Roger Roush of Pembroke made his living teaching and directing band for almost 50 years, but after retirement in 1999, his lifelong interest in trains again surfaced. He had some pieces when he went off to college, which his grandmother gave away, feeling that he “wouldn’t play with toys anymore.”
But when his best friends gave him a train set, his interest was rekindled, and even though he doesn’t consider himself a collector, he certainly has quite a collection of trains and a scenic layout. When his wife told him he “had too much junk on the floor,” he built a separate outside building to house and display his hobby.
Two trains Roush runs on the track in his building are a Coke 125th anniversary train in the 1880s and 1890s style, which his wife saw in a catalog and asked him to order; and the Baltimore and Ohio, which ran in the 1940s and 1950s.
At present, Roush says he has 21 locomotives and about 125 cars, plus a whole town with a trestle and bridge. “I run some of them and then the others,” Roush said. “I’m old-fashioned and just like to watch the trains go round.”
The oldest locomotive he owns is a 1946 steam engine like the one he had with first train he ever owned, the one that his grandmother gave away, and two others that are 1947s. The other engines are all newer and from the 2000s, although some of the cars are older.
“Locomotives and tenders can easily cost $1,000 to $1,500”, Roush commented. “None of mine cost over $300, and most are less expensive than that. A whole set, the locomotive, three cars and track new in 1946 would have sold for about $25, and now would be $150 to $200; they are considered antiques.”
Roush has built a scenic layout to go with his trains; a whole town in detail which he works on about 15-20 minutes a day. The buildings are wired to light up, and part of the town looks about 1950s to ’60s and the other part about 1990s to 2000.
He has an industrial district with an office with a factory (a furniture company) and a bottling company (Black Rock Beverage). There is a man standing in the road to stop cars for the train to go by, like it was back before there were warning signals. There are many small touches, such as a man with a front-end loader waiting to be told his next job, another man jogging and a couple of homeless guys.
In another part of town is the Broadway Diner with train stations and people waiting to take to get on board. There are checker players with their board set up, a cat on a post, folks on a picnic, and a man with a dog. Next to this area is the Harley-Davidson Diner, complete with guys and their motorcycles.
Over by the bridge and trestle is another part of town, where there is a bakery, another café, clothing store, kids on bikes and an old red coke machine, a garbage truck, and another truck delivering drinks. There is a water tower with a light that blinks, made by Lionel, the brand which “made trains for kids but fathers ran them” Roush said. “Now, you can buy models of Lionel trains in Hallmark Card stores; folks who like trains buy them like crazy.
“When I was 4 years old, my uncle worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and brought me into the locomotive cab. It’s a big deal when you’re 4; that ride was something. I’ve always been fascinated with trains and anything connected to trains,” Roush said.
There are a number of railroad memorabilia displayed on shelves and hanging on the walls of the building as well. He is presently working on more trees and bushes in part of the landscape, and commented that there is a “lot he has to do to this yet.”
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