Each train layout is a mini-masterpiece.
Train tracks run over bridges and through mountain tunnels – past forests of tiny trees and through miniature towns, where traffic lights flash and building windows light up in the pretend dusk - past tiny soccer pitches, where players pause their game to watch the locomotives travel by.
Model trains are more than a hobby, for those who become “bitten” by the bug. Model railroading can become a lifelong passion.
Just ask any of the participants at the Barrie Allandale Railway Modellers annual Model Train Show, held at Bradford Greenhouses Garden Gallery on Hwy. 90 in Barrie this weekend.
This was the club's 50th annual show, and it drew Model Railroaders from across Southern Ontario, as well as vendors, collectors, and a display from the Toronto Railroad Museum.
Members of the Belleville Model Railway Club, Muskoka Model Railroad Club, Credit Valley, Erin Mills Model Railroad Association, the Alliston Train Gang, the Peel County Engineers, Nottawasaga-South Georgian Bay Model Railroaders and Midland District Railroaders all brought their layouts, helping to fill a greenhouse with their displays.
One of the largest layouts was set up by the Midland District Railroaders, with its multiple tracks, a roundhouse for the engines, numerous switches and detailed scenery.
The Midland club does a fair amount of travelling, and has already taken its layout to Belleville and Mississauga so far this year – even though it can take members more than six hours to set up the display and get the trains running.
Once everything is in place, said member Ken Baker, “We just have a party!”
An all-ages crowd came out for the first day of the show on Saturday to watch the trains run, ask questions, and share in the fun.
The Barrie-Allandale club, which hosts the show, has a new layout this year. Built in nine sections, it is “actually easier to work with,” said Steve Jagoe, who has been a member of the Barrie-Allandale Railway Modellers “off and on” since 1982.
The sections snap together and it takes fewer than half a dozen members less than an hour to set up.
The idea was to find a balance between the public’s enjoyment, as they watch the trains go around, and the enjoyment of the members. “From an operating point of view, we want to be able to switch and move things around,” Jagoe said.
The new layout not only offers plenty of details and challenges, it’s set slightly lower to the ground, making it easier for kids to view the action.
Jagoe was asked about one model of a business, set front and centre, which appeared to be a political commentary.
He laughed, but said no; the business, ‘Trump Finger Cut Lumber,’ was named after a member. “We actually have a ‘Donald Trump’ in the club. That’s his name.”
The Barrie-Allandale Railway Modellers Model Train Show continues on Sunday, Feb. 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Bradford Greenhouses Garden Gallery, 4346 County Rd. 90. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, free for accompanied children under six.
