The Cars of Christmas

A followup to the Christmas Layout Post, here's a few of the notable vehicles on the layout.  Like the layout itself, this collection was not built primarily on planning and specific need, but rather by what cheap vehicles appeared to me at resale shops, Train Show junk bins and ocassionally at retail stores. 

This is a favorite of mine.  My uncle picked this ERTL  just weeks before retiring from DOW where he had spent his entire career.  It's underscale but a Full-Scale Semi would dominate the roads too much. 

A lucky save as the closets were being cleared of promotional material in preparation for DOW's acquisition/merger/whatever with another company.

Mentioned, earlier, this CFD ambulance was a Menards short run a few years back.  It has illuminated headlights and flashing beacons.

This Gearbox Collectibles Illinois Highway Patrol car was a neat find.  Has opening doors/hood/trunk, a nice interior and turning wheels. 

A few years back Welly did a CPD Crown Vic Police interceptor.  Not bad for the price and I'm glad to have picked up a few. 

This die cast came as a kit for assembly.  My son and I put it together years ago.

The decals are damaged (will probably remove them) but I really like this NZG Modelle M-2000 Iveco Bus. 

At 1/60th it's a bit underscale, and it's a Euro model but looks better than a full-size 1/43 bus and fits in fine.

This cheap trailer and tractor (comes with logs) and quite a few other tractor sets are only $3 at Menards right now!  I have  a second that I've mounted on a flatcar.

This Turano Bread Truck is another one of my favorites.  Turano is well known around Chicago and it's Bakery is just a couple of miles down the road from me.  I like to include local flavor (CFD, CPD, Illinois Highway Patrol, Turano, etc) whenever I can.

This no-name plastic ambulance is qutie a few years old. It pre-dates the prevalence of euro-vans in the USA.  However, now the US automobile industry has caught up and it looks surprisingly contemporary. 

The "Road Signature" line is probably among the best detailed Die Cast ranges that retail for less than $10.  The Studebaker and Plymouth below are two of my best looking cars on the layout.

This Post Truck is one of the most widely avaialble Die-cast trucks at hobby shops, drug stores, etc. Still a worthy addition.

Pictured earlier, but worth including here, this MPC Lionel semi is a recent addition.  All plastic, its  slightly undersized (maybe 1/56) but looks great on the layout expecially alongside of plasticville buildings. 

I generally lean toward more standard autos, but this Lambo is my son's addition.  It's a Maisto, but is currently being sold for about $4 each in Walmart's "Adventure Force" line.   It's quite well done and is also proper 1/43 rather than the largger 1/30'ish stuff they often sell.

Two Trucks from Menards.  The Santa Fe Isuzu was a freebie some years back, though is still avaialble. 

This Flat bed truck formerly had the menards logo on the doors but I rubbed it off for a more generic work truck look.

This Penske van and nicely detailed Ford Pickup are why you should pay close attention to the Menards $3 die-cast bin.  You never know when some interesting brand or company will make an appearance or when a model with above-average detail will be avaialble.

We condclude with a Matchbox trailer ("MBX Cycle Trailer") with bike that is part of the current Matchbox basic one-buck lineup.  It's actually almost perfectly scaled for O-scale.   

The bike may be just a tiny bit small, but it looks great parked next to a Plasticville house. 

Hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas eve.  Before the layout comes down I hope to post about some of the railcars and a few minor layout improvements. 

Be Merry,

Karl