Model railroad club members re-create scenes from the days when kids stood alongside the tracks to wave to the engineer.
By EBONY WINDOM
Published February 7, 2004
[Times photos: Lance A. Rothstein]
Even with his own stool, Donovan Rexroad, 3, right, barely can peer over the edge of Matthew Fisher's model train layout at the Tampa Bay Model Railroad Club exhibit. At 5 years old, Matthew is the club's youngest member. Show hours today are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Land O'Lakes Community Center.
It takes patience and a steady hand to connect model train tracks on a layout as Bob Pitton does Thursday at the show.
LAND O'LAKES - Every scene shows a slice of life.
Tiny train tracks stretch across imaginary towns. One scene captures the hustle and bustle of the big city, where cars and factories line the streets. Another depicts a sleepy country town.
The backdrops for model trains drew a small crowd to the Land O'Lakes Community Center, where the Tampa Bay Model Railroad Club hosted a showing. Members live in Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties and meet once a month to swap stories and tricks of the trade. This showing gives them a chance to showcase their work. On Friday, folks stopped by to get a glimpse of the model trains as they chugged along tiny tracks.
"It gives us a chance to get the community acquainted with what we consider to be the world's greatest hobby," said Ron Woerner, 66.
The event drew collectors, too.
Linda and Robert Schober of Wisconsin know all about model trains.
They enjoy traveling the country and visiting train shows and hobby shops. Back home, they're members of Waupaca Area Model Railroaders.
For Linda Schober, trains bring back fond memories.
"I can remember as a kid, we'd ride a train from Milwaukee to Chicago and go to the museums," she said. "It's relaxing. You can ride along and look at things."
There was plenty to look at here.
The display was made of 16 distinctive "modules," or scenes, created by the members.
A lot of work went into Don Rhoten's module. Building it has helped him cope with cancer, he said.
"It's an all-encompassing hobby," said Rhoten, 66. "It can be therapeutic. I was sitting at a desk, painting the people, customizing the trains, building the automobiles."
Ron Woerner, 66, describes his module as an ongoing project. It took two years to build, and he keeps adding. His scene features a tiny bridge spanning a river. It is designed to look like a city in his home state of Maryland.
"All of us come from different parts of the country, and we model the railroads we're familiar with," Woerner said.
Matthew Fisher, 5, built his module based on what he's most familiar with: cartoons. In this club where most members are retired, Matthew is the youngest. Unlike the other members who used replica passenger and cargo trains, Matthew's module featured his toy train set called Thomas and Friends based on the popular children's book and cartoon.
"He knows all about trains," said his mother, Wendy Fisher. "More than most people do. He loves trains."
