Painesville Railroad Museum Model Train Days, artifact presentation planned for May 20

May 16—The Painesville Railroad Museum will welcome model train enthusiasts and accept a new historical artifact during its annual Model Train Days event on May 20.

This year's Model Train Days will feature the presentation of a railroad wrench from more than 150 years ago, said museum vice president and board member Tom Pescha. Visitors will also be able to browse model trains and purchase refreshments.

The wrench bears the stamp of the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad, which he said was incorporated in 1848 and ran from around 1851 to 1868.

"The Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad was the very first railroad that ran from Cleveland towards Ashtabula," Pescha said, adding, "it's really a great asset for us to have."

He noted that a museum member from North Canton purchased the wrench on eBay for around $300. She will present it to the museum, and it will go on display in the lobby.

"It's kind of a special event to get something that old," Pescha said.

The wrench will join artifacts including oil cans, a locomotive steam engine, train car jacks and track drills, he added.

Pescha said that the museum also has a passenger step ladder and railroad lanterns from the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, which assumed control of the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad. It also built the station that now houses the museum.

Aside from the wrench presentation, attendees at Model Train Days will also be able to visit the vendor flea market. Pescha was expecting around 15 vendors as of May 10, with five new vendors and 10 returning ones.

The museum will also sell model trains that it received as donations, with the sale proceeds going to support its operations.

Vendors can purchase a spot for the day for $10 and are responsible for tables, chairs and tents, he added.

Model train clubs will also show off various displays at scales including N, HO, S, O and G gauge, Pescha said. These clubs will include the Cuyahoga Valley S Gauge Association and the National Model Railroad Association's Western Reserve Division.

He said the museum will also display a new live steam engine and its Collinwood 999 engine.

Food and drink options will include hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and pop. Visitors will also be able to purchase "hobo stew," which Pescha described as "a mixture of beans and bacon and pork sausage ground up in it and peppers and onions and celery and that kind of stuff."

"Normally, that sells out pretty quickly," he added.

According to Pescha, the event will support the "restoration and preservation work" of the museum. This includes maintenance of the train depot and a trolley from 1880 that needs restored.

Another current project is the construction of a new engine barn. He said "the outside is basically complete," while the museum still has to finish the wiring and add insulation and drywall inside.

"Hopefully this summer we get it complete," Pescha said.

Model Train Days will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the museum's at 475 Railroad St., Painesville location. The wrench presentation will begin at 11 a.m.

According to Pescha, admission will cost $5 for adults, $3 for children ages 3-12 and $12 for a family of up to two adults and three children.

Outside of special events, he noted that the museum is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays through Fridays, from 6-9 p.m. on Friday evenings and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the first and third Saturday of the month.

Summer events listed on the museum's website include Boy Scout Day on June 3, a flea market on June 24, Hobo Day on July 29 and the Railroad Memorabilia Show on Aug. 26. Pescha added that he will also deliver a presentation at the museum about the Cleveland, Painesville and Eastern Trolley Line at 2 p.m. on June 4.