Model citizens: Toy trains on display
A new Surrey exhibit – All Aboard! – showcases the world of model and miniature trains and is on display at the Surrey Museum until Dec. 19.
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Visit the Surrey Museum’s latest exhibit, All Aboard!, to discover the world of toy and model trains. The exhibit displays trains and models from local collectors and modellers, spanning gauges from the standard HO to miniature trains built to carry people.
The new exhibit, which runs for eight weeks, showcases the breadth of the hobby, from simple children’s toys to the serious trains painstakingly recreated by dedicated model-makers.
Visitors can learn what makes a toy train different from a model train, how the hobbyist builds the layout with homemade track and landscape, what technology is behind the new breed of model trains, and where Lego train modelling kits.
They can also enjoy watching trains moving along an amazing large-scale layout created especially for the exhibit by members of the Greater Vancouver Garden Railway Club, museum volunteers and staff.
Toy trains appeared soon after trains themselves appeared in the early 1800s.
The advent of model trains brought greater realism and accuracy, giving the hobby a more serious side as passionate train fans sought to buy or create life-like trains in miniature.
The hobby has something for everyone. It combines electronics, painting, sculpting, and visualizing with animation.
“Model railroading is a great art form,” says modeller Warren Jones whose step-by-step train layout is on display in the exhibit. “It’s like theatre, and the trains are the actors.”
Visiting train buffs can see early examples of toy trains from the Surrey Museum collection, as well as trains from local hobbyists who collect and build their own.
Budding train enthusiasts will learn how to get started on the hobby as they view a recreated kitchen table workshop. Children can colour pictures of trains to take home and use their imagination in an interactive wooden train play area.
The exhibit’s sponsors and supporters include Western Pacific Rail Systems of Surrey and Shamryn Hobbies of New Westminster, as well as private collectors and clubs.
On the rails
The Surrey Museum is hosting a day of railway on Sept. 26 from 1-4 p.m. to coincide with their All Aboard! exhibit.
Join train fans, experts and model train hobbyists from across the Lower Mainland for a day of model train displays, talks, rail theme games, crafts for kids and refreshments.
The Greater Vancouver Garden Railway Club will also show off a 24 x 40-foot model railway display.
Admission is by donation.
All Aboard! runs at the Surrey Museum until Dec. 19.
The museum is located at 17710 56A Ave. Hours of operation are Tuesdays to Thursdays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is closed Sundays, Mondays and statutory holidays. Admission fees are: Adult: $5, Seniors and Students: $3.75, Children and Youth: $2.50, five and under: free. For more information, call 604-592-6956 or visit www.heritage.surrey.ca
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