Hawthorne Village(r) features a collection of subscription trains that run on HO track (so sometimes they're mistakenly labeled "HO" trains). However the trains are large enough to look good with O-scale accessories, such as most Christmas village buildings. The Hawthorne Village trains use reliable mechanisms and other parts from Bachmann On30 trains, so they run like "champs," and service will always be available. But the Hawthorne Village designers add artwork and other detailing that make these trains much more attractive and collectible.

Note: Deadlines approaching! Because these are subscription trains, each piece is actually considered a separate purchase. (The price advertised on the Hawthorne Village web site is the cost of each collectible piece.) In the first shipment, you receive the locomotive, which is an exceptional value. Then about a month later, or when the next piece is available (whichever comes first), your order for the next piece is automatically processed. That means that you can still get the locomotive before Christmas if you order early enough, so you'll have something to wrap up and put under the tree. The locomotive is also a great value, so the recipient won't be disappointed, even when he or she learns that the rest of the train is still to come. On the other hand, there is a good possibility that some of these trains will sell out between now and Christmas. If there's one you really want, don't assume that it's "safe" to wait until later - I have not heard from one reader who was disappointed with his or her train, but I have heard from many readers who were disappointed because they put off ordering a subscription until it was too late. These are delightful trains and a great value, so order your favorite soon if you don't want to miss out! For details about how a subscription train works, please click here.

New for December, 2009 - Super Starter Sets! What if you can't wait three or four months to have a complete train or town? Because the Hawthorne Village trains and towns come one piece at a time, I always counsel readers to start their subscription by September to have enough of a train or town to set up by Christmas. But Collectibles Today, who distributes Hawthorne Village trains has heard the wishes of our readers (and the rest of their customers). This Christmas season, they are making several of their most popular sets available as "Super Starter Sets. For these sets only, you can buy the first four houses or the first three train pieces all at one time. (You pay for those pieces all at once too, so be prepared for that.) Right now the following four sets are available as "Super Starter Sets," and they are going fast: (Detailed descriptions and links to these trains are further down this page)

• Thomas Kinkade Christmas Express Electric Train Collection With Super Starter Set - our most popular Hawthorne Village train, detailed with images from Thomas Kinkade Christmas-season paintings.
• Thomas Kinkade's Village Christmas Super Starter Set - A village of snow-covered houses based on Thomas Kinkade's winter paintings, one of our most popular village collections.
• M&M'S Holiday Express Christmas Train Collection Super Starter Set
• Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas Town Village Super Starter Set - The first four village structures from a very popular collection, plus figurines and accessories.

Note about Suppliers: While we try to help you get the products you want by recommending suppliers with a good record of customer service, all transactions between you and the supplier you chose to provide your trains or other purchases are governed by the published policies on the supplier's web site. So please print off any order confirmation screens and save copies of invoices, etc., so you can contact the appropriate supplier should any problems occur. (They almost never do, but you want to be on the safe side.)

Update for December, 2009! Demand for these limited-edition collectibles has been unusually high this Christmas season. Between November 1, 2009, and December 6, at least six Hawthorne Village trains and seven villages have sold out! In fact, I'm having a difficult time keeping my pages updated. And because these are limited editions, they will never be available new again. This is a reminder that if you want any of the village collections or other products featured in our buyers' guides, subscribe or order now.

To see more pictures, to learn more about any of the trains, or to purchase any of these subscriptions, please click on the photographs.

Thomas Kinkade Christmas Train and Villages - If you want the most charming train ever made for Christmas villages, consider Hawthorne Village's Thomas Kinkade(r) Christmas Express Subscription Plan Train. This is the first authorized collectible train to feature paintings by reknowned artist Thomas Kinkade. It has been so popular that two more Thomas Kinkade(r) trains are being offered this season. Hawthorne Village ordered many of these original, limited edition trains, so we have been able to offer them two holiday seasons in a row, but we have no idea how much longer subscriptions will be available. The first "issue" of this subscription includes the locomotive and tender, an excellent value.

Update for November, 2008 For a limited time only, you can get the first three issues of this set - enough to run a train - all at once in a Super Starter Set offering. If you order now, you could have the first four pieces, a complete train set, by Christmas. Click here for more information.

Please click on either photograph for more pictures and details, as well as a list of accessories that would add interest and charm to any Christmas village using this train.

Note: New Thomas Kinkade trains and villages are constantly being added to the collection! Please click on either photograph for details.

Coca Cola(r) Christmas Train and Village - Coke(r) collectors rejoice! Hawthorne Village's(r) first Coca Cola Collectible train outsold all expectations and has been unavailable for over two years. I have spent a great deal of time telling folks that bad news, so believe me, I'm glad to have good news for a change. The Hawthorne Village(r) Coca Cola Colleatible Christmas Train Subscription is back in a new limited edition series, with vintage Coca Cola Santa graphics and many charming, vintage details. The first "issue" of this subscription includes the locomotive and tender, an excellent value. This will grace any mantle or Christmas Village, but it will be especially "at home" in the limited edition Coca Cola Christmas Village collection which is shown on the same page.

Please click on either photograph for more pictures and details, as well as a list of accessories that would add interest and charm to any Christmas village using this train.

New for 2008!Disney® Holiday Villages and Accessories - We've had a few Disney®-licensed trains over the years. But this page features some entirely new, and very original products, including the first-ever holiday villages based on Disney® characters and settings! Demand is already high - several of our readers bought these before we even knew they were available.

For more information on the Disney® Holiday Villages and Accessories, please click on the picture to your right.

Norman Rockwell Holiday Train - You've probably seen many display villages and Christmas trains based on Norman Rockwell's classic artwork. The Saturday Evening Post and other publications that originally published Rockwell's paintings have licensed them to many vendors and manufacturers. But what you may not know is that the Rockwell family has only approved one electric train and one display village to celebrate Rockwell's unique vision of America! The Norman Rockwell Holiday Subscription Train is the only electric train set officially authorized and endorsed by the Norman Rockwell family. Each car includes artwork from Norman Rockwell's famous collection of holiday paintings. The total effect is of an "North American Christmas" like no other. The Norman Rockwell Collectible Christmas Village is a perfect complement to this train--both will bring back many warm memories for decades to come.

Please click on either photograph for more pictures and details.
Canadian shoppers, click here!

Al Agnew's Silver Moon Express - If you want to celebrate the Winter Solstice in a truly "wild" fashion, you might want to take a look at the Hawthorne Village Silver Moon Express Subscription Plan Train. This subscription train has wintry blue and silver colors, as well as paintings by Al Agnew that feature wolves and snowy landscapes. (For a closeup of the locomotive click here.)

This train is entering at least its third year of availability, so I can't say how much longer it will be available. If you're interested in Al Agnew's work, or if you decorate with a silver and blue theme at the holidays, this is a unique opportunity. Please click on either photograph for more pictures and details.
Canadian shoppers, click here!

New for 2006!John Deere Collectible Villages and Accessories - Okay, we had one of these items last year, and people kept finding it even though it wasn't featured. But this year, due to customer demand, there is much more, and the quality keeps getting better, too. Who but Hawthorne Village would have commissioned world-reknowned "Painter of Light" to pay tribute to the American icon that is John Deere?

For more information on the Hawthorne Village John Deere collectible villages and accessories, please click on the photograph.

New for 2006! Rudolph's Christmas Town Express Train Collection

Please click on either photograph for more pictures and details.

The matching Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas Village Collection - is available as a Super Starter Set, so you can get enough pieces to set up a whole village all at once. Your collection continues to grow afterwards, but this helps you give your village a huge "jump start."
Canadian shoppers, click here!

M&M Characters Electric Train Collection: M&M'S Holiday Express A First-Ever Exclusive M&M'S(R) Electric Train Collection Will Melt Your Heart with an On30 Scale Holiday Express! - Remember your first handful of M&M'S(R)? That delicious chocolatey goodness? Get on board for this first-ever On30 scale M&M'S electric train collection from Hawthorne Village that's sure to melt your heart. Sweeten up your holidays each and every year beginning with Issue One, an M&M'S locomotive & coal car. Soon, your collection will continue with Issue Two, M&M'S train car, with FREE 16-piece HO gauge track, and Issue Three, another M&M'S train car, with FREE power pack. Additional M&M'S train cars, each a separate issue, will follow.‡Available exclusively from Hawthorne Village, each issue in this exclusive heirloom-quality M&M'S electric train collection features impeccably authentic details to recall all the joy of a candy-coated Christmas. Each richly decorated car features fully sculpted movable scenes of hand-painted M&M'S characters collectibles and artwork. Crafted with a solid metal chassis and steel alloy wheels, this M&M'S electric train even has a working engine headlight and illuminated passenger cars. Strong demand is expected for this train collection that's too sweet to miss. Order now! To subscribe to this train collection or to learn more about it, click on the photograph. Also, if you want enough of this train to run by Christmas, look into the M&M'S Holiday Express Christmas Train Collection Super Starter Set. This lets you order the first three "issues" at once, giving you the locomotive, a circle of track, a power supply, and two cars. From then on your collection grows with a new issue about every four weeks.

Winnie the Pooh Hundred Acre Wood Christmas Express Train

Please click on either photograph for more pictures and details.

Canadian shoppers, click here!

New for 2008:Winnie the Pooh® Holiday Villages and Trains - If you would like to see more Winnie the Pooh collectibles, including two delightful new Winnie the Pooh holiday villages, click here.

Magic of Disney(r) Express - Okay, it's not exactly a Christmas Train, but the Magic Of Disney Express Subscription Plan has many charming features that will attract attention and interest for years to come.

Please click on either photograph for more pictures and details.
Canadian shoppers, click here!

New for 2008:Disney® Holiday Villages and Trains - If you would like to see more Disney® collectibles, including two "must-have" new Disney® holiday villages, click here.

Note: If you buy a collectable train with the idea of running it around your Christmas tree, you might want to take special precautions so that someone who missteps near the tree doesn't accidentally kick an irreplaceable locomotive across the room. (Don't ask me if this warning is based on personal experience.) One possible solution might be to start a subscription of the Hawthorne Village train you like the most, and at the same time buy a Bachmann On30 train set that you can afford to leave on the floor or let the kids run. (And when the kids go to bed, and everyone else leaves the house, you can get out your Hawthorne Village train and run it--they run on the same track.)

Hawthorne Village(R)Accessories

New for 2006! Hawthorne Village Christmas Train Station Accessory Subscription Plan Finally, a Christmas Train Station set to go with the Hawthorne Village Christmas trains. This is a subscription set, like the Hawthorne Village towns. But instead of a whole town, this set models the "hustle and bustle" of a small-town railroad station at Christmas. We admit, we don't know everything about this set, as it's still very new, but we do know that the first installment is a charming early-to-mid-1900s station covered with "snow" and decorated for Christmas. According to the Hawthorne Village people: "Beginning with a fabulous model train station, every detail is handcrafted by master artisans, from authentic looking stone work and rough hewn flooring, to festive Christmas decorations and realistic train sound effects! You'll be delighted with all the special features in future issues too, from a switching station with a Santa who pops out as your train passes by, to an illuminated station platform with a FREE "Commuter Friends" figurine! These are must-have accessories to any prized train collection. And you won't find a finer value anywhere. Hurry, order now!

To order, or for more information, please click on the photograph at the right.

Thomas Kinkade Hawthorne Village Figures - No Christmas village (or Christmas Train scene, for that matter) is complete without people. The Thomas Kinkade Hawthorne Village figures are the only name-brand Christmas village figures that are actually the right size for the trains and buildings of most Christmas village lines. These people are modeled in about 1:48 scale. That means that they will look small next to Lemax or Dept. 56 figures, which are modeled in about 1:32 scale. But they will look dandy next to Lemax or Dept. 56 or Hawthorne Village structures, which are modeled in about 1:48 scale. They will also look great with any of the Hawthorne Village subscription village lines. I listed this particular set because I consider it to be an exceptionally good value. To learn more about this set, or to purchase it, please click on the photo on the right.

Track - By the way, I've been getting questions about track. The trains above come with an oval of track that is about 38" x 56", although in most cases, you don't receive the track and power supply until about the third issue of the series. To get a jump start on your railroad, or to make your railroad a little larger, you may easily add additional pieces of Bachmann EZ Track. The Bachmann EZ Track #44501 is an exact replacement for the curves that come with the train sets. #44411 matches the straight pieces. In addition you can easily convert any of the train sets on this page to remote control with the Crest Basic Train Engineer.

Thomas Kinkade Illuminated Village Tabletop Christmas Tree - Finally, in 2004, I noticed that Hawthorne Village(R) products by Thomas Kinkade were getting a lot of interest, and I added the tree on the left, which is a detailed ceramic sculpture with a Christmas village snuggled among the "branches" of the tree. This product out to be extremely popular. Several more Thomas Kinkade Christmas trees have been added since; the tree on the right is probably the best seller this year. It has miniature trains and a flying Santa and sleigh going around the tree. Both of these are limited editions and will not be available indefinitely. Please click on either photo for more information.

In addition, the O-Scale Accessories page includes many relatively inexpensive details such as bridges, fencing, and stations, that will bring life to any O-Scale or O-Gauge railroad.

Home Pages		Reading Index Pages		Buyer's Guide Pages

Note: Family Garden Trains(tm), Garden Train Store(tm) and Big Christmas Trains(tm) 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 forbidden.

For more information, please contact us