Gateway Model Railroad Club – Open House December 19, 2015

My September 12, 2011 blog detailed my involvement with the Gateway Model Railroad club in its formative years and I recently saw an open house notice for them while picking up some glue at a local hobby shop. So I figured I would stop by and see how they have progressed in the last few decades. It appears they have totally redone the layout since my last visit. It is now multiple decks and pretty much fills the first story of their building.

When you enter you see a picture of Ed Evans, their founder and my favorite Sunday School teacher. My 2011 blog details the impact he had on his often out of control Sunday School class. It is men like him that left their mark for good on the generation that followed them. I will always be grateful for having had the opportunity to know him and be molded by him.

The club has some excellent builders who have populated the layout with magnificent structures, many with detailed interiors. I don’t understand why they kept the room so dark, as I would like to have seen the buildings in better light. (It was also strange to see an elderly operator controlling the trains with a medical facemask.) As I highlighted in previous open house blogs, I think when you have an open house you need some roving ambassadors to engage the public in the joys of model railroading.