Holiday Model Train Show a festive look at Sonoma's past

Modern technology and old-time charm intersect at the replica of a 100-year-old train depot that once welcomed travelers to the Valley of the Moon.|

Holiday Model Train Show

When: Dec. 2-4 and 9-11, Fridays through Sundays, noon to 4 p.m.Where: Depot Park Museum, 270 First St. W., SonomaAdmission: Free, donations acceptedInfo: 707-938-1762, depotparkmuseum.org

Modern technology and old-time charm intersect at the Holiday Model Train Show now running in Sonoma at Depot Park Museum, a replica of a 100-year-old train depot that once welcomed travelers to the Valley of the Moon.

The setting is an ideal backdrop for the Sonoma Short Line model railroaders' club that has transformed the museum's main exhibit room into a showcase of miniature steam engines and diesels, freight cars, passenger coaches and cabooses running along tiny tracks, across bridges and towns, through forests, meadows and mountains.

While the layout may seem old-fashioned, it's a wireless system involving high technology and locomotives equipped with tiny computer microprocessors.

The two-weekend show, making its fourth annual visit to the local museum, drew about 1,000 people last year, including a young boy who enthusiastically stopped by each day. Check out this video of the toy train by local enthusiast John Cushman:

Trains and Christmas seem to go together like milk and cookies: Lionel models or Thomas the Tank Engine wrapped as gifts, “The Polar Express” holiday book and movie, vintage miniatures chugging and choo-chooing around Christmas trees.

Whatever the appeal, they bring people together.

“Everybody loves trains and everybody has a train story,” said Stephen Lewis of Santa Rosa, one of seven Sonoma Short Line members presenting the show. “It's also the Christmas spirit this time of year.”

Lewis, 76, is a retired Sonoma State University economics professor with a lifelong interest in trains, full-sized and scale-model.

He and equally adventurous pals hopped trains as university students, once making their way from Denver to Sacramento without a single punch of a ticket. As a 10-year-old, he hopped a train near his home in Oakland, only to be spotted by none other than his mother in a passing auto.

Today, his enthusiasm for locomotives remains keen.

“It comes from my childhood,” he said.

He even has a train from his youth that “still runs around my Christmas tree today,” Lewis said. “A lot of us got our start early on.”

The demands of his career forced a break in his hobby, but Lewis has been active in model railroading for the past 16 years. Technological advances like moving from manual knobs and switches to a Digital Command Control system, for example, add a new dimension.

He and fellow Sonoma Short Line members – all retired professionals in their 70s and 80s – are excited about sharing their pursuits at the Holiday Model Train Show, an official event of the National Model Railroad Association.

The men spent countless hours planning every detail of the show (and setting it up), relying on skills that encompass electronics, computer knowledge, carpentry and craftsmanship, landscaping, modeling and logistics.

The appeal “isn't just trains per se,” Lewis said. “People are attracted for different reasons.”

A computer wizard, he loves troubleshooting and mastering the bytes and bits important to the computerized system. The show includes two main parallel tracks running up to 20 cars, all at HO scale 1-to-87, with a five-inch boxcar representative of a 40-footer on real tracks.

The modules are individually owned, placed together and featuring everything from manufactured pieces to those assembled from kits or handmade by scratch, building from intricate drawings and designs.

Trains operate independently on the same track via the Digital Command Control.

Each locomotive is equipped with a tiny decoder that receives commands and allows engineers to change speed and direction, ring bells or blow horns or whistles through the DCC – far more high-tech than the olden-day trains once circling family Christmas trees.

This year includes handcrafted modules of Sonoma County locales - Melita and Glen Ellen stations - plus a Christmas train and a large tunnel and loop.

An additional 30 feet nearly doubles this year's show.

Co-sponsored by the Sonoma Valley Historical Society, the show also provides an opportunity for visitors to check out the museum's Rand Room that houses authentic railroad artifacts year-round.

The memorabilia, from old railroad ties to a heavy bronze bell from a steam locomotive, all pay tribute to Sonoma Valley's bustling railroad era of the 1800s and early 1900s. Three railcars are located adjacent to the museum, with the caboose open for tours during the train show (weather permitting).

Inside the main exhibit room, visitors can look for holiday features like Santa peeking out from a boxcar, and a few whimsical additions like a red convertible parked under the trees, a couple cozied up in the back seat.

Sonoma Short Line members and other volunteers will be on hand to discuss the exhibit and teach kids how to operate the trains. “Junior Engineer” certificates will be awarded to children, who all get a chance to run the trains, bells and whistles included.

And, added Lewis with a laugh, “There is a silence button.”

The show attracts train enthusiasts of all ages, but Lewis is especially encouraged by children who share the same interest in trains he remembers having as a youngster.

Even with the popularity of slick, fast-action video games, today's kids still find some fun in watching locomotives round the track.

“The kids love the layout,” he said.

He's hopeful visitors will recognize the time, talent and technology that go into model railroading, but also hopes for something more.

“I want them to smile and have a good time,” Lewis said. “It's a nice family affair.”

The fourth annual Holiday Model Train Show runs from noon to 4 p.m. Dec. 2 to 4 and Dec. 9 to 11 at Depot Park Museum, 270 First St. W., Sonoma. Admission is free, with donations accepted. For more information, call 938-1762 or visit depotparkmuseum.org.

Contact Towns Correspondent Dianne Reber Hart at sonomatowns@gmail.com.

Holiday Model Train Show

When: Dec. 2-4 and 9-11, Fridays through Sundays, noon to 4 p.m.Where: Depot Park Museum, 270 First St. W., SonomaAdmission: Free, donations acceptedInfo: 707-938-1762, depotparkmuseum.org

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