The gentlemen in this story were entranced with model trains as boys. They accumulated decades of experience and equipment in their avocations and now volunteer their time each week to introduce young and old to the pleasures of model trains. At the Naples Lionel Train Museum, visitors can immerse themselves in the miniature world of steam and diesel engines and tap into the mechanical expertise of men like Station Master Ken Maloney to show them what it’s all about.
Opened to the public since 2000 and tucked at the back of Collier County’s Naples Depot museum, the all-volunteer run train museum welcomes visitors every Friday and Saturday.On this Friday morning, Mr. Maloney mans the switchboards and control panels that direct several engines as they chug their way through city, industrial and rural scenes along 300 feet of track on a 900-square-foot layout to the moderately loud hum of the low voltage electricity that powers the board. The scenes and set-ups are always changing (at the moment, Mr. Maloney and other volunteers are adding a model of Chicago’s L-train).
“There’s enough action and accessories here to keep everyone busy, but we’re geared to the kids,” Mr. Maloney says. His love affair with model trains began when, at about the age of the museum’s target audience, he received his first train. “I got a train set when I was 5 years old and I never got away from it,” he says.On the wall opposite the layout, the Wall of Trains displays model engines that go back to 1916. Presiding over the wall is Peter Shuttleworth, who joined the museum’s roster of volunteers in 2015.
“There’s something magical and romantic about trains and travel,” Mr. Shuttleworth says. “It gets in the blood like printer’s ink.”
After being mesmerized by his father’s standard-gauge trains as a boy, he moved on to O-gauges (the standard at the museum) and experimented with HO-gauges and tiny N-gauges. It’s a hobby that has stayed with him for life; he still has trains in his home to this day.
Though model trains have been around for almost as long as steam engines have been used for travel, collecting and building tracks didn’t exist as a hobby until the end of the 19th century. It was in the 1920s when department stores started featuring elaborate model engines and layouts in their Christmas window displays that the pastime boomed in popularity. Model trains remained a classic children’s hobby well through the childhoods of post-World War II baby boomers.
While many collectors fret that the hobby might be dying out, Lionel and other toy train producers have made several changes to appeal to younger generations. Many layouts now incorporate digital technology like Bluetooth that allows even greater control of the trains and poses exciting new challenges. And kids who want to just dip a toe in from their iPads can download apps like My First TRAINZ Set to create a digital layout without the investment or space necessary for traditional sets.
Fundamentally, it’s an action- and detail-oriented pastime that incorporates an incredible amount of detail through operating features and landscapes. According to Mr. Shuttleworth, it’s the perfect vehicle for losing yourself in a different world of your own creation.
“There’s a lot of humor and artistry to it, too,” he adds. “People do some amazing modeling. And they’re just fun to run, especially when you get eight to 10 trains going at the same time.”
Outside on the grounds of The Naples Depot, museum guests meet train engineer George Turczyn and conductor Ron Wahl, Naples Train Museum volunteers who are readying the miniature steam engine for its first ride of the day. Using propane and a 90-year-old vacuum motor, it’s an exact scaled-down version of a real locomotive — though unlike a typical engineer, Mr. Turczyn perches atop the engine and his passengers trail behind him in bucket seats like a queue of ducklings. Using 15 gallons of water, the vacuum draws heat from the firebox into the boiler to power the engines. It’s a lot of multi-tasking, he says, adding he serves as both the fireman and the engineer and keeps a constant eye on the boiler pressure and safety valves to be sure everything operates smoothly.
Mr. Turczyn’s father was a car inspector for New York Central Railroad. His first train set was a present from Santa one Christmas (the same gift many of his father’s colleagues’ children discovered under the tree). He still has a layout at home in a bonus room.
“We have kids coming to the house all the time to play with the computer remote,” he says, adding one 5-year-old is particularly enamored with it.
After all his passengers pile on, Mr. Wahl announces to the group that they have to choose a destination (though in reality, the tiny engine will only be circling the Naples Train Depot property). Once everyone settles on Miami Beach, he announces, “Mr. Engineer, all aboard!” and the engine begins is route past Fifth Avenue South.
Drew and Liz Ference, who are visiting from Indianapolis, brought their sons 3-year-old Frank and 1-year-old Fritz to the museum on a recent chilly morning.
“Fritz loves trains,” Mr. Ference says. “All the buttons are important for the kids.”
Naples resident Becky Beckett is here for a morning outing with her 2-year-old granddaughter, Bridger Hollocks, and says she often brings her other grandchildren.
“It’s a fun day,” Ms. Beckett says, adding, “You have to point everything out to the kids because there’s just so much to see.” ¦
The Naples Lionel Train Museum
Where: The Naples Depot, 401 10th St. S.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Admission: $7 (free for ages 3 and younger)
Info: 262-1776 or www.naplestrainmuseum.org
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