Train Mania

Even though model railroading has fallen off in popularity in recent years, it is chugging along at a speedy clip with the Didelius family of Walla Walla.

"I just love model trains," 9-year-old Peter said, stationary for the briefest of moments during the fourth-annual Lewis-Clark Train Club and Collectables Swap Meet Saturday at the Nez Perce County Fairgrounds. "What excites me is that I can operate them myself."

Peter and younger brother James, 8, darted between each exhibit at the fairgrounds pavilion. There were smaller layouts on display, like the train club's own N scale display, larger O scale trains, and just about everything in between.

"Really, what I like is assembling my favorite kind of train," Peter added. "I like a freight train, with lots of boxcars, and loads in the boxcars."

Club Vice President Dan Wise of Lewiston was running the N scale layout Saturday morning, as the first rush of people arrived to gawk, talk, learn and trade. He earned his love of model trains from 35 years of working on the real thing, first with the Camas Prairie Railroad, then the Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

But it wasn't love at first sight.

"I did that work all day," Wise said. "I didn't want to go home and do that."

Something about the miniature trains tantalized him, though, and he became one of the club's charter members in 1997. He had to drop out for a time after the Camas Prairie Railroad sold, and he went to work for the Burlington Northern. That job took him far from home, robbing him of the time he needed for model railroading.

Wise was able to rejoin in 2010, a few years after his retirement. Now he is the train show chairman, and does the lion's share of the work on the club's N scale trains. And he's brought a new level of detail to the layout.

Primarily, he's "greened it up" with more simulated trees, shrubs and grass. But there are intricate details that are so small they are hard to notice. But they reward the persistent eye with realistic vignettes of times gone by.

For instance, Wise put in a "section house," where crews that maintain the track would store their tools. A tiny pile of rails sits nearby, next to a row of miniscule switch stands. Across the way, the plastic section crew can be seen removing a broken track in preparation for repairs.

A small lake features its own beach, populated with little swimmers. Inside the clear epoxy "water," a submerged dead tree can be seen alongside an old junker truck that someone pushed into the deep.

There is even lovers' graffiti on the water tower, and the traffic lights in the tiny town cycle through red, yellow and green, just like the real thing.

The show isn't just about showing off model trains, though. There is the swap meet and sale component, and several tables were decked out with all the pieces any experienced or budding model railroader would need. There were also informational offerings, like the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association booth manned by Ken Vogel of Winlock, Wash.

Vogel hits a wide circuit around the Northwest with the goal of promoting the railroad's history, and gaining new members for the association. He also sells items to help pay for all the gas it takes to haul around the collection.

"It's learning the history, and preserving it," he said of the association's goals. "We just spent $88,000 buying a collection of 13,000 negatives from (railroad photographer) Jim Fredrickson two years ago. We're preserving the history."

And speaking of preservation, Wise hopes that the train show helps keep the club going into the future. It's down to 12 members after topping out at 35 several years ago, he said. Those who are interested can give Wise a call at 208-816-0845, or club President Mike McGee at 208-816-6072.

"We need to get younger members."

---

Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2266.