Sunday 12-23 at theMall

 Mike, Preston, James, Norm and Suzanne were enjoying the sunny day in Center Court.  The crowds were big, Santa and the gift wrappers were busy.  Keith stopped by and complimented us on the display this year.  Here is an interesting idea he told me about decorating next year.  The main deck will be grass instead of snow.  The snow will be used on the upper levels similar to Maine's higher elevations which get snow.  That is good for several reasons.  First, the public will instantly recognize  a change from prior years,   plus it is easier to decorate with and no more snow blanket in our engine and wheels!  The Mall will use an AstroTurf type product  and it opens up some more diorama possibilities.  There will still be snow in the mountains and on the ski slopes.  Mike suggested a Maine seacoast harbor scene  with lobster traps, a light house using the glass water we used this year. Maybe a tug boat at a dock.  That type of thing.  I think that has a lot of very good possibilities!   Flashback ( I remember using brown colored pieces of broken material that looked just like Maine's rocky coast to model my Lionel layout with).

The trains were all running well!  See the short video below: