard work to build it!

I love the movie and I love trains.

[metsnygiants]

awesome- very close to the scenes in the movie

[Trainfanatic192]

That. Is. AWSOME!

[imscoope]

Thanks! I am going to start setting it back up again soon.

[Falots13]

Hey that looks really great. I have been thinking of doing something similar.  What diameter track did you use for the mountain? Again looks great.

[imscoope]

I used the standard "o" gauge curve tracks only. To get a larger diameter on the mountain, towards the bottom, I used straight tracks to space it out. On the top circle of the mountain, there are no straight space tracks, it is just the standard "O" gauge track circle. I hope this helps.

[736berkshire]

How did you create the set with all that styrophone?

[imscoope]

I did not use any styrofoam, only loose snow type on this set. The mountain tracks are all built on a custom fitted continuous round wooden ramp which I then placed chicken wire and covered with paper and plaster. All of the plywood and mountain were then painted white and then I spread artificial snow (bags and bags of it) over everything.

[imscoope]

Behind this cutout board, I built the actual train support using 3/8 plywood and supported by lengths of 1 inch wooden dowels about 1 ft apart and screwed the the plywood platform. (hidden behind the board) if you look to the right next to the mountain you can just see it. These must be very tight and sturdy. The grade that I used for the mountain (and you should use for your slight hill)should not be more than 1/2inch rise for each piece of track. Hope that helps!!

[FFDmh2223]

also how did u do the bridge?

[imscoope]

Hi Darin, I would be happy to give you any info I can about the layout. The buildings that you see are all plasticville with the exception of the the poor boy's house (furthest away in center)That is just a ceramic house I had laying around. The plasticville houses are all from the 1950's and 60's but they are still manufactured by Bachmann. You can also find them on ebay. (example; search plasticville church, They are as follows;gas station, police station, fire Department, Church & 3 houses.

[imscoope]

The part of the bridge that you see is just a board that is 16 inches high and about 6 ft long. I used a 5 1/2 inch hole saw to make circles and then just cut them out with a hand saw. I used a minature brick template to spray paint the bricks and just drilled small holes for the minature lights.(just standard 100 strand lights).

[FFDmh2223]

Can you list which buildings you used to recreate the town and scenery. manufacturer product number if you can. Looks awesome. I really love it. I was planning to make one as soon as I have a house to put one in. I was going to add one additional section to my layout: a slight hill with tunnel to recreate the tunnel scene. Great job!

[imscoope]

If you look close you will also see the broken ice before the mountain, I did this applying clear tape over glass and then I broke it so it looked like ice. (it is also safe!) maybe you could use this before your tunnel

[EverywhereWest]

That's so cool! You managed to capture all of the important scenes in the movie quite nicely. Great job!

[imscoope]

Thanks for the great comment!  I'm so glad that you liked it!!

[VincentGonzo]

You have fufilled my dreams for my Polar Express.

Thank you for making this set and vid.

AWESOME !!!!! XD