January 4, 2006
Full steam ahead for train festival
Record 5,800 visitors attend Festival of Trains at Grand Traverse Heritage Center
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
After two weeks of delighting visitors young and old - a record 5,800 in all - the Festival of Trains shut its doors Monday evening.
Within minutes of closing time, volunteers from the Northern Michigan Railroad Club were disassembling the extensive displays that have filled the main room of the Grand Traverse Heritage Center since mid December.
Gone were the Coast Guard station, the carnival, the used car lot and all the other displays of the main O scale display. Spanning more than 250 track feet, this three-dimensional history lesson featured two dozen buttons for visitors to press - flashing some lights, moving figures and two trains running continuously.
The set up seemed impregnable but volunteers quickly took off the decorative skirting and began unbolting the five-foot segments from each other. Within an hour, segments were being carried out the door as owners took them home to store until next December. Other volunteers packed up the hundreds of train cars and accessories into boxes.
"Everybody in their basement, their garage, builds each section," said Bill Parrish, president of the club, noting members work from a detailed blueprint that ensures each section aligns with others.
The club's designated engineer, Dave Crouse of Williamsburg, designed the set up for an eight-year-old boy, noted Parrish.
"The height is 32 inches and all the fun stuff is just out of that reach," he said. "But they can reach the buttons."
Adults are the ones who tend to get hit by one of the moving trains: they lean their hand on the rails to watch one go by and the second one, coming from the other direction, clobbers them.
Other displays included a summary of railroad history in Michigan, put up by the Railroad Historical Society of Northwest Michigan, as well as train displays featuring G, S, HO and N sized trains. Students from the Grand Traverse Academy, led by Railroad Club member Reggie Horning, a teacher at the school, helped refurbish the club's Children's Christmas layout.
The connection with these students as well as all the delighted youngsters who visit spreads the love of trains to new generations.
"Most of us had a train as a child and we got hooked on it," said Parrish, who became active in the club seven years ago. "Most of us are retirees now."
Members of the club, with an assist from volunteers from the Railroad Historical Society, staffed the Festival of Trains during it's two-week run. The third year it has been at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center, the record-breaking attendance boasted a one-day high of 640 people. Not to mention more than 200 special needs kids who attended, later sending an illustrated Thank You card featuring pictures of their visit.
"I love to watch the kids' eyes light up when they can push the buttons and watch the trains run," said Sam Vance, a member of the Railroad Club. "I got an American Flyer when I was six years old - it's running under my Christmas tree right now. It's a wonderful hobby and will hopefully teach kids about transportation."
Setting up the Festival of Trains takes a little more time than breakdown. The segments of the main O scale display can be assembled in just two hours, said Dave Knapp.
"Then they spend the next day putting up all the accessories," he added.
In addition to answering questions and running the displays during the festival, volunteers with the Northern Michigan Railroad Club also do repairs on the fly.
"When things break down, we have guys who do all the repairs," said Parrish. "We're here repairing all the time."