A holiday treat
34th annual Toy and Model Train Show on display now at Porterville Historical Museum
A total of 34 trains for the 34th Annual Train Show in the Porterville Historical Museum are on display for the public to enjoy, bringing more trains than ever to show.
“The exhibition is not just for the kids, it is for the older generations who are kids at heart. They come in and they spend hours here,” said Sam Winters, one of the volunteers who work on the exhibit. “In four years we have been changing up the exhibition and have added twenty trains.”
There are eight different type of gauge trains and many layouts for the 34 trains being displayed. It has taken about two months to set up the train exhibit, and each layout has been put together by different people.
The train show will remain on display from Thursday to Saturday every week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission to the train show is $5 per adult, kids 6 years and older for $1 and kids 6 years and younger enter for free. Students who show school identification are admitted for $1.
Thirty four years ago the Underwater Train Society started off with one layout and two trains, and has grown to the large exhibit it is today.
There is a tie end with the trains in these museum. The Porterville Historical Museum was once the Southern Pacific train depot built in 1913, but the first train in Porterville appeared long before that on May 10, 1888.
Frank Spina from the Central California Model Railroad and Historical Society, Inc. is displaying two very special and historic replicas of trains. One is the American Flyer, and the other is the Lionel, LLC Train.
The American Flyer has two rails and the Lionel Train has three rails.
“These are toys from the 1950's,” said Spina, adding that the trains have been refurbished, and some of the toys in the layouts have electric motors that perform multiple tasks. “The American Flyer has ten different operating accessories and the Lionel Train has five.”
Within the displays are log, oil and coal loaders, a signal man, and a cow crosses the track which stops the train from crossing.
“It's a fun hobby, and people enjoy it when they come and see it,” added Spina.
There are fourteen controls that control the trains not counting accessories in the showroom.
Jorge Reina took his son Luis Reina to check out the train show, and both were very happy as they walked out of the museum.
“It was fun,” said Luis, who also said his favorite part was when they turned off the lights and the miniature towns lit up.
Jorge Reina added, “This was our first time, and I was thrilled with the show.”
The trains can be found in two rooms on walls, suspended from the ceiling, and almost everywhere you look inside the exhibition.
Nano gauge is the smallest train being displayed, and 707 g gauge is the biggest train in the show room.
The largest layout, sitting in the middle of the exhibition, runs up to seven trains around ceramic houses. It's a whole town, which includes lots of buildings, an airport, train tracks in the ceiling and a new ‘Hell Gate Bridge.'
“Sometimes it is a little frustrating when we first start, but when we see the first kids and their eyes pop open, it pays for itself right there,” said Winters.
Spina added, “The littlest things like the guys with the signal lamps, the simplest of accessories, and the kids go nuts. The kids love it.”
New features and new trains like the ghost train and circus train can be found at the Porterville Museum Train Show which runs until Jan. 5.
Apart from the whole train exhibition, a very unique display of a vintage toys are being shown. Bill Warner has been collecting toys made in the late 1800's to the early 1900's. Visitors are able to take a look at some of the old toys that were on the market during the Civil War, as well as an array of games used during those times.
“I have nearly 2,000 toys,” said Warner. “These are toys that you might only get to see once in your life time.”