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

Rhenn Zumwalt, 4, watches a miniature freight train pass through a miniature town layout during the Train Show and Open House ...

Bill Luce and his 1-year-old grandson, Phoenix WeberLuce, enjoy the model railroad module display at the Kalispell Center Mall Saturday, November 27. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake) ...

Before HO scale became the standard for model railroading, O scale was the dominant size, with a ratio of 1:48. However, in the early 20th century, a growing demand for more compact model trains ...

The Greater Cincinnati Modular Railroad Association will share its love of model trains with the community at Spooky Nook in Hamilton.

“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 ...

Lovers of model trains eagerly walk through their doors. "When people put up a Christmas tree, they always want to put a train up around it," said Jack Cohen, owner of SW Randall Toyes & Gifts ...

The McKeesport Model Railroad Club is a holiday tradition, with 2,200 square feet of displays to explore. Many people who visited as kids now bring their grandchildren.

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.