Four-year-old Justice Van Horne from Ford City watches the train as it emerges from the tunnel while designer Tom Bernot and his grandson Dawson examine the layout they built.
The 27th Annual Train Display continues nightly this week from 6:30-8:30 PM at the Appleby Manor Presbyterian Church on Route 66 south of Ford City.
One exhibitor, Tom Bernot, has been a model train enthusiast for many years.
“I’ve had trains since I was a little kid growing up in the 60s. When my grandson Dawson came along, I decided it was time to share that interest with him. We’ve been doing the train show for the past 12 years. He really took a liking to it. As the years progressed and we have done the show every year, we keep adding more to the layout so we are now to a 8-foot by 16-foot layout. A lot of the stuff I have had since I was a kid.”
“It’s a lot of work but it’s for a good reason. We really do it for the children. The little kids have the best view point because adults stand looking down on it, but if you stoop down and look across at it, you get a totally different perspective on what you see. It’s so realistic when you bend down and look at it.”
Bernot said he changes his layout every year.
“We have added the automated car wash this year. We have a house on fire and a fire station. We like to mix it up and change it. You don’t want the same thing year in and year out. You want people to see something different. Your excitement as a model railroad builder trickles through to the people who come to look at it.”
Cowansville model railroad designer Charley Kost created the Appleby Manor Church and Todd Hall into his layout.
Another exhibitor, Charley Kost from Cowansville, brought the local landscape to life by building a miniature Appleby Manor Church into his layout.
“It’s made of cereal box cardboard for the most part, a little bit of balsa wood, some thread for the handrails, and the Todd Hall is cereal box cardboard also.”
Kost, who will be 70 years old on his next birthday, said he considers himself more of an engineer than an artist, having to crunch a lot of numbers to get the right size. He has spent the last 50 years creating fantasy railroad landscapes. The “N” scale layout is among the smallest motorized railroad. Kost said that while small, it is very durable.
“There is not a lot of maintenance – just a little bit of lubrication once a year is all I do. It will run for many hours. It’s not any more difficult until you get older when your vision starts to go and your hands start to shake.”
Kost said that he tears apart his layout every year and starts fresh building a new one for the next train show.
In addition to being open nightly, the display will be open from 2-4 PM on Saturday, November 24 as well. Admission is by donation, either money or bring a can of food for the Ford City Food Bank.
David Illar and Casey Illar from Apollo, and Doris Gilbert from Ford City, look at the layout built by Charlie Kost at the 27th Annual Appleby Manor Train Display.