Model Railroading: A Hobby For All Ages

One thing was obvious at the model train show at Spokane Community College on Sunday: This hobby isn’t just for kids.

After all, what kid could mow enough lawns to afford the $1,800 Union Pacific engine Gayle Christen ran at the show.

A little longer than a shoe box, the model engine purred around a large oval. Christen positioned himself in the middle of the layout.

“It’s a perfect model of one particular prototype of engine,” said Christen, a 69-year-old retired truck driver for Safeway.

The money is in the detail, he said. As the train rolled by on its endless circuit, onlookers could see tiny wiper blades over windows that protected the engineer’s room, complete with seats and control panels. On the side - in tiny but legible letters - was a sign that said “Danger.” Someone the height of a finger joint would be right at home.

In other rooms of SCC’s student activity center, hundreds of people milled around table after table filled with everything to do with trains. The show and sale was hosted by River City Modelers.

There were swizzle sticks and match books with train logos. For $300, a person could buy an antique railroad lantern. For $30, there was an antique lock used by Great Northern or a 1954 calendar from the same line - a calendar the railroad used to give away for free.

Christen got hooked on the hobby when he was in - of all things - the Navy. Stationed on an aircraft carrier right after the end of World War II, Christen took up assembling model railroad cars in the ship’s hobby room.

He never stopped. Today he has a track running through his basement. It travels over the top of his dryer and only has about 18 inches leeway from his washing machine.

“Ever since I can remember I like trains,” he said. “I’m old enough to have been a railroad fan in the age of steam.”

Before her death, Christen’s wife didn’t complain about the model railroads that her husband spent hours working on and lots of money buying.

“‘I know where he is and he’s not in the tavern,’ she would say,” Christen said.

“This is my hobby, and it’s for my own pleasure and I can do it whenever and however I want,” he said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo