The Rochester Model Railroad Club is capturing moving railroad history in detailed, small-scale.
Members are hosting the annual open house this weekend so everyone can see all the model trains, trolleys, and scenery.
“I am very proud there’s an awful lot of teamwork that is involved. There are people that specialize in things like making trees and making buildings. When you have something this size there is a significant amount of maintenance that goes along with it. When you build artwork like this it is art but it's also functional. My personal favorite is running the train because basically, we can model a specific train. Down in Rochester Junction, there is the Lehigh Valley passenger train. Lehigh Valley ran three passenger trains each way in Western New York. We like to replicate what was done prior to 1960," said club member Dave Coon.
The club's 50 members are celebrating 81 years of railroad history, model trains and the rail line from Jersey City to Buffalo. They get together every Monday night. New members are welcome. The club is a non-profit. They work on 350 feet of mainline with every detail imaginable from the grass to the cows to the buildings, people and the signage. Most everything you see was handmade, assembled and painted by club members.
Justin Moyer is a senior at Webster Thomas High School. He is one of the youngest members of the Rochester Model Railroad Club.
“It is really fun for me. It’s a great hobby to do in my free time. It gives you something to do rather than video games or something. It gets your mind going and thinking in different ways," said Moyer, "I built this engine and with the amount of detail of putting the engineers in the cab and doing the windshield wipers and the step lights and all that and modeling it after the real one. I personally love running the trains and we have guys who focus on running four trains at a time around the entire layout."
The Rochester Model Railroad Club is located at 150 South Clinton Avenue in Rochester. It's located in the lower level of the First Universalist Church.
The open house is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.