By Danielle Rexrode
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Even in today’s high-tech world of Wii, iPods, and DVDs, one toy has stood the test of time. The model train still captivates kids of all ages. Need proof? The United States has more than 1,100 model train clubs and nearly 800 hobby shops.

On track
For model train enthusiasts like Howard Marshall, no other hobby even comes close. “I enjoy just turning the trains on and watching them run,” he says. Like millions of Americans, Marshall’s love of trains started as a child. “I got my first train set, a Lionel O Gauge, at the age of five. My father was a steam locomotive inspector for the B&O Railroad for 45 years, and trains were always a part of our family.”

Today, Marshall heads the Model Railroaders, a model train club at Oak Crest, in Parkville. The 17-member club has spent nearly $13,000 building an elaborate train display featuring more than 500 feet of running tracks, multiple trains, and a video camera that projects a train’s-eye-view onto a TV monitor mounted above the tracks. A miniature town surrounds the railroad, constructed of detailed farms, fast food joints, ski lifts, storefronts, a Ferris wheel, lighthouse, and more.

“As long as you’ve got the space, you can keep adding things,” says Marshall. “But it’s important to have things blend together so it’s a cohesive-looking design. You don’t want a hodgepodge of stuff.”

Catch that train
According to Marshall, scale model trains like those at Oak Crest can travel up to 60 miles an hour. He says the most challenging part is making sure they run well and don’t bump into one another.

“We have a variety of railroad lines that are incorporated on our tracks—Western Maryland, B&O, Pennsylvania, to name a few local ones,” he says. “Each engine is operated from a handheld control that lets you start it, stop it, and blow the whistle. We can get two trains running on the tracks at the same time. If you’re really skilled, you can put up to five trains on the same track, but you’ve really got to stay alert.”