The Train, The Train

About twenty years ago, when motion lights first came on the scene, Steele came home and said he wanted to build a "little train." He told me he was going to use motion lights to make the wheels turn and the smoke move. It sounded cute to me, so I said, "Great!" The next day he came home with 2 eight foot sheets of plywood and started his project. A couple months and 1,500 lights later...we had our train! It truly was the first of it's kind. Some people stopped to find out where we bought it, others took pictures of it and attempted to build their own. (We've seen a couple of versions of it here in our neighborhood.) Later on, commercial versions came on the scene, but there's no denying it... Steele's is the original!
About every 8 to 10 years we have to "re-do" the train! It's a huge job and one worth "noting." (At least to Steele and I!)
"Before" shots of the train. (It's hard to tell, but the paint is faded and cracked.)

First, all the lights come off. Then it is sanded down, painted with primer, completely re-drawn and re-painted. After that, there is the "small" task of putting all new lights on. (The first year, I put the lights on the train. I plugged all 1,500 lights in, end to end. ) We couldn't wait to "debut"it, but when we turned the lights on, they flashed for 1 second then went out. I had BLOWN the fuses in every single plug! (Lesson learned!)
I think if we had known how much work it would take to maintain this train, we probably never would have built it. But now it's sort of a landmark in the neighborhood, and the "show must go on."
Here's the final product! Merry Christmas!