Model railroaders welcome all aboard to exhibit

Friday, March 18, 2011

Staff Photo by Grant Morris Bob and Bobby Brewster watch as a train goes by on one of several tracks set up in the Milford High School Gymnasium as part of last year's ninth annual Model Train Show, which was sponsored by the Milford Lions Club and the New Hampshire Garden Railway Society. This year's 10th annual version will be Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. each day.

Enlarge Purchase Photo

if you go

Tenth Annual Gigantic Model Railroad Exhibition sponsored by the New Hampshire Garden Railway Society and Milford Lions Club.

WHERE: Milford High School gymnasium and cafeteria, 100 West St., Milford.

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, March 19 and 20 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

COST: $4 for adults, $2 for children ages 6-12, $12 family rate.

MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.nhgrs.com for more information about the New Hampshire Garden Railway Society.

MILFORD – For those sectors of the public up to the neck in shenanigans of whether to bring commuter rail into the Granite State, at last, a stopgap solution.

“Both the auditorium and the gymnasium will be filled with different types of model trains,” said John Wynne, first vice president of the Milford Lions Club.

For the 10th year, the New Hampshire Garden Railway Society will present its Gigantic Model Railroad Exhibition, an event facilitated by the Milford Lions Club.

Featured will be Big Green, which is said to be the second largest G-scale train in the country.

Wynne commented on why he loves this event, which he’s been organizing since its inception.

“The most enjoyable thing is when it first opens, seeing all the little kids coming in dragging their parents. Just the look on their face.”

The exhibition will take place this Saturday and Sunday at Milford High School.

“I’ve always been amazed at the displays that some of these people have,” Wynne said. “I had never realized that they have model trains that were running on steam as opposed to electricity.”

In addition to the main attraction, model railroad enthusiasts from around the area will set up installations from various scales, including HO, Lionel, and a Thomas the Tank Engine for the tots.

One avid member will display his 7/8-inch scale train, a custom size that he fashioned of his own ingenuity.

“As I’ve done this more and more,” Wynne quipped, “I’m wondering, is it dad who’s bringing the kid? Or is it the kid bringing dad? Or is it mutual?”

Some people debate whether train enthusiasts are grown up children, or just plain mad.

“I had a nice empire in my basement,” said Scott Suleski of Amesbury, Mass., avid model train man and founding member of the New Hampshire Garden Railway.

“And my kids, when they got to a certain age, and they were playing in the living room and my wife was stepping all over their toys, she says, ‘We gotta have a playroom downstairs for the kids, not you.’ ”

Suleski said he fixed a plow to one of his trains this winter.

“I put a nice rock garden out in front of our house,” he laughed, “and I snuck a loop of track in it.”

Suleski explained that Big Green is essentially an accumulation of dozens of individual “modules” that are fit together with C-clamps. Each module contains two 4-foot tracks.

“The rest of the table you can do whatever you want to show,” he said. “If you wanted to show like a warehouse, or a junk yard, or a coaling station, or a passenger platform, you build what interests you the most. And then when it gets all put together, it looks like a miniature village.”

This weekend’s exhibit will feature some 800 feet of track.

Folks interested in lending their modules to the installation put their heads together, and one member made blueprints using a computer-aided design program

In a twist of irony the end result turned out to form a large letter G, Suleski said.

This form of model trains, G-scale, originated in England. The tracks are built for the outdoors, though the trains are normally kept inside.

“As opposed to people who build model trains in their basement,” Suleski said, “we actually build it outside, and then we bring our trains out to play.”

Much of Suleski’s work, and that of Larry Mosher, another New Hampshire Garden Railway member, can be seen at suleski transportation.com.

The New Hampshire Garden Railway society was formed in 1996. More info can be found at nhgrs.com.

Big Green will feature all sorts of hidden surprises that only the curious will spot. This satisfies the club’s humorous tendencies, Suleski said.

The Bedford Boomers and the Pepperell Siding Club, both model railroad clubs, will also be present in full force.

Admission is $4 for adults, $2 for kids ages 6-12, with a family rate of $12. Parking is free, and visitors can satisfy their bellies at the concession stand and try their luck at the raffle.

Proceeds will be split between the Lions Club and the New Hampshire Garden Railway Society.

The Lions Club is prohibited in its bylaws from using funds raised from the public for administrative costs. The money raised will go toward the club’s social work.

Vendors will not be present at this event, as organizers don’t want to encourage a nagging atmosphere. Shopping carts will be available however, so children can view the tracks at eye level.

“There are people that spend twenty minutes and there are people who spend the whole day,” Suleski said. “And there are even people that come back.”

All aboooooard.