They were looking for a pedestrian accident, a prison road gang, hobos and a robbery. And they found them all in the confines of one room. Theminiature scenes were part of a railroad modelers show sponsored by the New Braunfels Railroad Museum.
According to Dave Albright, the museum is made up of 35 ‘gene-deficient’ workers who suffer an addiction to modeling. But he’s smiling when he says this. The challenge for modelers, says Dave, is to make the scenes as authentic as possible. But it is obvious these guys have a sense of humor. Although the standard for a module is 4ft. by 2 ft., one modeler exhibited a miniscule train which ran on a track laid out on top of a CD case. (Did I mention they are a competitive bunch?)
Dave explained his fascination with railroads. After all, he says, the railroads invented time. It used to take a person 16 hours on horseback to get to San Antonio from New Braunfels before the 1880’s. Then, 35 years after settling New Braunfels, the International Great Northern Railroad came to town and laid down tracks, and cutting that trip down to only 2 hours.
Before the advent of railroads, society pretty much operated on ‘sun-time’, says Dave.
But with trains, suddenly people were traveling across the country – it was so much quicker now - and that meant coordinating a schedule for the trains. So, the railroads invented the five time zones.
Fred Bock, one of the modelers at the show who represented the San Antonio N Track Association (SANTRAK), brought along a 20-module layout built by the membership. They got the kids – and adults – engaged by handing out a scavenger list of features. You had to look close to find the 47 items. On the list was a wedding, a dinosaur dig, a running trumpet player and a couple on a beach. I asked Michael and Matthew about their favorite ‘find’. Without a hesitation, Michael said it was the ‘mooners’. He quickly pointed them out to me. Sure enough, a group of tiny figures were baring it all for the passing miniature trains. They were a hit, pants…, I mean, hands down.
Back on the home front, I stopped in at the Texas Transportation Museum, here in San Antonio. Manager Hugh Hemphill is an authority on the history of transportation in San Antonio. He’s the author of two books on the subject. Hemphill said the museum is primarily a railroad museum, although they have some awesome antique Model T’s and other vehicles you can actually take a ride in, like the 1924 Buffalo fire truck. You can also ride in the full-sized train, the Longhorn & Western Railroad. On display was a 100-foot-long indoor model train layout. Pretty cool.
But what really blew me away were the two passenger cars: a Pullman and a Sante Fe business car. Walking through them made me think of the Hogwart’s Express. I could have stood there for hours just gapping at the idea of it: the tiny, but complete, sleeping compartments; the narrow corridors; the old-time berths. Museum curator Jared Davis told me these cars were phased out in the 1940s. The railroads opted for more stream-lined, faster versions. Why, oh, why?
Hemphill said the two groups of modelers who meet at the museum are railroad enthusiasts of one kind or another. The Alamo Model Railroad Engineers and the San Antonio Garden Railroad Society meet to make lakes, electrics, build tracks and bridges and do a bit of track maintenance and development.
Right now, the Texas Transportation Museum stringing holiday lights for “Santa’s Railroad Wonderland”, running for eight nights beginning December 5. December 5-6, you can get into the museum for free when you bring along a toy worth at least $10 to donate to the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program.
Hemphill likes to say you can be a ‘hero for zero’, when you take advantage of the museum’s special family rate. The $22 rate admits two adults and up to five kids – even if they’re not your own.
Hemphill is also fond of saying, at the museum “you go in as a man, and come out as a boy.”
If you get a charge out of watching for the caboose when a train passes, or if you love the sound of adventure that emanates from the distant sound of a train whistle, or if you just like a bit of creative tinkering, consider a short trip to the Texas Transportation Museum or the New Braunfels Railroad Museum. They would be happy to introduce you to the world of model railroading.
