When I was a kid, I spent some time in Lawton, Oklahoma. Have you ever been there? It’s not a place with many things to do. My dad was in the Army at the time, and the family decided to buy a house off Post. I was so young at the time, I couldn’t even tell you where our housing area was located. All I knew then and all I can remember now, is that it was new and the railroad ran behind the neighborhood.
I spent a lot of my time walking those tracks, looking for our cats that got out, and watching the trains go buy. Every now and then, I would put a penny on the track to see how flattened it would get. Most of the days, the freight train would come by around 5:00 p.m.. I would wait and wave at the engineers as they sped by. I couldn’t even tell you what line it was, however, my guess is that now days, that track is owned by Union Pacific.
A few years after moving there, my dad retired from the Army, and the family moved to Chicago. Again, we were close enough the the railroad to hear the trains moving through at night, however, we we not close enough to walk to the tracks. We moved to the city sometime in August in a year that was a long, long, long time ago. I personally had never experienced winters like the winters in Chicago, so I had no idea what I was in for. I’m not sure if it was the winter weather or the fact that my mom recognized my fascination with trains, whatever it was, that winter I found myself staring at the biggest model train layout that I had ever seen.
The family had a model train set, one we set up around the tree at christmas, however, it was on it’s last leg and did not compare to what I was staring at. My mom took me to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry where I watched in amazement as the little trains speed by. The layout was the largest of its kind when it opened in 1941. The railroad covered 2,340 square feet of floor space and was built on O gauge 2 track, which is 1/48 scale. The various scenes on the model railroad illustrated the role of the railroad within U.S. industry and agriculture throughout the desert southwest. It included 1,000 feet of track and 40 switches operated by an automatic board.
All around the display were phones. When you picked up the phones it would explain the area you were looking at, whether it was a stockyard, depot, or train yard. When it closed in May of 2002 the model railroad had been in service for over 60 years. It had seen several enhancements over the years as new technologies helped railroads to operate more safely and efficiently. It was also one of the first railroads in the country to run “diesel” engines as they replaced steam engines.
Now days the museum has a new model railroad. The exhibit is called “The Great Train Story,” and it allows you to see over 30 trains running on 3500 feet of track, completing the winding journey between Chicago and Seattle. I’m sure it’s a sight to see just as the original model railroad exhibit was.
Tags: Model Train Layouts by moderator
No Comments »
