'You get to build your world the way you want it'

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Children wait for a model train to makes its loop through a tunnel during the Rogue Valley Railroad Show at the Medford Armory Saturday. Mail Tribune Photo / Jamie LuschJamie Lusch

November 29, 2009

By Anita Burke

Mail Tribune

The sleek, silver and orange Southern Pacific Railroad train pulled out of a siding and rolled past a cluster of shops, a quiet church, a restaurant, a junk yard, a hillside crowded with curious black bears who lounge in a cave and explore a cabin.

It headed through a tunnel, past a gas station, an amusement park and a haunted house where swamp monsters, mummies and ghosts lurk.

Fully loaded with imagination, the little train transported rail fans of all ages Saturday into the world of model trains on display at the 32nd annual Rogue Valley Railroad Show. The show is a top fundraiser for Medford's Railroad Park — home to five railroad-related clubs — on Berrydale Avenue, just off Table Rock Road.

From historically accurate models chugging through meticulous recreations of regional geography to whimsical trains made of Legos, the hobby's wide variety is showcased this weekend at the Medford Armory, 1701 S. Pacific Highway.

"You get to build your own world the way you want it," said Brad Fawcett, co-chairman of the committee that presents the annual show.

Trains on display range from tiny Z-gauge versions with cars barely bigger than a man's index finger to an elegant passenger-coach replica built at three-quarters of the size of the original rail car.

"There's something about trains that gets deep in your soul," said Dale Jolly, a machinist and moldmaker at Talent-based Micro-Trains Line Co., one of three manufacturers of model railroad equipment in Jackson County.

Manning the company's booth at the show, Jolly said he loves to see kids' eyes light up as they rush toward the tiny, table-top models.

"The kids just lock in," he said. "It's so cool."

As wide-eyed youngsters dashed from display to display with squeals of delight, gray-haired experts nearly matched the tots' enthusiasm as they discussed the mechanics and electronics that make it all work.

"I always say get a hobby the whole family can do together," said Mike Miller, chairman of Southwest Oregon Large Scale Trains, the club that constructed the fantastical landscape of tunnels and trestles, farmlands and forests, amusement park and haunted house just inside the doors of the railroad show.

Club members each built a 4-foot section of track and the scenery to surround it, creating the varied views, he explained.

At the elaborate amusement park — complete with a merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, roller coaster and crowded parking lot — Ethan Smerdon, 6, of Medford, watched the roller coaster car climb up and zoom down its own looping track while he waited for the next train to trundle by.

A self-proclaimed fan of everything that goes on tracks, he said he especially likes seeing trains go over bridges.

His little sister, Briann Smerdon, who is almost 5, scanned the miniature mobs for Disney princesses scattered amongst them, crowing when she spotted Tinkerbell perched on a rooftop.

The family has attended the railroad show the past four years and expected to make several circuits around all the displays this year, said dad Jeff Smerdon.

John and Sarah Follett, of Eugene, and their 21/2;-year-old son, Thomas, were at the show for the first time this year. Visiting John Follett's family in Medford for Thanksgiving, they saw a story about the show in the newspaper and decided to take their toddler on an outing.

"He is the biggest fan of trains," Sarah Follett said.

Perched on his father's shoulders, Thomas pointed from one train to another, each one he saw becoming his favorite at that moment.

Eyes sparkling with excitement, he pumped his arm in the air and let out a whooping "Choo-choo-choo" sound, perfectly reflecting the enthusiasm surging through the show.

Reach Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail aburke@mailtribune.com.

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