# Holiday train show - Colvin Run Park, Great Falls Virginia



## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

There will be a Holiday train show in the barn at the Colvin Run Mill Park, Great Falls, Virginia the weekend of December 19 and 20, 2009. The hours are 10AM to 4PM each day. The Stapletons (AKA Dr. and Mrs Rivet) have been hosting this event for over 15 years and I've been helping most of that time. 

We will have 3 loops and a reversing trolley track in operation. One of the loops is devoted to Thomas and friends and the other two involve Accucraft and LGB engines and cars.

The park is located on Colvin Run Road (just of state route 7) in Great Falls, Virginia.


Here is a picture of last years layout.











Chuck N


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## sbaxters4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for sharing!! Looks great! I used to drive by there a lot when I lived out that way! Great place!


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Hey thats a neat lookin Display, any more photos ?


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Nick:

I'll take some more this weekend and post them next week. It is pretty much the same layout from year to year. The real question is will the Bachmann Thomas pull his consist through the R2 curves, only time will tell.


Chuck


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

We're all set up and ready to go. The only question is will we be open and if we are will anyone come. The Washington, DC area is under the gun for the biggest snow fall in recorded history. Ie we get shut down Saturday the plan is that we'll be open on Sunday.

Maybe I can get out the rotary tomorrow.

Chuck


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Just got word, the park is now closed for tomorrow, no trains. This forecast is for the snow to stop by Sunday morning. We should be running Sunday!!!

Chuck


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

Chuck,

Sorry to hear about the closing. I know how hard you, Jim, and JoAnn work to put that show together. Here's hoping that things improve by tomorrow. We got about 7 inches from the same storm as it went through Western North carolina.

Doc


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Don:

It is about 1PM and it is still snowing. We are up to about 12 inches. It is supposed to keep up until sometime tonight. We could be heading for the deepest snowfall of all time for the DC area.

Chuck


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Just got the word, the park is closed tomorrow (Sunday). Plenty of snow, but no show.

It looks like we'll run for ourselves on Wednesday morning and take some pictures. Then we'll take down. Bummer, as the Washington Redskins fans always say, " wait until next year".


If any one wants to come over Wednesday morning, let us know you are coming so we don't start the take down too soon. 


Merry Christmas to all. 

Chuck


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

We will not be running and taking down on Wednesday. 

The Park has offered to let us keep the trains up and run this coming weekend (December 26 and 27). We have agreed to run then. The hours will be 10AM to 4 PM each day. 

Come by and say hello.

Chuck


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

ALL 

In spite of mid 40s temperature with mist and some fog, along with almost no advertizing, we had about 50 or 60 folks show up today. The ladies at the site figured that between the weather and being "SALE DAY" at the malls we should be happy. 

We are hoping for a moderate turn out tomorrow. We had a Bachmann K pulling 1:20, an LGB mogul with 1:22.5, LGB Austrian and Swiss, the new Bachmann Thomas set, Lionel's James and Troublesome Trucks, LGBs clear shelled F-7s with the red and green lights, and a Christmas Trolley. 

It kept the visitors entertained, and we got to use a layout we spent about 20 hours [combined labor] putting up, instead of just boxing everything up to wait for next year. 

I am sure Chuck N took a picture or two that will eventually appear in the thread. 

I hope everyone had trains under the tree this year. 

Regards


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Here are some pictures of this year's Colvin Run Park train show.





























































I you look in the upper right corner of the last picture you will see a laptop. I set up a slide show with pictures of outdoor layouts. This helped people understand that we can and do run trains outside. About half of the pictures show them running in snow. The picture of the working rotary always gets a WOW.

If you are in the greater DC area, come by today (11AM to 4PM) and say hello.


Chuck


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Nice pictures Guys, looks like all the work was worth it ...


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

Glad you guys got the chance to run. Looks pretty darn good. Sure miss helping out. Have fun

Doc


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Doc:

We wish you had been here. We Had a a great show with lots of trains, but we had only about 50 people each day. 

We got to talk a lot, to each other.

Happy New Year!!

Chuck


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## VillageRail (Apr 25, 2008)

That looks like my living room floor when the wife goes away for a four day weekend at her mother's. Last weekend she went away for one night and I set up an 80 foot loop. Still waiting for the word to take it apart... ;-)


Would love to have come up to see it. A relative told me about another train exhibit they saw in the D.C. area over the holidays. We caught an O scale display at our local botanical garden. Unfortunately it was in a small room and the smoke was so bad it made your eyes water. 


We're outside of Richmond and had 18" of snow that Friday night. Unfortunate, as I was looking forward to checking out the Greenburg show that weekend in town. Greenburg will be in Virginia Beach in February, and "Greatest Hobby on Tour" will be in D.C. in two weeks. Do these shows have enough large scale content to justify a two hour excursion?


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Heres what we did for Geenbergs in NY in Oct 2009


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Village rail 

Regarding WGH at the Expo Center in Chantilly, VA [near Dulles Airport] , here is the Exhibitor list ===> http://www.wghshow.com/showinfo/wdc/exhibitor_list.htm 

There are NO large scale layouts and I could only find a couple of large scale dealers. Bachmann and MTH may have something displayed, but it does not look like much large scale is in evidenced. I have no sense of how much "G" Star Hobby will have at their booth.


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## VillageRail (Apr 25, 2008)

Thanks for the info. 

Nick, if there was anything close at the local shows to your display in NY I wouldn't think twice about making the trip. Big setup, plenty of action. I was just waiting for the little boy hanging on the rope to come crashing into the train. ;-) My daughter is six, and she still manages to take out a moving train when I set up a big floor layout (unless she is driving the train). 

The WGH show looks pretty standard; mainly HO with a scattering of O. Like going into most of the local hobby shops in Richmond. Plenty of HO and Lionel, maybe two or three boxcars in G scale. The exception is Train Town in Ashland. Despite having a small store, there is a decent selection of large scale trains. I actually collect in all scales, so I may still make the trip. Looks like the only must see on my schedule is the Large Scale show in York this spring. 

Paul


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Paul,
I beleive there are a lot of g scale things that go on all year long down your way in VA. from what ive read here, there are a lot of MSL. Aristo, and LSC members down there that you might be able to contact thru the forums to get info as to whats happenin. As far as the little kids are concerned, weve only had one issue with a child kicking a train very hard last year, other than that we really do not have any problems, But we do keep a close eye on the parents they seem to get more excited about the trains than the kids do sometimes. he he he


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