# 2015-2016 Redford Theatre Christmas Train Layout



## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

It's that time of year again, I've been planning for my annual holiday layout at the historic Redford Theatre in Detroit.

Over the past couple days, I've been working on a custom River Leaf Model's kit of the theater. I sent Andre a couple photos and within a week, had the kit in my hands ready for construction. While it's not an exact model of the theater, he got the feeling of the facade, which is what I was looking for. Obviously a full sized model of the theater would take up an enormous amount of real estate, and would dwarf the ceramic village buildings I use on the layout, so he scaled it back a bit for me.

My kit building experience is limited to some plasticville buildings, so this was a new one for me. Luckily Andre made a very easy to assemble kit, even with no directions (due to his having never built the kit himself since it's a one of a kind). He included some computer drawings of the building to assist. I still have a ways to go before I'll call it finished, but it's getting pretty close.


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## MOVL (Aug 23, 2015)

Jake, that is so cool. Nice build! It will be quite an addition to this year's display.
Andre did a great job of capturing the feel of the real theatre.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Very nice, and a great rendition of the real thing. Nice job Andre!


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks guys!


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## Guest (Oct 1, 2015)

Jake, good to see you post here. I missed seeing your posts from another place.

Beautiful job on the Redford Theater. I look forward to seeing the progress on this year's addition when you start.


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## rboatertoo (Aug 5, 2015)

Nice, That would be a great one to market.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks guys, I've been so busy between school and running/firing 1:1 scale steam locomotives at work since our operating season started in April, that I haven't had much time for toy trains. Hopefully my posting will get more frequent as we finish running trains at work for the winter a month from today and my schedule opens up a bit. Most likely that will also be when the bigger layout updates come out  Finding time to get the layout done is my current challenge, especially now that my partner in that project just got hired by the museum I work for as a locomotive fireman and will be just as busy as me.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

I added some more details last night. Two movie posters and some detail paintwork along the roofline brickwork pieces.

Casablanca is one of my girlfriend's all time favorite movies, and The Wizard of Oz was the first movie I ever saw at the theater.


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## AG216 (Sep 28, 2011)

My Hat Off!!
I can see the diorama with few 40's and 50' cars, during a fresh after rain night.

fabulous!

Andre.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

AG216 said:


> My Hat Off!!
> I can see the diorama with few 40's and 50' cars, during a fresh after rain night.
> 
> fabulous!
> ...


That would look great! Might have to do a wintery scene like that on the theater layout. Might also have to construct a diorama like you described for the off season 

Thanks for the compliments


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## Chris Lonero (Sep 13, 2015)

Very nice job! Very true to the original. :appl:


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## icolectto (Nov 28, 2012)

Outstanding. Good luck with your Christmas display !


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Cool, what is the foot-print on that?


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## AG216 (Sep 28, 2011)

Dano said:


> Cool, what is the foot-print on that?



12.00" wide, 8.00" tall and 6.00" deep (not considering the over hang)

Andre.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Does anybody have good sources for LED's for lighting? I'm still looking into lighting options.

I'm thinking probably 6-8 cool white LED's to illuminate the marquee sign boards, some warm white ones to illuminate the interior space inside the front doors, and probably several underneath the marquee and front door overhang to light the exterior under the marquee.

I'm also somewhat open to incandescent lighting as Andre suggested, but I'm trying to reduce the amount of power I use on the layout wherever possible.


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## AG216 (Sep 28, 2011)

santafe158 said:


> Does anybody have good sources for LED's for lighting? I'm still looking into lighting options.
> 
> I'm thinking probably 6-8 cool white LED's to illuminate the marquee sign boards, some warm white ones to illuminate the interior space inside the front doors, and probably several underneath the marquee and front door overhang to light the exterior under the marquee.
> 
> I'm also somewhat open to incandescent lighting as Andre suggested, but I'm trying to reduce the amount of power I use on the layout wherever possible.


Miller engineering lamps are the answer. 
check the experiment kit.

Andre.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

AG216 said:


> Miller engineering lamps are the answer.
> check the experiment kit.
> 
> Andre.


I was looking at their products, but don't have any experience with them. Do you think the EL light boards would be bright enough to properly illuminate the marquee signs?


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## AG216 (Sep 28, 2011)

santafe158 said:


> I was looking at their products, but don't have any experience with them. Do you think the EL light boards would be bright enough to properly illuminate the marquee signs?


if we are on time I can get a piece of the acrylic and test it in York.
what do you think?
Andre.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

AG216 said:


> if we are on time I can get a piece of the acrylic and test it in York.
> what do you think?
> Andre.



Sorry Andre, I totally missed seeing your reply.

As long as the light is evenly distributed and fairly bright through the acrylic, I'm all for it. :thumbsup:


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

I also wonder how the Miller Engineering fluorescent tubes would look mounted behind the marquee. I played with some LED's elsewhere on the building and am not happy with the look of the ones I got, but I'm still working on that


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## AG216 (Sep 28, 2011)

I test using my flash light (LED) and:
if you install the LED one inch away the panel illuminate it very even.
less than one inch, you will start notice the light source more concentrated.
let me know.
Andre.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

That's about what I got too when I tried a couple different things. I'm thinking about 3 LED's mounted behind each panel about that distance with a cover to keep them from lighting up the front of the building (as per the prototype). Should work OK I think.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Some updated pictures of the theater with a start on lighting.


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## PDDMI (Oct 25, 2015)

Jake,
What are the dates at the Redford Theater this year...I'm sure a few of us will be coming in from Marshall...mostly to see your train display. I have most of what we are going to do here, ready to go...thanks for all of the input. Working on the final details for the location. I want it up and running in time for our community Christmas Parade on November 30th and then it will run through Christmas. I'll send you updates by email as things progress.
Paul


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## Guest (Oct 28, 2015)

Look forward to your update photos, Jake. You know we are approaching the Christmas season when your project starts.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks guys


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Some photos from last Thursday's work session that I never posted. I'm hoping to get at least two mainlines assembled and wired during tonight's work session.

Doesn't look like much, but the layout platforms are assembled. Now it's just a matter of filling the surface with trains and buildings :laugh:



I posed my theater model for a picture with the 1928 3/10 Barton Theater Pipe organ, which is original to the theater and is the building's sole reason for existing today. This is one of only two theater pipe organs in the city of Detroit that are still installed in the buildings they were designed for. Obviously a rare thing in the city, and also world-wide since many organs were removed after the fall of silent movies to the "talkies."


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Some more progress. The outside loop is mostly wired and I'll be going back through and wiring the other four tracks tomorrow. Hope to have everything pretty much wrapped up and presentable by Friday, though I'll probably have to go back next Thursday or Friday before the first Christmas show to finish things off completely with the last minute details. I still have to go through and service the locomotives and rolling stock prior to the debut since I haven't had a chance to get to that yet.

Basically I've just added more backlighting to the snow from last years layout. The lighting feature was probably the most commented on thing I did last year. Everyone I talked to loved how it looked, and I like it because it helps make things more visible in the dark area of the auditorium, without being too overpowering.

This picture was taken before I was finished, so the dark areas in the photo for the most part are now lit up as well. The entire upper level is also backlit now, which was something I wasn't happy with the past couple years as it was kind of an after thought that was quickly thrown together and never showed up overly well. Hopefully it'll look a little happier this year.



I had planned some fairly major updates to the layout for this year, but some donations didn't come through in time and I just didn't have the time to do the woodworking to make it happen this year, so hopefully I'll get to it next year. What I'd eventually like to do is have a 4x4 platform at each end with a long bridge connecting the two, maybe somewhat of a polar express type of appearance. The train running across the brick arched bridges in that movie has always been one of my favorite scenes.


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## Guest (Nov 11, 2015)

Big project, Jake. Glad you are making progress. Congratulations on your contributions to the community.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Passenger Train Collector said:


> Big project, Jake. Glad you are making progress. Congratulations on your contributions to the community.


Thank you! The visitors that see it are the main reason I'm still doing the display. I'll admit, I haven't been overly motivated to do it this year, but the final result that I know will come out of all the work has kept me pushing through. Seeing people's reactions when they view the layout is one of the best parts, though it's also kind of fun having somewhere to run trains for several months since I don't have a permanent layout at home


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## Bill Webb (Sep 14, 2015)

Jake this is coming together nicely. I am sorry that we are a bit far to see it in person. I am going to let my brother who lives in Michigan know about it.


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## Mark Boyce (Jul 22, 2015)

I am glad to see you progress, Jake. The theater looks great! Looking forward to see how it all progresses!! :smilie_daumenpos:


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks guys!


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## MOVL (Aug 23, 2015)

Coming along nicely, Jake. The illumination of the marquee looks perfect...nice and bright. Reminds me of walking up to an old surviving theatre that I used to go to.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks Keith!

Some more progress as of Friday. Still have a bit to wrap up this coming Thursday to be ready for the first official showing on Friday, but it's more or less complete with trains running and buildings lit up.


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## Mark Boyce (Jul 22, 2015)

Jake,
Very nicely done.


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2015)

You consistently do a beautiful job with the layout, Jake.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks guys. I couldn't do it without a good friend that's helped me the past 3 or 4 years, as well as my girlfriend who came to help out this year. If nothing else, they push me to keep going when we work on it it


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

That should put some smiles on faces, nice job.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks John!


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## Todd Lopes (Nov 11, 2015)

Congratulations Jake. Your annual Christmas display really rocks. It is another stellar layout.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks Todd!

I guess I should give an update since the layout operated for it's first official show about a week and a half ago (my buddy that helps, ran some of his stuff on the unfinished layout for a special event the week before). Things ran well for the Friday evening show which I was at working elsewhere in the theater, but of course the gremlins attacked during the Saturday matinee show which I was not at. I went to check things out before the Saturday evening show when I got off work and found one derailed train, a shorted out streetcar (with a burned out motor) and a passenger train that was not liking some dirty track. The derailed train was an MPC GP20 that burned out it's electronics the first time it ran on the layout. I gutted it and installed a bridge rectifier, but neglected to replace the weight I removed when I took out the electronics. Nicely built engine, but very light on it's own, so I found it derailed every time the trains stopped due to plenty of traction at the wheels, and not enough weight to keep it on the tracks.

I got everything running for the evening show and had to leave, but I heard of one more derailment that I'll be going in tomorrow to check out and do other troubleshooting before the show this weekend. Sometimes these layouts don't like to cooperate, even with the best of plans 

On a side note, the Detroit Historical Museum acquired a large collection and had some excess pieces that they didn't really need for their display or stored collections, so they were nice enough to transfer some of the pieces to the nonprofit theater for use on our display. Some interesting MPC Lionel pieces are now in the reserves for a change of scenery when we so choose.

Some photos my dad took from opening night.





My "cameo" appearance thanks to my dad as I hurriedly tried to get trains running in time for the Saturday evening show 



A photo my coworker took earlier that day while a couple of us worked to get some of the cars in the yard switched around to where they were needed for the winter maintenance season. Kinda gives a good idea of what the weather around here was like that day. That's our 50 ton coaling tower that was built about two years ago now. Behind that is our 30,000 gallon(? not sure exactly, but I believe that's about it) water tower. The brick building behind those is the roundhouse, which is a replica/reconstruction of an 1884 roundhouse that was originally located in Marshall, MI. Some original pieces were incorporated into the building when it was built in 2000.


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## Todd Lopes (Nov 11, 2015)

Looks great Jake. Congrats on another great year there!


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## Guest (Dec 2, 2015)

Thanks for the update and the new photos , Jake, I congratulate on your efforts on behalf of the theater and it's patrons. I particularly like the photo of the village with the bluish light cast on the structures. Very impressive. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Mark Boyce (Jul 22, 2015)

Jake,
Looks like you had a good first official show. I agree with Brian on the blue lighted scene. I like the photo of the kids leaning in to see better. Shows some enthusiasm, and is nice to see, when we often don't let kids that close to layouts, especially at shows.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks guys

The bluish light comes from the cool white LED's I have under those sections.

As for the kids leaning on the table, it comes with it's fair share of annoyances, but I've never had any major issues with it (knock on wood). Some younger kids sometimes like to pick holes into the snow material, but that's nothing too bad. There's an occasional derailment if a kid quickly reaches out to point to something, but they've been pretty good in the past five years. If we run more expensive models on the layout with our supervision, we sometimes ask kids not to touch things, for obvious reasons, but my normal runners are pretty durable.

The Modular club I'm a member with also doesn't use any barriers. The layout is at the height of a standard banquet table (we use that type of folding leg under our modules). The most issues I've encountered were beer bellies and mother's purses  I believe I spent about 45 minutes after a show one evening untangling the pantograph on my Lionel JLC GG1 after it got caught on somebody's coat that was leaning over the layout. Usually it's not the kids that are the big issue (though some members still like to complain about that)

Considering the viewing level is only a couple feet off the ground, the kids probably have the best view in the whole place  Seeing them happy makes the whole thing worth it.


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## Guest (Dec 2, 2015)

Jake, you are a *REAL* credit to our hobby. Thanks for your efforts.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Passenger Train Collector said:


> Jake, you are a *REAL* credit to our hobby. Thanks for your efforts.



Thanks for the great compliment!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Great looking display Jake, and it's really nice that you put all that effort out for others to enjoy, that's truly a labor of love! :thumbsup:


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks John! It certainly is


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Some more photos


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## towdog (Oct 2, 2015)

I also really like the blue tint that those white led lights shine on the houses. I also really like your use of that kaleidoscope projection light under that platform. I am really glad that someone on the other forum came up with that idea last year when these lights first came out. They really add a lot of interest and remind me of the Northern Lights.

Great work once again. What a privilege to set that up in that beautiful theater. What all did you do differently this year compared to previous years?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Now, that's a *LOCOMOTIVE CONSOLE!*


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Now, that's a *LOCOMOTIVE CONSOLE!*


It does have a train whistle in it


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

towdog said:


> I also really like the blue tint that those white led lights shine on the houses. I also really like your use of that kaleidoscope projection light under that platform. I am really glad that someone on the other forum came up with that idea last year when these lights first came out. They really add a lot of interest and remind me of the Northern Lights.
> 
> Great work once again. What a privilege to set that up in that beautiful theater. What all did you do differently this year compared to previous years?




Thank you! The kaleidoscope light was a last minute decision this year. I decided to experiment with a couple I bought on amazon and I do like the effect though it's not where I originally intended them to be.

Other than the kaleidoscope light, the whole layout isn't a ton different. The track plans are basically the same as last year. The second level got rotated 90 degrees and placed along the back corner of the display so it doesn't come out to the front edge as it did last year. Of course my model of the theater is new for this year. I added three more strings of lights underneath the snow this year, including one on the upper level which I found to be too dark previously. Other than building and detail placement, that's about the only changes we made.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Jake that is one super display, great work.

Magic


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## Guest (Dec 7, 2015)

Thanks for the added photos, Jake.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Magic said:


> Jake that is one super display, great work.
> 
> Magic


Thank you


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## AG216 (Sep 28, 2011)

Jake
You did a nice display full of good taste and excellent distribution.

thank you for sharing.

Andre.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

AG216 said:


> Jake
> You did a nice display full of good taste and excellent distribution.
> 
> thank you for sharing.
> ...



Thank you Andre. I've gotten nothing but compliments about the theater model. The other volunteers and all the visitors that have seen it absolutely love it.


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