Sharing The Passion Of Model Railroads

Hollis King shares his love of model trains with the public on Monday evening.

Hollis King shares his love of model trains with the public on Monday evening.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The distant sound of a train whistle, the faint clack of the rails as a train moves along.

Those sounds were heard coming from inside the Penn Central Railroad Club display inside Penn Central Mall on Monday night. The club opened their doors to both the curious and fans alike on Monday night.

Hollis King is one of those engineers who has loved model railroads for almost 60 years now. King is in his 80’s and loves to share his hobby with anyone interested.

His start to the hobby came by accident when his wife sent him to the second hand store in What Cheer to buy a bucket for use in their restaurant. Inside that used bucket was the first model train Hollis had seen, and it has been part of his life since that chance event.

On Monday night, King was sharing with all those who would listen about his hobby, the train layout or any other questions they may have had about model railroads.

The club has 35 members from the ages of 16-85 years old. Men and women are both welcome to join. Dues are $30 per year for single and families are $45 per year. The Railroad Club takes a display to the Southern Iowa Fair in July and runs the trains for the public. The Club is open to the public and has a N, HO, and O scales running. The train room is also willing to do birthday parties and other special occasions.

One such example of a birthday party was this past weekend, when a birthday party was held in the train display area. The family from Cedar Rapids had heard of the opportunity and made the trip at their son’s request. King has fond memories of that day with the family.

The club will open their doors again on March 2nd, 16th and 23rd from 6:30 to 8pm.

Posted by on Feb 24 2015. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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