Edgerton Model Railroad

Growing up, my older brother had a small model train layout, glued to a sheet of plywood that my father had painted green. I liked to play with it, but it was kind of boring – my recollection was that it was simply a circle, there weren’t a lot of buildings, and the heavy metal train frequently derailed. I also have a vague recollection of the control box heating up to the point of fumes. While I was never inspired to create my own train layout, I am still fascinated by all things miniature  (like the Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago).

So last week, I took Charlie’s nephew and his 5-year-old daughter to the Edgerton Model Railroad Open House, in the basement of the Edgerton Community Center, off of Lake Avenue (the center also houses the Stardust Ballroom). The four rooms, set up as the four seasons, are maintained by volunteers in the Edgerton Model Railroad Club. Volunteer Lee greeted us and explained the history of the layout, which was founded in 1950 by the City of Rochester and the Police Athletic League, with a donation of $5000 worth of trains and equipment from Lionel Trains (who also designed the original layouts). It was the “brainchild of a couple of police officers as a way to get kids off the street and give them something to do” (one wonders what sort of project would achieve the same effect in today’s world…). The equipment belongs to the city, but city funding ceased 10 years ago, so they take donations to maintain the railroads.

We started in “Summer,” with a layout that depicts the city of Rochester in the background, and includes elements of Sea Breeze Amusement Park. “Winter” was by far the most elaborate layout, with lots of buttons to push (one made skiers climb up and down a hill, and another started the soundtrack of a McDonald’s order), and lots of blinking lights. My favorite, though, was “Autumn,” with balloons ascending and descending in Letchworth, and a staged train wreck. At one point, one of the controllers had to enter the layout to fix an inadvertent derailment… Each layout was incredibly elaborate, and you could easily lose track of time immersed in them, even if you were accompanied by an impatient child (because a neighboring room had kids’ books aplenty, along with a running video of Polar Express, and cookies).

They have additional special holiday hours this week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), and are generally open the last Saturday of every month. The Club is definitely looking for young members to carry on the tradition, but given today’s electronic, virtual world, these hobbyists might be a dying breed.

"there are giants in the sky..."