Rotarians ride the rails back to the ’50s

ATLANTA, TEXAS — Atlanta Rotarians returned to the 1950s at their noontime lunch last week.

It was thanks to Eddie Stanley, local native son and entrepreneur.

Stanley showed the Rotarians his model railroad and his model village. It had taken him 10 years to create it. The models could not be brought to the meeting, so Stanley showed a 22 minute video, complete with music and narration.

The Rotarians were awestruck at the village and trains. They stood to applaud at the end. Club leader Jim Stewart expressed it well, saying, “This is not a random construction. It’s a fusion of art and craft and creativity. Eddie’s developed his vision of Atlanta around the 1950s.”

Stanley said he was a “type A personality who had to have something to do” when he retired from the business he founded, Stanco Manufacturing, a maker of safety products. Then, he quickly added to the group, “Let’s take a walk around.”

And so, with the train whistles blowing, lights of businesses, homes and cars turned on, and people actively engaged in their model lives, Stanley pointed out various Atlanta places and people in the town he’d created at a scale of 1 inch equaling 4 feet.

“The village has areas of industry, residential and downtown. Let’s pretend it is a Saturday afternoon,” Stanley begins.

He shows people playing, eating, shopping, along with such places as Hanner Funeral Home, Rickey’s Barbecue, Charles Pitts Used Cars, banks and churches, graveyard, airport and railway station. Each model destination seems to have its own story.

“The railroad depot is especially important. See all the people arriving or going with their suitcases?”

And the trains themselves whiz around the display with their whistles blowing, likely much more than they ordinarily would have been.

Even the cars in the street will have their lights burning. And most difficult of all to create were the electric light poles and their wires, which are strung from one to the next. Hundreds, maybe a thousand feet of wire are underneath the model tables. Some 250 lights are in the display, and each can be switched on or off.

“This is not a random construction. It’s a fusion of art and craft and creativity. Eddie’s developed his vision of Atlanta around the 1950’s.”

— Jim Stewart

Stanley said he would find himself spending an entire day in his model room, creating, painting and figuring out how to use the little tools, machines and building parts.

Stanley calls his village Happyville, Texas. Hannah Rose Highland is mayor. In reality, she’s the eldest of five Stanley grandchildren and a student at the University of Houston, with plans to apply for medical school.

And so, Stanley’s hometown name is different, but the places and people are Atlantans. Their names are on the buildings. The people are the same.

Stanley concluded by saying he’s not finished. Happyville has a future, he said, even if he’s the one who builds it.

Staff photos by Neil Abeles Every building, every car and person and everything else in this model village has been created by Eddie Stanley over a period of 10 years. On video, Eddie Stanley gets ready to narrate a tour of the model village and railroad he has created, which takes up almost an entire room.

Staff photo by Neil Abeles ■ Atlanta Rotarians have questions for Eddie Stanley, right, after the showing of a video of his model village and railroad that resembles the city of Atlanta, Texas, in the 1950s.

Eddie Stanley, left, shows one of the train cars, part of the model railroad he has created. He showed Atlanta, Texas Rotary Club members samples of his model railroad and village at their meeting last Sunday.

Staff photo by Neil Abeles Happyville is the name of this town, but it is likely that Eddie Stanley has his hometown of Atlanta in mind. The “mayor” of Happyville is Stanley ‘s oldest granddaughter.

Staff photos by Neil Abeles