Model train display keeps tradition on track at Hayes museum

FREMONT - The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum is celebrating the 27th year of its annual model train display, which started in 1984 as a school project with a single train that wrapped around a tree in the Hayes home.

Every year a train special is displayed and built to run on the main floor of the museum over the holidays. It has grown to showcase six model trains on a platform about 10 feet in length.

The trains run the course around miniature towns, houses, little stores, signs, ice skaters, people, and under and over bridges.

“It’s become a Fremont tradition,” said Kevin Moore, the curator of artifacts. “I have been doing this for six years. We have villages and towns that we put in different arrangements every year."

Around the display there are buttons for visitors to push that will make sounds, start the trains, and activate scenes such as doors opening, ice skaters skating, the Ferris wheel turning, and other movements.

“I have done this since I was a child," said Hayes museum visitor Angelica Bell. "My dad always took us kids here every year to see the trains, and now I pass it down to my kids. It’s a family tradition."

Kristina Smith, Hayes Museum Communications and Marketing Manager added, “The exhibit grew with the help of Gordan W. Knight. He was the one who got the train exhibit started and sponsored it until he passed away. His family and Croghan bank sponsor this now.”

The Hayes Train Special is open now and will be available to the public through Jan. 8. Admission is free. A donation box is available for those who wish to contribute to the exhibit. For hours and holiday closings information, visit rbhayes.org/visit-us/visitor-information.

On Jan. 7, the annual model train clinic will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. in the “Hayes Train Special” display area. Model train hobbyists will assist guests with repair and upkeep questions about their model trains.

Tickets for the train clinic are $5 per person ages 6 and older. Children ages 5 and younger are admitted free. Tickets are available at rbhayes.org.

Those who bring trains to the clinic can also run their trains on the Hayes Train Special track. The track fits standard, O-gauge and G-gauge trains.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Model train display keeps tradition on track at Hayes museum