Local News Seattle Center’s ‘yard bosses’ keep model trains running on time Dec. 7, 2024 at 6:00 am Updated Dec. 7, 2024 at 7:00 am ...

Dale Desser, of Erie, doesn't want visitors to simply watch his spectacular model railroad. He invites people to operate it.

In non-model train speak, he explained, think of one scale mile as "if you were a tiny figure on the layout, and you walked 30 miles on the layout." Basically, a lot.

The event will feature 50 exhibitors from across the country, 250 tables of trains for sale, operating model train displays, memorabilia, toys, demonstrations and other train-related ware.

“Setting up a train around the tree is the spark for someone to take those trains off the carpet and start building a model railroad,” Vondrak says. “I got my start in the hobby from a gift ...

But children had special reason to love trains. “Trains brought everything from visiting relatives to all the goods in town,” says Tony Cook, editor of Model Railroad News.