Two trains will be running at all times, while others will be staged on rail yards in the middle, waiting.
The date for this setting is 1959 — a time when there was a transition from steam engines to diesel, so both kinds were running on the nation’s miles of track.
Trains, buildings, cars and trucks have a weathered appearance, while miniature people go about their business: walking, riding bikes, playing, working, loading and unloading assorted items.
The Inn at Hudson Gardens will host an exhibit of a Lionel O Gauge model train layout from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 2 and 3. Train buffs of all ages should be excited.
Open to the public with free admission (please bring a non-perishable food item for local food banks), the collection belongs to five men, who were probably led into this rewarding hobby by fathers and grandfathers, as Ken Cook was.
They are Cook, Chuck Boettler, Larry Franzen, Xavier Villarreal and Dwight Sterling. The latter four have built layouts, added wiring and other operational details, while Cook is the “landscape guy,” ensuring that the same weathered look and variety of trees appears on each of four layouts, which fit seamlessly together. Buildings and vehicles are carefully painted to look weathered.
Each man has his own collection of O Gauge trains, and Cook says they will take turns running them.
“The SLXCK RR: Have Layout Will Travel” says Ken Cook’s business card. Cook, of Littleton, is also general manager and counsel for Caboose Toys and Hobbies in Denver, which bills itself as “the world’s largest model train store” on its website.
He and the four others began building their layout in May 2008 and what distinguishes it from other O Gauge exhibits is the extensive landscaping, Cook says. He emphasizes that while the models may represent historic trains, those on display were manufactured by Lionel in recent years. With the 1959 date designated, they can run a variety of models appropriate to that period.
O Gauge trains are built in a scale of 1 inch to 4 feet, with the miniature people who occupy this imaginary world proportionately scaled— a 6 foot tall man is one and 1 and half inches. Most people collect HO models, which are half the size of O Gauge, Cook says.
And then, there is G Gauge, such as the larger Garden Railroad, so popular at Hudson Gardens and nationwide. (Caboose Hobbies has been generous in assisting with the development of the Garden Railroad).
The Big Boy was the last steam engine made, and there are also models of earlier steam engines in this collection, which requires of course, coaling and water towers along the tracks, installed by Cook.
The earlier diesels differ from those of today, but visitors will see familiar Burlington, Santa Fe and Union Pacific engines and cars, resembling some that roll along parallel to Santa Fe Drive today.
And — the tables are set at a low enough level so children can enjoy the trains at eye level, without parents having to lift them. A 10-inch Lexan barrier “keeps fingers from being run over,” Cook says, speaking about how important outreach to children is for him and the others in the group. he next group of collectors is encouraged.
This layout has been exhibited at “Rails in the Rockies” in Estes Park and at the National Lionel Collectors Club of America Convention in Denver in July 2010, plus other events.
Organizations interested in sponsoring a display can contact Cook, ken.cook@comcast.net.
If you go:
Hudson Gardens is at 6115 S. Santa Fe Drive, Littleton. The Model RR show will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 2 and 3 at the Inn at Hudson Gardens. Admission to the exhibit is free (please bring a nonperishable food item). In the future, admission to the Gardens, which is celebrating its 15th year, will be $1.50 April through October. 303-797-8565, www.hudsongardens.org.