# Department 56's Impact on Our O-Gauge Hobby



## Guest (Dec 9, 2016)

The year was 1984 when D56 introduced their Dickens Village. It was their first offering of their porcelain structures.This village took off in popularity immediately and it was not long before a train station was introduced into this village. With the success of the Dickens Village, D56 followed with Christmas in the City and the North Pole series. I immediately recognized the fact that the new Christmas in the City series was an excellent fit for our O-Gauge trains. The architecture of the structures was interesting and filled with details. 

At one point, I lobbied the President of D56 to work with Lionel as I saw the potential where they could help each other. I might as well have been talking to the wall. Allied Trains eventually Licensed the D56 name with a line of trains and a Lionel Train Store. But this effort did little to promote the marriage of these two product lines.

D56 eventually offered a new line called Seasons Bay that was void of any snow effect. I loved it, but it was a classic failure as the typical D56 buyer was accustomed to use their products for just Christmas displays. This village however contained some of the nicest buildings they have ever produced. With no snow effect, they could fit perfectly into an O-Gauge layout.The problem was the O-Gauge hobbyist for the most part never saw it before it was quickly discontinued.

So where is D56 today with most O-Gauge folks who do use it? It is by far only seen in Christmas Layouts and is very seasonal. Right after the Christmas season ends, the D56 buildings and accessories are packed away not to be seen again until the next Christmas season. 

I reached a point with our last layout that I was sick and tired of all of the packing up each year. Just in the Christmas in the City collection, I had some 160 buildings. So I decided that I would dedicate a significant part of the last layout to a year-round Christmas in the City display. I was happy with this idea as I really like this village. But what would visitors to the layout think when they came to visit in July? The answer actually came easy, THEY LOVED IT. During the time they were visiting the layout, it took them to a happy time. This reaction was universal. They always left with a smile on their faces. Sure, they loved the trains running, but they really liked the scenery.

Seasons Bay was a no-brainer. I grew up near the water and a significant waterfront area was a must. Seasons Bay was a perfect fit. So with the past layout, you could go from winter to summer with D56 and it worked very well with appropriate separation. 

Our new layout will continue with the summer/winter themes. We will have more room to work with the villages and we learned from the past effort that it is very important to have everything closer to the visitor so that they can see all of the details easily. This time the Polar Express with the D56 North Pole village will be part of the new layout, so all of the trains and accessories will be under the same roof. We are so happy about this and we hope our visitors will be as well.

I have been and still am a big advocate of Department 56 villages. I wish their was more of a presence with it in our hobby year-round. So much of other building structure products that are offered to us are a lot of the same with their square or rectangular design and have so many similarities. D56 architecture has produced very interesting structures, all very different in appearance.

I gave this subject some thought when I read the response to the scenery thread by Bill Webb this morning.

D56's first porcelain train station:

View attachment 255353


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Nice train station, I'm planning on using some of the D56 stuff as well.


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## Guest (Dec 9, 2016)

Much like the original seven buildings of the Dickens Village series, the Chadbury Station is very simple in design by today's standard. The fact that they made it is important as Mr. Lund (the creator of the porcelain villages) saw the significance of having a train station included. I was able to quickly locate it and take a photo as we display the villages year-round. The Dickens Village is displayed on shelves in our living room. Really creates a nice atmosphere with the lights glowing inside the structures.


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## Spence (Oct 15, 2015)

I had several of them on the previous layout and will have them on the new one.


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## Fabforrest (Aug 31, 2015)

i have four, only one of which really fits the scale, but the others, the empire state, chrylsler, and statue of liberty were NY "flavor" items that were irresistible. 

all i know about D56 i learned from brian.

as i said in the scenery thread, for me the fun factor is top priority, realism not always important.


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## Bill Webb (Sep 14, 2015)

Well, the number of hits on this topic answers the question. Not much influence.

I wonder what the percentage of layouts modeling at least a winter scene is; my guess is pretty low. Not all of those want a Christmas flavor so the Dept 56 "opportunity group" percentage is probably what... 10-15%?

Brian I think that you are including a Fall scene. Be sure to take a look at a couple of Dept 56 Halloween buildings/stuff. It may fit well there. (Yeah, I know, you already have it all drawn out and ready to go. But you gave until May to make changes.

And you are correct about Season's Bay. Not only did Dept 56 take a hit, but the sponsoring dealers also got hurt big time. One local dealer who was involved didn't last but a few years after the introduction of Season's Bay. Also correct in stating that the buildings were quite nice and fit an O gauge layout well. Very attractive and reflective of the coast.


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## Traindiesel (Sep 8, 2015)

Department 56 actually goes back to 1976 with their first six ceramic _"Original Snow Village"_ offerings.

Department 56 History

We have an extensive collection of "Christmas in the City", "Dicken's Village", "Jack Daniel's Village", "New England Village", Season's Bay" and "Original Snow Village" buildings and accessories from Depatment 56, along with Lemax, St. Nicholas Square and Carole Towne that my wife collects for the layout. and also just about all of the Menard's and Woodland Scenics buildings.

The Season's Bay collection is one of our favorites as we both love the beach and they'll be displayed at our resort section of the layout. On my previous layout from around 1998-2001 we started out with about 30 buildings. We love them all and they bring fabulous color, lighting and whimsey to the overall scenes. They will be displayed permanently, and as on the previous layout, no one notices the small snow coverings on the buildings, just the colors and the glow from the lights.

Here is a cheap camera picture from the previous layout.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

It is neat stuff but I have never used it on my layout. It is just not the right look or time era I want. I think some of the buildings are really fantastic, however, and it would be fun to build up a layout with only Dept 56 buildings and the right trains, etc. It could be very Christmasy for one thing.


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## Rocky Mountaineer (Sep 19, 2015)

I've got a ton of Dept 56 buildings from their Christmas-In-The-City village collection. Most were purchased in the 1980's and 1990's. Haven't purchased too many in recent years though. My plan was always to use some of these on my grand train layout one day to add a bit of forced perspective into the scene. They're grossly undersized for O-Gauge. But if used properly, they suggest enough of a hint of realism... and our brain does the rest. 

Nowadays, we could argue Dept 56 just doesn't compare to the quality and detail of buildings offered by Woodland Scenics -- especially for folks who want a Hi-Rail, "scale" themed model railroad. The detail level is amazing, they're illuminated with LED's, and you can't pay yourself enough for the time it would take to build these buildings from scratch... and they come fully assembled for the price!!!

So for realistic, scale look.... Woodland Scenics is the way to go. For a whimsical-themed layout, Dept 56 is perfect for a distant-village scene on the layout. 

David


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## seayakbill (Jan 16, 2016)

Richard Kughn had a terrific Dept 56 layout at CarRail.

Bill


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## chipset35 (Sep 4, 2015)

I am stilling looking to buy their Empire State Building.


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## Guest (Dec 10, 2016)

Lee Willis said:


> It is neat stuff but I have never used it on my layout. It is just not the right look or time era I want. I think some of the buildings are really fantastic, however, and it would be fun to build up a layout with only Dept 56 buildings and the right trains, etc. It could be very Christmasy for one thing.


I agree with Lee 100%. I really liked D56 (and knockoffs) since I first saw them. I never considered them for an O gauge layout since they weren't the look I'm going for, not that I'm into super realism. I have mostly Railking buildings but they are just right for me, the perfect balance between realism and toy look.

The other factor is what Brian mentioned. I didn't want to have to box them up after each Christmas season and had no idea where to store them so I didn't get into Christmas villages even though I really enjoy them. 

I could see doing a permanent Christmas layout. I love Christmas and would not mind it being Christmas on my layout all the time, with snow and people dressed for cold weather even though I live in Florida and hate the cold in real life. hwell:


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## Guest (Dec 10, 2016)

*"I live in Florida and hate the cold in real life."*

The nice thing about a train layout, it can take you anywhere and in any climate without having to go out in it. 

In terms of scale, I could care less. They look, in my opinion, extremely good with my O-Gauge trains and that is all that really counts. I have *not* had one visitor pull out a ruler to test the scale (LoL). They typically are blown away with the scenes.

In the end, you should do what pleases you.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I really like the Snow Village line. They make building Christmas layouts easy. Many of the buildings are closer proportioned to S than O scale.


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## Guest (Dec 10, 2016)

*Stunning Christmas layout*, Tom.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Thank you Brian. It was very nice of my wife to propose making it the centerpiece of our family room.


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## Guest (Dec 10, 2016)

I like you Tom am extremely fortunate that has a wife that is more than just supportive of our hobby. Sure makes things a whole lot easier at home.

But before we were married I made "full disclosure" of my train addiction. It did not take very long to get her interest to equal mine. Now that's a wonderful continuing Christmas present.


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## Guest (Dec 10, 2016)

Passenger Train Collector said:


> *"I live in Florida and hate the cold in real life."*
> 
> The nice thing about a train layout, it can take you anywhere and in any climate without having to go out in it.
> 
> ...


Agreed, Brian. I love D56 and really enjoy snow villages, but it's not the look I want for my layout. A friend of mine in NY has an O gauge snow village layout and I think it's great. It's a fun layout and he loves it which is all that counts.

I also agree that visitors don't see things the way some model railroaders do. I had a number of visitors to my old layout and not one complained about the trains weren't scale size or ran on 3 rails. They just enjoyed the lights, sounds, smoke and action and found many of the small scenes on the layout.


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## Guest (Dec 10, 2016)

You know Joe, some of the folks in our hobby need to take a lesson from our visitors. They are lots of fun and offer a different perspective.


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## c.midland (Sep 22, 2015)

On my now gone postwar-style layout, I used Dept. 56 buildings from "A Christmas Story". This topic brought back some good memories of my wife and I going to Sears around Christmas to see if there was anything we wanted to add to our little collection. 

I have them set up on the wet bar in the basement this year, and they look like they're missing something without the trains.

Some pictures of Christmas past:


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## BobS (Jun 18, 2015)

Brian, because of your fantastic layouts, I was influenced greatly. I sold off all my Lionel Kits, all the Atlas, Bachmann and Railking houses and buildings and replaced them with Dept 56 and other ceramic buildings. I have intermixed them on my layout in a couple of places. I truly like their look, and don't worry much about the mixture relative to seasons and collections. 

I am truly pleased with he outcome, and you have been my sole influence in helping me down this path.

Thanks.


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## mroe21877 (Sep 10, 2015)

I've got a ton of these as my family would give one a year as a gift. Now I have all of them, probably 25, but we haven't bought new ones recently. The prices have gone way up. They look really nice on. Christmas layout all lit up

Sent from my BLU STUDIO 7.0 II using Tapatalk


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## DennyM (Jan 3, 2016)

I don't have any Dept 56 buildings, but these Lemax buildings from Menard's are Dept 56ish. They do have some Christmas buildings too, but I'm going to wait til they go on sale and buy them for next year.


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## royjames (Jul 16, 2011)

Hi Gents,
I read this thread with interest as I from across the pond use both Department 56 and Lemax ceramic buildings.
Lemax I understand have now taken Department 56 over.
There is a huge range of buildings which do not have the snow effect. Some photographs below obviously they have a British flavour. I first spotted these models in Las Vegas.


















Merry Christmas to all.

Roy.


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## Fabforrest (Aug 31, 2015)

Wow! Spectacular, Roy!!


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## chipset35 (Sep 4, 2015)

Mr James you have the magic touch! Great Pictures!


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## Yellowstone Special (Jun 23, 2015)

Wow, fantastic photos in this thread!!

I think that Dept. 56's impact on our O-scale hobby has been rather minor, or "not so much." Because it all depends on what you are looking for with your layout. Most hobbiests are looking for scale realism and that's not what the Dept. 56 look conveys. 

A relative few of us use Dept. 56 for mostly the Christmas village look like what my layout is all year-round as shown in some photos I posted in PTC Brian's importance of scenery thread. But the far majority of hobbiests don't necessarily want a permanent Christmas-themed layout.

I like Dept. 56 (and Lemax) structures because they are pretty close to O-scale and are ready-made. All you have to do is position them and plug them in. It works for us. 

By the way Roy, what a massive and awesome layout you have there. Very impressive!


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2016)

Roy, I am very impressed with your work. Wonderful photos of your beautiful layout.


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## Tucgary (Sep 21, 2015)

Roy, That is truly a beautiful layout. I love all the color on the buildings and such great details. :appl:
I have the same roller coaster on my layout and visitors really enjoy it. Tucgary


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## Fabforrest (Aug 31, 2015)

Passenger Train Collector said:


> Roy, I am very impressed with your work. Wonderful photos of your beautiful layout.


looks like he is a passenger guy, too, Brian.


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2016)

It's very contagious. Forrest.


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## Big Jim (Nov 17, 2015)

I don't care what the naysayers think, I love the "Snow Village" buildings! Nice job Roy!!! :appl:


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## Yellowstone Special (Jun 23, 2015)

It looks like Roy is PTC Brian's counterpart in England.


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## DennyM (Jan 3, 2016)

I echo everyone's response. It is absolutely fantastic Roy.


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## Guest (Dec 12, 2016)

Roy, you should start a new thread about your layout with lots of photos.


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## Yellowstone Special (Jun 23, 2015)

I second that!


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

My collection consists of mostly Lemax structures besides my Dept 56 Lionel store (which is obviously one of my favorites), but they definitely go well with O gauge trains. I do use my brothers Dept 56 Christmas Story collection on my Redford Theatre display which people always get a kick out of, especially when we show the movie.

My Christmas layout building "career" got it's start as my simple O-54 circle around the tree with my starter set, and my mom putting her set of 6 or so village buildings up on top of our entertainment center. Eventually she lost interest in doing that, so I combined them with the trains under the tree and things kind of got out of control from there. For the former home display, my dad and I built several different display platforms to fit all the buildings on, beneath and next to the tree. We've added buildings and other accessories almost every year, and it certainly makes a nice display. I've seen plenty of train-less villages and though they're nice, they definitely don't have the same appeal as one with some motion of the trains does.


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## royjames (Jul 16, 2011)

Passenger Train Collector said:


> Roy, you should start a new thread about your layout with lots of photos.


Thank you for your kind comments.
I have a thread on this Forum "Dream City Railway" but I have mainly just put video links to it. The latest video is a walk round this railway and runs for just under half an hour. The railway does run through six interconnected sheds a 300 foot walk with 25 scale miles of running track.
I will post some more photographs on that thread.

Roy.


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## Yellowstone Special (Jun 23, 2015)

royjames said:


> Thank you for your kind comments.
> I have a thread on this Forum "Dream City Railway" but I have mainly just put video links to it. The latest video is a walk round this railway and runs for just under half an hour. The railway does run through six interconnected sheds a 300 foot walk with 25 scale miles of running track.
> I will post some more photographs on that thread.
> 
> Roy.


:smilie_daumenpos: :appl:


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## Guest (Dec 12, 2016)

Terrific, Roy. Really nice to have someone from across the pond participate in the MTF. Some of my relatives help form Oxford College. The rest made their way over here on the Mayflower.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

I have a mixed bag of ceramic buildings that I dig out for Christmas. Because I am closing down the store they have ended up on top of the coffee table this year.















Next year I hope to be able to give it more attention and also light some of the buildings.


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## Guest (Dec 13, 2016)

That looks really cool, Dano. It'll be even better next year when the buildings are lit.


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## Todd Lopes (Nov 11, 2015)

I was first really turned on to Department 56 by Brian's posts on another forum sometime ago. I must have been living under a rock because I was really blown away how beautiful they can be. 
Every Christmas, I always set up my "Rudolph" themed D56 buildings that are from several different runs, but look great together.


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## Guest (Dec 16, 2016)

Todd, I am very happy that I had something to do with the spark that ignited your interest in D56. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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