Model Railroad Show Brings Train Junkies to Fairgrounds

A model train show and swap meet rolled into the Twin Cities over the weekend, bringing a whole heap of nostalgia and railroad centric enthusiasm along with it. The event is hosted twice a year by the Lewis County Model Railroad Club at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds.

It brings model train lovers out of the woodwork like sleepy hobos emerging from dusty boxcars.

Heather Clark was one vendor on hand at the show last weekend with her eye-catching collection of painted brass engines. Clark, from Lebanon, Ore., first started playing with model trains when she was about 5 years old and made her first sale when she was 20. 

In 1996, she began selling model trains full time after a career that included time as a brakeman conductor for the Southern Pacific Railroad that began in 1978 and ran through the 1980s.

Clark, of course, buys and sells model trains, but she also paints them professionally for her business, The Train Room. Most of her stock is between 20 and 40 years old, and prices can reach up toward the $400 range or higher for one engine. 

She said the model train market has become flooded over the past 15 years or so as a generation of collectors has died and their sets were sold off on the cheap. However, Clark says that her specialty hand-painted brass gilded trains are unique and limited enough to hold strong against the soft market. She says in recent years there has been a shift in the market where most of her engines have been sold to collectors who simply buy and display their model trains rather than running them on elaborate track setups. 

The fact that most of her trains will likely never run on a track does not bother Clark. Instead, what gets her upset is the proliferation of what she calls “whoo-whoo and ding-ding” plastic pieces and digital command electronics on modern train sets. Clark is more a traditionalist and remembers how hard previous generations of model train operators worked tirelessly to make their trains run smooth and quiet.

“Woo-woo and ding-ding! That’s what I call it because I’m not a big fan of it,” said Clark, who doesn’t believe the DCC accessories should ever be added to the metal flanks of brass trains.

David Dansky is another vendor with a passion for the toy trains of yesteryear. Dansky, of Ridgefield, owns David’s Toys and lists himself as a “Dream Fulfillment Merchant” on his business card. He has been coming to Chehalis for about four years, and although he says it is a relatively small show, he keeps on coming back because of the chummy environment. 

Dansky is a man who wholeheartedly believes in the virtue of toys from a bygone era where playing was an active endeavor as opposed to the passive nature of today’s screen-time culture.

“I call them B.T. toys. Before TV,” said Dansky. 

He recommends parents start their young conductors off with a sturdy wooden block train at an early age. Once a child can pick up a train by themselves and place it delicately on the track, Dansky says, it’s time to upgrade to an electronic set. 

“It’s a perfect cover for dads too,” laughed Dansky. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had guys come up and say, ‘Oh, I’m buying this for my kid.’ Then I ask how old he is and they say, ‘Oh, they’re not born yet.’”

Ted Livermore has been the president of the Lewis County Model Railroad Club off and on for the past 15 years, although it’s been more on as of late, he said. Additionally, Livermore is the interim director of the Lewis County Historical Museum. On Saturday, all visitors who purchased a ticket to the model train show and swap meet were also handed a ticket for free entry into the museum. Livermore says that wrinkle was added to the show last year and is not likely to go the way of the caboose anytime soon due to its undeniable popularity.

Livermore said that the model railroad show days are two of the busiest days of the year for the museum, with about 300 people showing up each time. 

“They see the model railroad. They see the museum. It helps create foot traffic and it’s very popular for them,” said Livermore. “The kids are coming in and they bring the parents back.”

Livermore noted that the Lewis County Model Railroad Club is about 37 years old and has 13 members. The proceeds from the admission fees at the show and swap meet are donated to the coffers of the Lewis County Historical Museum and are used to pay for upgrades and upkeep to the expansive 17-foot by 54-foot model train layout at the museum. That layout, which has been under construction for 11 years, replicates many of the towns and industries of Lewis County. With the main north and south railroad line running right next to the museum, the track even comes alive with a real life rumble and authentic train soundsystem as the big trains roll by.

Currently, work is being undertaken to rebuild the mock industrial areas of Chehalis and Centralia, which were two of the first areas to be constructed on the layout. Livermore said that the club pays for all of the display upkeep and construction but concedes ownership to the museum. If the club were ever to disband or disassociate with the Lewis County Historical Museum for any reason, Livermore insists that the display would stay behind as a permanent fixture for people to enjoy.

“It’s a generic Lewis County,” explained Livermore. “We have Winlock right at the front with the egg and the co-op, just like it was in its heyday.”

The model layout also includes the Centralia roundhouse, the Chehalis Industrial Park, Darigold, The Farm Store and Willapa Branch that includes South Bend and Raymond with an ocean seaport in addition to miniature towns that dot the layout from Doty to Mineral. 

“We picked places that would be easily recognizable so people could look and say, ‘Hey, I know where that is!’” explained Livermore.