All aboard: The fantastic, miniature world of model railroad-building

Eric Long dismantled his Great Northern 2-6-8-0 a second time recently to install headlights, a sound system and a digital command control decoder, which will allow the locomotive to be controlled independently. Eric Long photo

A few weeks ago, lying on Eric Long’s work bench was a beautiful model steam locomotive.

Made in 1970, the Great Northern 2-6-8-0 model is a highly prized, hand-assembled brass engine. Similar to the original locomotive, the model is propelled by a symphony of valves, pistons, side rods, counterweights and wheels.

It is a beautiful, old model locomotive. If Long were to sell it today, it would go for hundreds of dollars.

Before he got the engine, it had never worked quite right. The locomotive moved with a noticeable hitch ‒ hardly the smooth motion one would expect from a steam engine. An old friend gave it to him on the condition he would figure out how to fix it.

Long dismantled the model, laying all of the pieces out in front of him. He cleaned the old grease from the engine and reapplied it. It was only after he replaced the rubber drive shafts that he found the issue.

“It was a problem inside the gearbox, something that had probably been in there since it was made,” Long said. “It was a little metal filing that was caught in there. It would all of a sudden just get caught in the gear and make it hitch.”

He removed the speck of metal, pieced it back together and watched it glide over the track. In just a few hours, armed with several tiny screwdrivers and tweezers, Long repaired an issue that had plagued the engine for 50 years. He has since opened the engine back up to make more enhancements.

Long is a model railroader and a member of the Great Falls Model Railroad Club (GFMRC). He, like most of the club’s 125 members, enjoys working on the club’s HO layout and operating trains.

Model railroading isn’t just playing with toys ‒ although many say running trains is the best part. The hobby has an allure far beyond the nostalgic delight of watching trains chug around the Christmas tree. Train enthusiasts find joy in the history of the railroads, the close-knit community and the creative expression of building things from scratch.

Colby Leavitt, 18, cleans up the tracks at the Great Falls Model Railroad Club in Auburn. Club members have taken advantage of the pandemic to tear apart and rebuild many sections. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

Modelers are gratified by the laborious projects that take days ‒ if not weeks ‒ of research and precise craftsmanship. Few details are too small to warrant painstaking deliberation, and strict authenticity is the ideal for many.

Like any hobby, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Model railroaders are connected by their common love of trains, yet each has their own talents and interests. Train layouts are the sum of countless hours of configuring track, wiring electricity, modifying locomotives and constructing models to adorn the layout.

Scenery at the Great Falls Model Railroad Club in Auburn includes this canal scene featuring a hippopotamus. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Hobbyists are inclined to emphasize the individuality of the pastime, but are just as quick to add a qualifier: Model trains ‒ especially at the GFMRC ‒ are a social affair.

Paul Lodge was the GFMRC’s first president, back when it was formed in 1987.

“I like to put it this way. There’s very few things in life you can control. But if you got a model railroad, you got something you can control,” Lodge says. “It’s imagination, creativity . . . it’s something that’s a lot of fun to do.

IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS

The GFMRC features several layouts in its two-story building, from large scale to the tiny Z-gauge. Their signature HO layout lies in the basement.

The layout is overwhelming at first glance. Hundreds of colorful models and trains compete for attention with imaginative scenery and whistling locomotives. To the right of the stairs is a classic model railway with trains moving over expansive bridges and through mountain tunnels. Straight ahead sits an arrangement undoubtedly based on downtown Lewiston, including a replica of the Bates #5 mill.

Adam Long displays a Z-gauge train and the popular N-gauge train at the Great Falls Model Railroad Club in Auburn on Wednesday. The club boasts more sizes of train models than any other club in the state. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

A close inspection of the layout reveals small, quirky features easily overlooked. Near the mills of Lewiston is a commotion certain to make the headlines. A stray hippopotamus bathes in the canals, calm, even as a crowd of people gather and police officers direct a crane to remove the beast. A blond figure in a suit with an uncanny resemblance to President Donald Trump oversees the operation.

Humor is often on display within the scenery at the Great Falls Model Railroad Club in Auburn, such as this plane caught in a tree. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

In the mountain railway, a wrecked locomotive lies askew on a steep embankment. “It was too much work to get it out, so they left it there,” Lodge explained. “That’s not unusual.”

This kind of whimsical humor is characteristic of the hobby, if not unique to it. Model railroaders scour catalogs, hobby stores and online retailers to find the most realistic features for the layout, while keeping an eye out for the pieces guaranteed to garner a chuckle.

The trees, rock walls, bridges and buildings look so realistic, one could picture themselves walking along the tracks. But in another glance, silliness abounds as Donald Duck waves out of a bright red Coca Cola box car. It is an entertaining contrast, especially knowing the extensive efforts modelers employ to craft life-like models.

“There’s some people ‒ let’s call them rivet counters ‒ if they’ve got a locomotive with 47 rivets on one side, their locomotive has to have 47 rivets. That’s how accurate they can be,” Lodge said. “Then there’s other people, they can put a toy train out there, and they don’t care, just so long as it’s running.”

Ed Webb is a self-described perfectionist. His pursuit of authenticity often leads him to add his own touch to premade model kits, or even create his own design. Back in August, Webb said he was searching for the original blueprints of old Maine Central freight and engine houses to help guide his model-making. “That part of me is the rivet counter,” he said.

“Thurstonville” is a make-believe town at the Great Falls Model Railroad Club in Auburn named after a former club member. Many of the model towns are based on real Maine locations. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

THE ENGINE OF AMERICA

Model railroaders are interested in more than just constructing models and layouts. For many, the illustrious history of the railroads is just as enchanting, if not more.

Locomotives are icons of American achievement that powered the industrial revolution and transported supplies during immense wartime demand. The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 remains one of America’s greatest infrastructure projects. There is almost a romantic appeal to steam engines and the lure of the Western frontier.

Like many other members of the club, Jamie Robinson’s passion for trains started young. However, he is one of only a handful of GFMRC members who worked on a railroad. For 38 years, Robinson operated trains across the U.S. for various railroad companies.

“In my generation, when we hired out on the railroad that was a lifestyle choice,” Robinson said. “My plan was to retire on the railroad, and it worked.”

At times, Robinson said he is able to leverage his professional experience to teach club members how to configure track and switches to work just right. “You have the ability to do some things right here that don’t get done right in real life. You understand how things work and why things get done like they do.”

Lewiston is clearly recognizable in the Great Falls Model Railroad Club in Auburn. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

He continued, “A model railroad belongs to whoever builds it. It doesn’t have to conform to anybody’s preset expectations. That’s what makes hobbies so much fun.”

For modelers looking to learn more about the real deal, the GFMRC has its own collection of books, magazines and journals. The oldest publication in the library is an 1898 issue of the “Railroad Trainmen’s Journal.”

Simon Golob, 6, and his big brother, Stanley, 11, stand on a small stool to look at the trains on the upper level of the tracks at the Great Falls Model Railroad Club in Auburn on Wednesday. Both boys say they enjoy operating the trains and looking at the details. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

MORE THAN ‘BALD GUYS AND GRAY HAIRS’

Back in 1987, Paul and Gail Rea owned the Freight Station, a hobby shop located at the former Taylor Brook Mall in Auburn.

“We’d end up with 10, 20 guys standing around inside the store, not buying anything, but just talking,” Lodge said with a laugh. The interest was clear, and after a few meetings, the club was formed.

“A lot of people have model railroads in their homes, and they’re almost like secrets ‒ you don’t really know they’re there,” Lodge said. The club gives hobbyists a place to run trains together and share tricks of the trade.

The club isn’t just composed of older men, Lodge said. Women, teenagers and children also routinely come by to run trains, by themselves or with family. The hobby enables people to make heartfelt connections across generations.

“Our organization is pretty unique,” he said. “We don’t just have all bald guys and gray hairs. . . . People are surprised when they come in and see grandpa there and their grandson running a train around the layout.”

Lodge is quick to clarify that girls are just as interested in the trains as the boys are. “I remember one of the girls coming in saying, ‘You know, my brother got the train, I got the dolls,’” he recounted, mimicking the girl’s disdain.

George Prichard, the Great Falls Model Railroad Club secretary, has given a lot of attention to the Lionel trains, which reside in the top floor of the club’s building in Auburn Andree Kehn/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

Moreover, the skills club members use to create model train layouts are transferable between hobbies and in day-to-day activities. “Some of the mothers would come in to learn how to do scenery, especially if they were into dollhouses, ’cause they would have the dollhouse and they’d want to put something on the outside to make it look like a home,” Lodge said.

From the start, members had more than just hobby work on their minds. The club offered its first adult education program on model railroading in 1988 ‒ a class they will continue to teach after the pandemic.

The club also hosts events in the GFMRC’s building in Auburn, including their annual holiday event ExTRAINaganza where families come to play games and see the model trains. In the spring, the club puts on “Hobo Holiday,” a community event to celebrate hobo culture. The events and community programs are a point of pride for club members.

“We have an option for the families in the community to do something different that’s not available anywhere else,” Lodge says. “We’re the only club I know of that has a building of their own. . . . We try to think of things which would be interesting for our families to do, and then we try to create it for everybody else. We sit around and enjoy watching other people enjoy.”

Model railroading is ultimately a community endeavor. Each of the layouts in the GFMRC building are a labor of love. Members of the club are constantly tweaking and fixing sections of the layout.

Members say the layouts will never be finished. There will always be more to do, more models to add. But, the endless work and infinite possibilities are all part of why they enjoy the hobby.