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Written by Paul D. Race for and

Big Christmas Trains come in different sizes. Most model railroaders use trains that are relatively small, such as HO or N scale. But neither of those scales is particularly impressive circling a Christmas tree; they're even too small to look good circling a Holiday Village, such as those by Dept. 56(tm), Hawthorne Village(tm), or Lemax(tm). Big Christmas Trains(tm) to the rescue! We offer two basic sizes of trains that can be described as Large Scale, and O scale (which includes O Gauge/027 and On30 trains). If it helps to think of it this way, O scale trains should be about about twice the size of HO trains, and most Large Scale trains are over three times the size of HO trains. So none of the trains on this page these will get lost under the Christmas tree.

This page is just to give you a little more detail about why certain Big Christmas Trains are better than others for specific uses. When you are trying to decide what sort of Big Christmas Trains you need, it helps to know something about the scale of those trains, that is, the numerical relationship between the models and the real thing. Big Christmas trains come in two basic sizes, the "Large Scale" trains that are made to be used outside, and the "O scale" (and "O gauge") trains that generally work better indoors.

Large Scale: Really Big Trains for Garden and Public Display Railroads - Most of the trains that you see in people's gardens or public display railroads are between 1/20 and 1/32 the size of the real thing. In other words, they are up to twice the length (and 8 times the bulk) of the other trains in this catalog. If you want to see visitors' jaws drop when they see your Christmas tree, jump to the Large Scale Christmas Trains page. The smallest circle of track that Large Scale trains run on is 51" across. That said, most people can use a larger circle of track around the tree (we usually use a 63" or larger circle of track, since we get big trees). But if you want your train on a table instead of on the floor, you might consider an O gauge/O27 or On30 train.

O Gauge/O27, and On30: Big Trains for Holiday Villages - When you are looking for a train to go with most Holiday and other Display Villages, think "O." As in "O-gauge," "O27," or "On30." All of these models are about 1/48 the size of the real thing. Most Holiday and Display Village buildings are made to look "right" with trains that have "O" in the scale designation. These include:

• O Gauge/O27 - These names generally signify the old-fashioned trains that run on three-rail track such Lionel(tm) trains. O27 actually designates a kind of track that certain O gauge trains run on. In fact, many people use the terms O-gauge and O27 interchangeably when they are discussing Lionel train sets such as those shown in the Big Christmas Trains catalog. So don't get discouraged if vendors or articles seem to jump back and forth between the terms.

  O-gauge/O27 trains are made to look right with accessories that are 1/48 the size of the real thing, so they'll look good around your Holiday Village as long as your table is big enough to hold a circle of track. Any set of Lionel (or even an old set of two-rail American Flyer) will look good around your Christmas tree.

  Lionel has issued several nice O-gauge Christmas Trains that are sturdy and offer excellent play value to youngsters (although you're supposed to put the track together and hook up the power for anyone younger than eight). Most Lionel(tm) trains require at least a 40" by 40" space to run, though they come with enough track for a 40" x 60" oval.

• On30 - Unlike O gauge and O27, On30 is a fairly new kind of train. On30 trains also look good around a Christmas tree. But they look their best when used with Holiday and Display Villages. These trains are nearly as big as Lionel trains, but they run on the same kind of track that HO trains use. They tend to be more detailed and more "old-timey." On30 trains require a minimum of a 38" x 38" space to run, although most of the sets in this catalog come with enough track to make a 56" x 38" oval. If you don't have enough room for that, Bachmann makes an On30 streetcar set that can run back and forth in almost no space at all.

  Most collectible trains, such as those by "Hawthorne Village" fall into the On30 designation as well (except for the Hawthorne Village Sports Trains). As a result, many people who start with a Thomas Kinkade(tm) or other collectible train find themselves adding Bachmann On30 trains, or vice versa - they all play together very nicely (in fact the mechanism for most of them is built in the same factory).

Because I think that Large Scale, three-rail O gauge, and On30 trains are all useful, fun, and attractive, I have included examples of all three in the Big Christmas Train catalog. However, I've made a point of keeping them in separate sections to avoid confusion. If you have any question about the usefulness of one piece of equipment over another, please contact me.

A note about the scale of Christmas villages and accessories (You may skip this part if this sort of thing doesn't interest you.) You may notice that the people that come with Christmas villages don't generally look right next to the doorways on the houses. That's because most of the buildings are made in a scale that is about 1/48 the size of the "real thing," the "right" size for O-Gauge trains like the old 3-rail Lionel trains. But most of the people are made to a slightly larger scale, between 1/40 and 1/30 the size of the real thing. The manufacturers do this because they want the figures large enough to be seen properly and the buildings small enough so that customers can fit more than a couple of structures into their "village." (The exception to this rule is Hawthorne Village, whose people are the "right size" for their houses and for the O gauge and On30 trains running around them.) Many of the accessories and small animals are even larger in scale, since it would be pretty easy to overlook - or to lose - a chicken or a milk bottle that was "really" the "right" size to go with the Holiday Village houses. Most people don't notice, anyway. If your Christmas village winds up with a few figures or models that don't look quite right next to each other, don't stand them quite next to each other. Please don't let this "scare" you, as almost nobody ever notices this sort of thing. In fact, I use my many of my "Holiday Village People" on my garden railroad in the summer and on my Holiday Village in the winter. I just don't set them in the doorways of buildings on either railroad.

To return to the Big Christmas Trains home page, please click the button to the left.

For more information:

• Sizes and Scales of Big Indoor Trains - Contains similar content to this article, but focusing on indoor scales and year-round (not Christmas) trains.

• Scales and Gauges - They're not the Same - A detailed description of the difference between scales like O and HO and gauges like O gauge, On30, HO gauge, HOn36, and so on.

• Which (Garden Train) Scale Should I Model? - Scale and gauge issues for "Large Scale" trains - the kind that run on 45mm (1.775") track outdoors - are much more complicated than they are for indoor trains. For that reason, our Family Garden Trains™ site has a whole article dedicated just to that subject. If you aren't planning to get into Large Scale trains, this article won't be much help. If you ARE planning to get into Large Scale trains, and you want some straight answers to complicated questions, check it out.

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Note: Family Garden Trains™, Garden Train Store™, Big Christmas Trains™, BIG Indoor Trains™, BIG Train Store™, and Trains-N-Towns™ are trademarks of Breakthrough Communications (www.btcomm.com). All information, data, text, and illustrations on this web site are Copyright (c) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 by Paul D. Race. Reuse or republication without prior written permission is specifically prohibited.

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