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PAGE 10 - PLAINDEALER - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24,1974 Christmas Village months of preparations and forty-five years of collecting, Joe it ready for his Christmas day visitors. Etten, at the throttle, makes a fin pi practice run as he i Us aid trains through rural and city areas. A railroad warning signal is activated as a passenger train receives the right-of-way over a country road. The steady hand of Joe Etten carefully paints a bright new outfit on the old heavy metal railroad porter. V STAFF PHOTOS BY WAYNE GAYLORD A realistic view is captured in this low angle scene of a slow freighter making its way through the snow on the outer edge of the village. At left is a 25-year-old section car with a three-man crew. While the ordinary home Christmas celebration centers around a brightly decorated tree and holiday decorations, the scene will be different in the Joe Etten home, 3914 W. Maple street. All eyes will focus on a delightful Christmas village which stands on a table in the basement. The complete setting stands 8 feet deep, 12 feet wide and 36 inches high. The village consists of a hospital, bank, city hall, police station, fire house, school with teacher and children, park area with ice skating rink, shopping area, residential section with church and a farm area. Completion of the village was the fulfillment of a hobby that began forty-five years ago when he bought an American Flyer train. Mr. Etten started the village soon after his marriage and continued to add to it as his family was growing. This year he repainted and redecorated all miniature items. All of his trains are Lionel and each of them at least twenty years old. Assembly of the village started four or five months ago. Mr. Etten was assisted by his two grandsons, Tony Pintozzi, son of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Pintozzi, and Wayne Dixon, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Dixon. " " fy A speeding dtesel passenger train passes the high steeple church enronte to its destination. The three lignres near the church are part ot over sixty joe Etten has collected and recently hand painted. Etten makes a minor but neccessary repair on the 35-year-old Lionel trolley. The trolley is the center of the layout as it passes through the shopping district of the Christmas village.