“I am the king of the North Pole!” Tom Hanks’ voice booms from the chugging locomotive as it passes the station platform and heads toward the covered bridge. My Polar Express Christmas layout is up and running. It includes a snow-covered tunnel, elf “warming” shacks, and a Christmas tree with Santa and some elves nearby. The oval-shaped track covers almost 9 feet from one curved end to the other, with 3 1/2 feet between the parallel rails. Near the center of the layout, a shorter side track takes the Polar Express to a refueling station with oil barrels and a trough of “coal.” A sturdy, shovel-carrying railroad man stands by his tool shed, ready to carry out any refueling tasks.

Perhaps the neatest feature of the Maxton Place Polar Express is the expanse of snow that runs under the tracks and to every side of the tables that undergird the layout. The “snow” is actually white quilt batting, and getting it in place was probably the biggest challenge I faced with this project. For thing, the batting tended to bunch up rather than flatten out across the tables. For another, the thickness of the batting was such that in some places, the table surface could be seen underneath. To my mind, this damaged the realism of the layout. So, in places where the table surface could be seen, I put a second layer of batting underneath the first. However, until I secured it with tape, the underlying layer tended to shift around, creating bumps in some places or allowing the table top to be seen again. A third problem with the batting was its vulnerability to tearing. Most of the tears were too small to matter. The one tear that was big enough to be a problem is now covered by the Christmas tree.

One final issue arose with the station platform. The lights wouldn’t turn on. I may have caused the problem myself when I inserted the rail power cord into the lock-on receptacle, which is designed to receive the station’s power cord. The prongs inside the receptacle may have been bent, making a connection with the station’s cord difficult to achieve.  My ability to solve electrical problems is virtually nonexistent, but in this rare instance, after some trial-and-error tinkering, I succeeded in getting the platform light to turn on. The key was to not push the station’s power cord all the way into the lock-on box. Who would have guessed that would work?

It’s likely that Maxton Place’s Polar Express layout will be supplemented by additional accessories I receive as Christmas gifts, so the final display will probably be more elaborate and eye-catching than it is now. However, the real purpose of this effort is not to create some dazzling exhibition, but rather to make the Polar Express and its various characters come alive for children who visit our home. Within certain limits, they may even be allowed to operate the train, clang its bell, and listen to the conductor (Tom Hanks) shout out “This is the Polar Express!”