Five years ago, Cliff Hurley of East Jim Thorpe decided it was time to end family tradition. Every since he was 12-years-old, the now 64-year-old former New Jersey Zinc worker had created an "O" scale platform Alpine village.

It seemed that it was time to retire. His three brothers, who had built train layouts over the years, had stopped.He was getting older and the back injury that had caused him to retired from the Zinc Company was making each winter's construction all the more difficult. And besides, his kids had grown.So Hurley gave away his buildings, tracks and trains.During the following year, however, he realized that his passion for model railroading had never diminished."I missed doing it," Hurley said. "It was a way to relax, and great when the grandkids came.Alex, a kindergarten-aged kid from the neighborhood would sit and watch, mesmerized here for an hour or two hours until I shut it down."Hurley began acquiring new equipment and thus, was able to carry on the family tradition. He's only missed one year with the model trains and that was while he was serving in Vietnam.Hurley maintains a general routine. He begins construction the first week in November to have it up and running by Dec. 21. He takes it down the last week in February.Each year, Hurley starts from scratch and creates an original layout.This year, for the first time, he built a five-tier design. He began by framing with 2 x 4s and plywood. Over the plywood, he laid a white bed sheet as a winter wonderland background.He created rocky cliffs using wrapping paper that he spray-painted green, wetted and stapled into place.Then, he drizzled it with white snow in a can. He laid the tracks, placed the trains, buildings and landscaping, and completed the scene with a topping of plastic snow.Hurley's scene includes an ice skating pond where figures move about magically thanks to a hidden motor and a magnet below the pond.The scenery includes trees, a bridge, and a Santa on a sleigh that flies through the air around a tower.Hurley has 14 sets of trains, with each set composed of three to eight cars. All his trains are "O" scale by Lionel.