Train hobbyists put kids on right track

Most of us would admit a certain fascination with trains. That's definitely true of members of the Sun City Center Model Railroad Club.

Throughout the year, they gather to talk trains, work on HO-scale models of them and maintain the huge diorama they built over the past seven years. And four times a year, they open their clubhouse doors to the community, inviting engineers of all ages to share their passion.

"We're all big kids when we run trains," said Bill Brown, club president. "It's a state of mind. It takes us to a good place, a time we remember as less complicated. Trains bring us back to our childhoods."

"There's so much about trains that's involved with American history," said Dick Billings, a member since 1996. "They're a fascinating form of industry."

On April 22, the club hosted its spring open house at 915 North Course Lane. Throughout the day, many of the club's 25 members shared their memories — and their toys — with area residents who popped in with their children and grandchildren.

Among them were Brian Donegan, who lives in Boston, and his 8-year-old son, Noah.

"We're here visiting his grandparents," Donegan said.

"Noah likes trains," he said, watching the boy operate a steam engine, cars in tow. "He has his own train set at home."

Noah and other children who drove a train earned personalized Junior Engineer certificates.

Brown said the open houses are an opportunity for kids to see what model railroading is all about. The events also give members a chance to show off their hard work, give back to the community and, hopefully, attract others into the hobby.

"It's all about the kids," Brown said. "They're the future of model railroading."

The Sun City Central Railroad layout depicts an imaginary route from the coal mines of Pennsylvania to Florida's citrus groves during the 1950s.

The trains — sometimes 10 to 12 at a time — are operated by a wireless command control, which allows every locomotive and mainline switch to have a unique, digital address enabling them to be operated by controller or computer.

Each train can speed up or slow down, move forward or back up, make sounds, flash lights and more, Brown said.

Club members constantly maintain and clean almost 13 scale miles of track along a miniature world of mountains, bodies of water, forests, trestles, bridges and tunnels, towns and switch houses. The HO-scale trains are 1/87th the size of their real counterparts.

Since 2000, more than 750 children have become certified Junior Engineers.

lkindle@tampatrib.com

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