Wilkes-Barre, PA: Hudson Model Railroad Club’s 2,000-square-foot set-up open again for public view.

From Wilkes-Barre Time Leader:  Hudson Model Railroad Club’s 2,000-square-foot set-up open again for public view.

PLAINS TWP. -- On Sunday, the Hudson Model Railroad Club celebrated its 30th year showcasing its 2,000-square-foot, handmade railroad display with more than 150 locomotives and 2,000 rail cars riding four miles of track.
“We’ve become a local holiday tradition,” said club president Jim Cerulli.
He said the30 members of the club range in age from 16 to more than 80 and all share a “love for trains that can’t be learned.”
They have been meeting once a week to upgrade, maintain, expand and otherwise improve their display all as a “passion for trains,” he added.
“These aren’t just toys. They are exact scale replicas of the real thing. Everything you see in real life you will see here,” he said. Members even will paint graffiti on their cars and exhaust stains on the engines to highlight realism, he said.
Along with the trains, the display includes a model steel mill, harbor and city complete with more than 200 buildings and 500 miniature cars serving the miniature population of more than 750 residents.
A computerized control system allows members to use handheld devices to control the engines, which each have their own computer chip in them, Cerulli said.
“They’re like sophisticated television remotes,” he joked.
More than 200 visitors came by to see the display on Sunday. Every year the club is open from the first weekend after Thanksgiving to the first weekend after New Year’s Day, he said.
Along the walls are photos of local trains along with graphics that define the various types of trains and what type of cargo they could be carrying, Cerulli said.
“We want to teach as well as display. That’s what it’s all about,” he said.
Most of the rolling stock is owned by the club members including several “custom built” pieces not available on the open market, he said.
The club owns the display and the “circus train” Cerulli calls a real crowd pleaser.
“We built a full-length circus train like the types that used to run in the 1970s,” he said.
Another line that gets a lot of attention from the children is the “Caterpillar equipment train,” which offers a line-up of various forms of heavy equipment being transported by rail, he said.
Bill Wightman, a club fan and regular visitor to the display for the last 20 years, said he can’t help but notice the amazing progress and improvements in the layout. What he likes most though is the large variety in the display.
“They have a little bit of everything,” he said.
Cerulli said the club plans to continue into the future allowing train enthusiasts to view the display for free. However, he admits donations from the visitors are very much appreciated and needed to maintain the club’s display.
“It’s a constant work in progress,” he said.

 

Scranton, PA: Model trains entrance visitors to steamtown Saturday

From the Times-Tribune:  Model trains entrance visitors to steamtown Saturday

Model trains were always an "old guy" hobby, said Clem O'Jevich Jr. of the Warrior Run Locomotive Works.
Time, disposable income and nostalgia predispose older gentlemen to the hobby, he contended while operating a garden-scale, live-steam model train at the Model Trains Through the Ages program at Steamtown National Historic Site.
Even in the 1940s, he said, the hobby was dominated by retired men.
But the event co-sponsored by Lackawanna Historical Society drew quite a few wide-eyed young folks, enthusiastic exceptions to Mr. O'Jevich's observation and the newest generation of model train enthusiasts.
Even with the real things chugging by just outside the Steamtown Museum, the buzzing model trains captivated John and Caleb Faia, ages 15 and 11, of Lansdale. Like most passions, this one was handed down by their grandfather, who is active in model trains with a large, year-round set.
"We keep adding and adding," John said. John, Caleb and their parents hoped to get a seat on the Scranton Limited 30-minute train rides.
Bryan Melliand, 13, of Clarks Summit, and his visiting cousin Ben Schwartz, 9, were enjoying the displays of different-size trains from Nolan & Rogers in Scranton.
Bryan recognizes that, as a train hobbyist, he may be a standout among his cohorts. He's limited to no more than one hour of video games daily, and doesn't have a smartphone, which he figures gives him time to pursue interests. With help from his father, Ben converted a bookcase into a fold-down train set.
"Most kids are into video games or sports and don't want to spend time to learn about trains or take the time to put a set together," Bryan said. "But trains are cool and fun."
Also on hand was Dan Emick of Scranton, self-proclaimed "Doctor of Trainology," offering advice to those just starting out or diagnoses for those with problems with their train sets.
The most common problem? "It won't run."
The solution is often simple, Mr. Emick said: rusted contacts and lack of lubrication.
The exhibit continues though today and is included with the national park's entrance fee of $7 for adults, children 15 and under free.

 

Hamburg, NY: 31st Annual Train and Toy Show

This was last weekend but just mark it on your calendar as it'll be held next year as well at around this same time!


From WGRZ.com:  31st Annual Train and Toy Show

HAMBURG, N.Y. - All aboard! Hundreds of vendors and train enthusiasts rolled into the Event Center at the fairgrounds in Hamburg for the 31st annual Train and Toy show.
There are plenty of model trains, accessories and vintage toys to buy or just look at.
The show is a fundraiser for the Western New York Railway Historical Society, which helps preserve the railroad history in the Queen City.
"To see a little train around the tree at Christmas is a tradition that is shared by a lot of people," said Stephen Kocsis, of the WNY Railway Historical Society. "You can find little one of a kind pieces to add to your collection. You can buy a whole major layout if you need to get one. There's something for everybody."
The train show continues Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Events Center at the Hamburg fairgrounds.

 

Irondequoit, NY: Room-sized train display delights young and old

From Democrat and Chronicle: Room-sized train display delights young and old
 Train lovers of all ages were treated to a room-sized holiday village Saturday at Chapel Oaks Community Center in Irondequoit.
The third annual train display at the retirement community opened to the public Saturday morning and will continue through Sunday.
“Both old and young really enjoy trains,” said Marie Frey, marketing representative at Chapel Oaks. “We thought it would be a really nice thing to do for the community, like a family affair.”
The train display took eight volunteers from Flower City Tinplate Trackers about four hours to set up on Friday. The group is a train club based in Rochester that operates and displays O Gauge model trains at community events and train shows.
Frey said members of the public typically come to see the trains, as well as the seniors who live at Chapel Oaks.
“It’s very nostalgic for them,” she said. “Just to see their eyes light up when they see the trains, it’s pretty amazing to watch.”
The display will be open from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Chapel Oaks is located on St. Ann’s campus, 1550 Portland Ave.

 

Flint, MI: Model trains are newest exhibit for Christmas season at Flint's Sloan Museum

From MLive:  Model trains are newest exhibit for Christmas season at Flint's Sloan Museum

FLINT, MI--All aboard, model train enthusiasts.
The newest exhibit at Sloan Museum will be "Holiday Trains."
These trains, however, won't just be circling the Christmas tree.
"Visitors will be taken back to the days when the Iron Horse sped across Michigan. Marvel at charming model trains as they travel across rustic bridges, along overhead trestles, and even past a zoo," a release from Sloan said of the scaled model showcase.

The exhibit, intended for all ages, will be on display through Jan. 27.

For more information, check out the exhibit's website.

Sloan Museum is located at 1221 East Kearsley Street in Flint, Michigan. Tickets are $9 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $6 for youth ages 3-11.

 

Scranton: Model Trains Through the Ages' holiday program set for Steamtown NHS

From Go Lackawanna:  Model Trains Through the Ages' holiday program set for Steamtown NHS

Steamtown National Historic Site partner, the Lackawanna Historical Society, will present a holiday program, “Model Trains Through the Ages,” Nov. 23 through 25 at the park. The program will focus on model railroading as a holiday tradition.
Visitors at both Steamtown NHS and the Historical Society’s Catlin House have commented through the years about their cherished holiday memories, which always seemed to include a model train set. The memories evoke the arrival of visiting family members, many who traveled home for the holidays, laden with gifts and surprises, by passenger rail.

The program will include a Märklin model train exhibit, a “live steam” garden railroad display, and a traditional holiday train display by a group of dedicated local model railroad enthusiasts.
Dan Emick, a self-described “train doctor,” will display various model railroad scales (“sizes”), and be available to discuss problem-solving techniques for model train hobbyists. Additionally, the public is invited to participate in a model train race each event day at 2 p.m. “O” scale model trains will be available for racing participants.
For further information about this family-friendly event, contact the Lackawanna Historical Society at 570.344.3841 or visit www.lackawannahistory.org.

Admission to the event is included with the Park’s daily entrance fee of $7 for all ages 16 and older. Children ages 15 and younger are free with accompanying adults. The entrance fee includes access to the park’s museums, theater and scheduled walking tours.

The popular “Scranton Limited” 30-minute train rides will also operate, covering a 3-mile round trip that crosses the Lackawanna River and passes alongside the historic Radisson at Lackawanna Station Hotel, pausing near the University of Scranton before returning to the roundhouse boarding area. Tickets to ride this train cost $5 per person, all ages 6 and older, in addition to the daily park entrance fee.

Located in downtown Scranton, Steamtown NHS is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Additional general park information is available by calling 570.340.5200 during regular business hours, or by visiting the Park website at www.nps.gov/stea.

 

Chicago: Check out model railroad layouts at open house

From Daily Herald:  Check out model railroad layouts at open house

In its 63rd annual open house, the Valley Model Railroad Club is doing something different.

Members are pairing their three-day open house event with a food drive benefiting the South Elgin Food Pantry. Visitors who bring in a canned good or some other nonperishable item will get a free raffle ticket and be entered into a drawing for model railroading prizes.

Duane Tuma, a 25-year member of the club, said the food drive fits in well with the goals of the family-oriented club.

“It’s one way of giving back to the community,” Tuma said. “Especially with the way things are right now.”

The Valley Model Railroad Club is made up of plenty of husband and wife pairs and multigenerational family groups. Tuma said there are third generation members who first came to the club with their grandfathers.

The model railroaders gather to share their love of trains at the old Clintonville Substation on the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad line in South Elgin. They moved into the building in 1953. For decades members built up a model, constantly adding new bits of scenery and adding new track designs until 1999 when they basically tore out the old layout and started fresh.

“One thing about model railroading, once you think you’re done then you start over again,” Tuma said. “You never finish anything because it’s always changing.”

Members invite anyone interested in model railroads to the open house, whether that interest is backed by extensive knowledge of the hobby or not. Tuma said visitors can talk to club members on various committees focused on parts of the layout like scenery, electricity or track.

The open house will be from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16; 1 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17; and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18 at the club, 33W519 Kenyon Road in South Elgin.

Outside of the annual open house, club members regularly welcome community groups — most often Boy Scouts — to tour the club and check out the layout. And every month they set up a display at the Great Midwest Train Show at the DuPage County Fairgrounds.

For details call (847) 742-2028 or visit vmrr.org.

 

UK: Hornby services delayed...in China

From the Sun:  Hornby services delayed...in China

The train now not arriving ... Hornby's Chinese suppliers are running late

 

MODEL train maker HORNBY expects to lose at least £1million in Christmas sales because of chaos at a Chinese supplier.

The company shifted all manufacturing to the Far East in the late Nineties to slash costs.
But it was forced yesterday to admit a restructuring at its biggest supplier in the country would delay key Christmas deliveries. Shipments of key model trains — such as a new B17 steam locomotive — will now not arrive until February at the earliest.
Chief exec Frank Martin said: “We now have five alternative suppliers but the level of shipments is being affected.
“It’s going to be some time before more collectable products such as the B17 arrive.”
The issues with supplier SANDA KAN have affected sales in Hornby’s European markets throughout the summer.
Half-year results yesterday showed sales on the Continent plunged by almost a third.
And the group — which also owns SCALEXTRIC and AIRFIX — fell £541,000 into the red in the six months to September. Hornby also shelved its half-year dividend — and was forced to reassure over its finances, revealing BARCLAYS had offered a new bank loan.
But Mr Martin insisted it still did not make sense to bring production back home to Britain.
He said: “Average wages in China have gone up three times in the past seven, eight years — but the minimum wage is still only around £2,000 a year.”
Mr Martin added that Christmas would be tough — and “later” than normal — as customers hold back on presents until the last minute.
He said: “It won’t be the best Christmas we have had in the past five years.”
Yesterday’s warning came just two months after Hornby said full-year profits would be derailed by weaker than expected sales of London 2012 souvenirs.
But Mr Martin insisted shareholders should “not be worried”.
He said: “We have short-term challenges, but we are working through them successfully.”
Matthew Taylor, analyst at NUMIS, said: “Its stable of brands suggests the group should return to profitability in due course.
“But more tangible evidence of stability may be required for the shares to stage a meaningful recovery.”

 

 

His hobby has all the bells and whistles

From UT San Diego: His hobby has all the bells and whistles 

Bob Shultz lays next to a train set display in the backyard of his home in Cardiff on Monday, November 5 ,2012.(Photo by Sandy Huffaker) 

 

Three years ago, Cardiff resident Bob Shultz went on a hunt for an old toy train for his newborn grandson.

He wanted something fun and not nearly as valuable as the only train he owned — a 1950s-era, high-end Lionel that his father bought him as a boy. So he placed a classified advertisement asking people to dig through their closets and garages looking for dusty old trains they didn’t want any more.

“Buying trains,” his ad announcement declared, and people were eager to sell.

Soon the 67-year-old retired real estate agent had dozens, then hundreds. Three years later, he has a “real massive collection” — about 1,000.

He’s become a train seller, exchanger and donor. He’s now active in a regional toy train club and spends every Friday volunteering with a crew of train enthusiasts who are building an outdoor train layout in an Escondido backyard.

Shultz has stuffed his garage, his shed and his office with trains. He’s created a train repair workshop where tiny drawers stuffed with miniature train horns, bells and fuses beg to be opened. He’s built a circus train layout in his small backyard for his grandson, Rollins Fisher of La Mesa, and the neighborhood kids to enjoy.

And he has already inspired at least one boy to become a train addict.

Alexander Melemed, a 5-year-old from Carlsbad, received his first free train from Shultz months ago. Now, he owns 10 to 15, his dad reports, and the family spends weekends visiting the San Diego Model Railroad Museum and the train display at Vista’s Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum.

“He’s going to be like Bob — he has them displayed everywhere,” dad Jeff Melemed said, adding that when he takes his son to the Vista museum, he has to stay for hours.

Shultz specializes in the large pre-World War 11 metal toy trains, but he also accepts the plastic versions from the 1940s to the late 1960s. He loves the toy trains because they make sounds, flash their lights and even have slots where real steam pours out.

He used to collect seashells, but “they don’t move, they don’t talk, they don’t buzz,” he said.

Call him a moderately addicted train guy, said Bob Wall, one of the leaders in San Diego’s All Gauge Toy Train Association. The association, which puts on an annual display during the county fair in Del Mar, meets from 2 to 8 p.m. every second Tuesday at Torrey Pines Christian Church, 8320 La Jolla Scenic Drive.

Wall, a University City resident who’s been collecting trains for 35 years, just returned from a three-day train convention where he met a guy who had 10,000 trains in his home. He himself admits to owning “somewhere between” 1,000 and 10,000.

 

 

Youngstown Model Railroad Assoc. hosts annual open house

From Vindy.com:  Youngstown Model Railroad Assoc. hosts annual open house

Charlie Wood was 4 when he got his first Lionel model train set in 1939.
He still has the set, a steam engine “with a whistle,” a tanker, box car and caboose, and he still is playing with model trains.
Wood, of Hartford, is one of a number of Youngstown Model Railroad Association members on hand to talk knowledgeably about model trains and layouts with guests at the organization’s 2012 Model Train annual open house at 751 N. Four Mile Run Road at the corner of Raccoon Road.
That first set cost $9.75 in the catalog, said Wood, who is president of the Great Lakes Division of the Train Collectors Association that runs periodic swap meets.
The Youngstown Model Railroad Association is one of the few clubs that display both O and HO scales of model railroads, said its president, Jim Pope of Berlin Center. Each layout has more than 100 scale miles of track.
The open house is from noon to 6 p.m. today, Saturday and next Sunday and Dec. 1, 2, 8 and 9. A $3 donation per person is requested. Children under 12 are admitted free.
One of the advantages of being in a club is that many model-train hobbyists don’t have the space in their homes to display their layouts as the Youngstown Model Railroad Association facility has. One floor is devoted to O gauge trains and a second floor to HO gauge trains.
Also, there is a cross-section of talent needed to put a layout together. What one doesn’t know, someone else does, Wood said.
For instance, Charles Willett of Boardman, likes doing the scenery — hills and rivers and trees — for the layouts, much as he did for many years building sets at Boardman High School.
Howard “Bud” Brock of Pittsburgh, who got his first Lionel (which he still has) under the Christmas tree at age 2, said he likes the electrical end of things. Sometimes it’s a little tough when you didn’t do the original wiring and have to repair someone else’s work, he said.
As with club member hobbyists, members of the general public attend the open house to bring back memories of when they received their first train, traditionally at Christmas time.
Steve Wright was visiting with his son, Jesse, and his grandchildren, Jacob and Madison, both 5.
Wright, of Salem, said he and his son enjoy going to swap meets and collecting older Lionel pieces. “We brought Jacob and Madison to try to get them interested at a young age to hopefully keep the hobby going.”
“When things are running well, it’s a pleasure,” said David McNeil of Cortland, yardmaster Saturday in the HO display area. “When things get messed up, it’s frustrating,” he said.
“If you get into it, you become somewhat of an electrician, a carpenter, mechanic and tinker to keep everything going,” he added.
Part of the HO display are replicas of the Republic Steel Center Street mill, Youngstown Sheet & Tube and Sharon Steel, handcrafted by Ed Williams of Girard, who worked at Sharon Steel and Youngstown Sheet and Tube, or as he said, “closed them. I’m trying to do a little bit of each mill.”
Williams said there are so many people who worked in the steel mills and know what they looked like who will “call you on it ” if they find a mistake, so he works with photos of the mills and even replicates the cars in the parking lots down to year and model.
“It makes you feel good when people say you did a good job,” he said.
Their mutual interest is model railroading, but what keeps the hobbyists involved is more personal.
“It’s the people you meet ... the friends you make,” said Wood.
“We have a lot of laughs and a lot of fun. It’s the camaraderie,” Willett said.
“I’ve loved trains since I was about 10, and I’ve been in love with them ever since,” Williams said.

 

Durango a model train mecca

From the Durango Herald:  Durango a model train mecca

Many proud subcultures thrive in Durango: rock climbers, marijuana activists, vegetarians, pet owners, banned-book readers, organic-food proselytizers, gun aficionados, hunters and people who frequently write letters to the editor of certain local newspapers.
 

But, perhaps, its most passionate subpopulation is model-train “maniacs,” who say Durango is their mecca: Not only is it home to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and Soundtraxx, the world’s leading model-train sound company, based in the Durango Tech Center, it also has the San Juan Car Co., which manufactures O-scale narrow gauge freight cars. Model railroaders meet in numerous tight-knit clubs, organize Durango’s Railfest, religiously subscribe to hobbyist magazines such as Model Railroader and cover their basements, ceilings and gardens with elaborate tracks.

For the kid in everyone

And according to model railroaders, they are everyone.

Leslie Doran, who, along with her husband, Art Sherwood, is a member of the San Juan Large Scalers Club, said, “There’s huge age range. We have members in their 80s – we had a member in the 90s, but he recently passed away – and our youngest member,” Joe Weigman, “is 7 years old,” Doran said.

They’re a determined bunch. Andy Saez said it has taken him years to lay by hand the 4,000 feet of track for his live steam railroad, which encompasses his garden. His train is so large it can carry 20 people and is visible from U.S. Highway 550.

Meticulous detail

Duane Danielson, a retired stockbroker who lives 10 miles north of Durango, said he owns one of the five best layouts in the country and has written extensively about the construction of his 86-by-45 foot layout for O Scale Magazine.

“It represents the Northern Pacific and the Great Northern, from western Montana to east Washington from the 1930s – that was the classic era of steam and the first part of diesel. It’s my grandpa’s railroad, and that’s what I like about it,” he said. The layout, which spans his basement, is so behemoth that Danielson stores Christmas lights beneath it.

While Danielson’s friend Jim Richards concedes that Danielson’s layout is “spectacular,” he hopes his own “Athabaska Railroad,” which is still under construction, will prove as stunning.

Richards said model training was not child’s play.

“We don’t just take trains and try to run them ’round and ’round, we duplicate as meticulously as possible the real world of railroading,” Richards said.

Right now, Richard’s Athabaska railroad fills his basement. “It’s 55-by-30 feet with additional 25-foot rooms for staging. It’s an imaginary railroad; it only exists in my imagination, but it’s set in the Canadian Rockies. In my imagination it runs from Edmonton to the Pacific seaport Prince Arthur, named after the fabled British king.”

Richards knows precisely what cargo is trafficked on his imaginary railroad. “It holds grain, oil, coal, intermodal containers and highway trailers – there is some passenger traffic, some general traffic – and the trains are quite long,” Richards said.

Richards said building the Athabaska railroad required not just money, years of patience and ardor, but wide ranges of technical expertise.

“There are just so many facets to the hobby. There’s the engineering aspect, building the freight cars, passenger cars, structures such as stations, often from scratch, which means you’re literally working from the ground up. Then, there’s the electrical aspect – a lot of guys’ control systems are amazingly sophisticated. Then there’s the scenery, it’s extremely artistic and can be astoundingly realistic. And then there’s the historical research that goes into it, making sure that you have all the details, the track size, exactly correct,” he said.

Durango’s pull

Paula Berg, who owns Oscar’s Café with her husband, Bruce, said Richards’ commitment to model training is far from unusual in Durango.

“You’d be amazed at the number of grown, mature men here who love these trains in their basements. I really do think it’s something in the blood. I mean these guys – it’s crazy how much they love trains,” she said.

In Oscar’s, a G-model train circles the ceiling. “Actually, we moved here because since 3 years old my husband has always been a nut for trains, and the (Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad) is one of the last steam engines in the country. We even bought our house by the tracks,” Berg said, laughing.

Something about trains

Nationally, train obsessives boast distinguished alumni, including Albert Einstein, Frank Sinatra and Neil Young. They also boast rare devotion. Darius McCollum, a New York resident, has been so enamored with trains that since age 15, when he illicitly drove the E train to the World Trade Center, he has spent more than a third of his life behind bars for transit-related offenses.

Dr. Mason Miner moved his model train from his home to his office when his last child was born. “We needed the bedroom,” he said regretfully. Though he’s been building model trains since childhood, he said when he went to a meeting of the Durango Model Railroad Club, “compared to some of these guys, I’m really low key. Some of them are unbelievably into it,” he said.

The first interactive game

Ray Schmudde built an HO-scale, modern-era layout in a spare bedroom.

“I tell my wife it keeps me out of bars and chasing women,” he said. “The catch with this hobby is that it’s never finished.”

Schmudde acknowledged that if your model train layout was historically inaccurate, some enthusiasts could be critical. “Can we be obsessive? Yes. Is everyone? No,” said Schmudde.

Al Harper, who owns Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, said he “wasn’t a model train fanatic,” though he also owns the seventh largest collection of Lionel gauge model trains in the country.

“Model railroading is for kids of all ages. We talk about interactive games on iPads and computers, but model trains were probably the first interactive game,” Harper said.