MORGANTOWN — The Mon Valley Railroad Historical Society Inc. will celebrate National Model Railroad Month with a special two-day model railroad exhibit at its headquarters at 128 Pleasant St.
The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and from noon-4 p.m. Sunday.
Admission is free and open to the public, but donations are appreciated.
November is National Railroad Month. During this time, model railroad clubs, railroad museums and other train groups across the country will hold open houses, clinics and workshops to increase public awareness of model railroading. There are more than 500,000 adult model railroadists in the United States, and they spend more than $500 million a year on the hobby.
Model railroading comes in many sizes and scales. The most popular scale today is called HO. Trains in this scale are 1/87th the size of a real locomotive or railroad car. The next most popular scale is O scale. These trains are 1/48th the size of real trains. They are commonly associated with toy trains from the 1950s and are still being produced today. Garden railroads, or G scale, have become popular in the past few years. These trains are among the largest available and many people build elaborate systems outside in their yards, hence the name.
The Mon Valley Railroad Historical Society began in Morgantown 32 years ago. The group has a permanent layout with more than 700 feet of mainline. It is the largest HO scale model in north-central West Virginia and has scenes reminiscent of the area from the 1950s.
The Mon Valley Railroad Historical Society meets at 7 p.m. every Thursday, with a business meeting on the first Thursday of each month. The club is at 128 Pleasant St. Guests and new members are welcome.
Info: Richard, 304-276-1046, go to MVRRC.org or check out the club’s Facebook page at facebook.com/WVRRHS.
The Mon Valley Railroad Historical Society is an IRS approved 501(c)(s) tax exempt nonprofit educational organization. All donations are tax deductible.
