Verlyn Noring received his first train set when he was 5 years old. Today, he still admires that Marx No. 999 set, which is proudly displayed on his fireplace mantle.
In 1982, Verlyn and Louise attended the LCCA convention in Dearborn, Mich. They spotted a custom painted postwar Christmas train set for sale. Like many collectors, Verlyn was looking for original Lionel postwar items, but this particular Christmas train fascinated him. Louise was thinking the same thing. She soon became the new owner of this special Christmas set.
Louise has taught school for 47 years, with most of those years in special education. After purchasing the Christmas train, she took it to school for her special education students to enjoy. Soon her students formed a club called “The Railroaders.”
In 1983, Verlyn was president of a local Iowa toy train club, and he displayed the Christmas train at their annual holiday party. Soon other club members wanted their own Christmas trains. Since Lionel had not yet produced any Christmas-themed trains, several train sets were customized and given away each year at the club’s Christmas party.
When Department 56 started making products, Louise was collecting New England Village and North Pole buildings and accessories. By 2000, Louise had collected more than 600 Department 56 items.
During their years of collecting and operating Lionel trains, Verlyn built five different layouts in their home. He thought the last hi-rail layout would be his final project, as it had taken over the basement. But as many operators can attest, layouts are never done.
Verlyn and Louise have always enjoyed operating their toy trains for visitors, so they usually hold an open house at least once a year. People enjoyed various areas of their layout, such as the circus or western scenes, but Verlyn and Louise couldn’t help noticing the viewers’ enjoyment when they saw the larger winter section.
Verlyn had always promised Louise that if he downsized the layout, he would build a special layout devoted primarily to her Department 56 collection. Five years ago, Verlyn did just that! He dismantled his entire hi-rail layout and built Louise her special year-round Christmas layout.
When the summer weather gets hot in Iowa, the Norings might decide to have a “Christmas in July” open house. The layout is primarily Department 56 structures, but it also includes numerous Lionel and Lemax operating accessories. The layout has three main lines and only one switch. Verlyn wanted to keep it simple and easy to operate. He starts the trains and lets them run without close supervision, so he can still socialize with visitors.
While this layout may not be as large and realistic as his previous layouts, he and his guests believe it’s the most enjoyable. When the lights are out and the buildings are lit, people comment that it reminds them of the large Christmas department store layouts from years past.
Name: The Louise Express Christmas Layout
Track: Lionel FasTrack
Buildings: Department 56
Trains: Lionel
Controls: Lionel ZW
Accessories: Lionel, American Flyer, Lemax
Figures: Department 56
Dimensions: 14’ x 15’
