Model railroad enthusiasts invite others to Route 30 Express
Larry Olsen has been an avid model railroader for most of his life, and his interest in trains came from family. "My grandfather was a fireman for the Pennsylvania Railroad,” Olsen said, “so I always knew what trains were about and heard the stories.”
Like most hobbyists in any field, Olsen found friends along the way with similar interests, and each year this group of collectors and hobbyists opens their homes to all comers to see their model train layouts at no charge. This year the Route 30 Express Tour will be held Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout parts of Stark and Wayne counties.
“November is National Model Railroading Month,” Olsen said. “A group of us hobbyists were gathered together 17 years ago, and we decided that we would mark that month by inviting the public in to see our model railroad layouts.”
They’ve been doing so ever since, and this month the Route 30 Express will have eight stops. “All of them are accessible from Route 30, which is how the name came about,” Olsen said.
Most of the displays will be in HO scale and a few O gauge. O gauge is the larger of the two with three “rails” while HO literally refers to “Half O,” allowing for larger overall railroad displays in the same space. Most of the well-known Lionel trains are in HO scale.
No tickets are needed, and the tour is free. Fliers with more information are available at D & J Hobbies at 801 W. Market St. in Orrville and at the county Convention and Visitor’s Bureau in Wooster. Further information also is at the group's Facebook page, Route 30 Express.
The route will begin with its first stop in Massillon with an HO gauge display at the First United Methodist Church, 301 Lincoln Way E.
Next is the home of Glen Yoder’s HO scale collection at 876 S. Wenger Road in Dalton.
Olsen’s HO scale layout is at 189 Pres Vannes Drive in Dalton, followed by David McPeek’s display in HO scale at 1645 N. Kohler Road and D & J Hobbies at 801 W. Market St., both in Orrville.
Also on West Market is the Orrville railroad depot, which will be open in conjunction with the event with model displays available.
The last two stops are in Wooster, first with a look at the Wooster Society of Model Railroaders' HO scale layout at Zion Lutheran Church in the basement at 301 N. Market St. The last stop visits Karl Emler’s HO scale collection and layout at 2685 E. Smithville Western Road, Wooster.
Olsen said the hobby has certainly changed over the years of his involvement and accommodates constantly emerging technology. “Now many of the trains can be controlled digitally from an application on a cell phone. You can control the sounds they make, whether they whistle and let out puffs of smoke, all of that. It’s a great family hobby. You can spend as little or as much as you want to or are able.”
Olsen said everyone at the many stops on the Route 30 Express Tour is very willing to talk about the railroad layouts they’ve created, about the trains, the scale models and the hobby in general. “Of course we encourage people to find out more about the hobby. We’re all happy to answer questions,” he said.
Find out more about scale model trains at the National Model Railroad Association website at www.nmra.org.