'We really help each other out': Model train club forms friendships in Grand Meadow

Rebecca Mitchell, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·4 min read

Nov. 10—GRAND MEADOW — Wheels chug into motion. Steam pumps through model cylinders. A "piercing" bell switches tracks to "whistle talk." It's Wednesday morning train time with the Rail Runners Model Railroad Club.

But the model train layout is not a one-table playset, the double-tracked layout runs an entire room at the Grand Meadow Business Center, 209 Second Ave. NE.

The room whistles with joy as trains travel the 210 feet of tracks, with orange cars, blue cars and coal cars lining the open rails. The lower tracks, which were built in 2005, house trains and offer space to test club members' trains before cruising along the upper tracks. Members can operate several trains on each track, though "we just have to watch because each train can be controlled individually," as club member Dale Rood described.

"The goal is to be helpful, and to be friendly," Rood said. "We really help each other out and we're not critical."

John Aderton ran his Norfolk and Western locomotive on Wednesday. He pulled the train from the lower tracks and chugged along as far as the track could take him. He passed a farm, grain mill, trees and friends' trains. That's when a "divine intervention" was needed, Rood joked. With a smile between friends, Rood moved his train from the "wrong track."

This shared kindness and helping each other draws both Aderton and Rood to the club. Aderton said the people make the time fun.

"I like that particular era, it's when my dad was alive and I went to see the trains all the time," Aderton said about his locomotive. "Since I had the stroke (five years ago), I said, 'Well, what could I do?' and I can run the trains. And frankly, it's been a really good activity to get my brain started up again. I've had a lot of fun with this going forward."

While making friends with fellow "die-hard" train enthusiasts, as club member Gary Austin said, the friends also enjoy lunch together every week.

"We've had a good several years, at least for me, and the fact that having this fellowship helps me to work on my speech and all that kind of stuff it's been good," Aderton said.

"We just sit and talk," Rood said of their lunches together. "We talk about trains, we talk about whatever, we talk about church. We'll probably talk about elections today, maybe we won't because some of us (are) Republicans and some of us are Democrats, and that's OK."

Rood said working as a team effort with each member sharing their skill sets keeps him coming to the club. He joined in 2011 after retiring as a Christian minister in 2010.

"I've always had a fascination with trains," Rood said. "While serving full-time as a pastor I put it aside because it become a distraction, but when I retired I felt like God gave me permission to take the train off the tracks and I began to build a layout here."

The club's first layout was in the basement of the Hobby Shop in Rochester's Miracle Mile. At the Grand Meadow Business Center, they worked for 10 years on their current display, Austin said as one of the club's founding members.

The Rail Runners has about 15 members and invites new members anytime. They hope to garner interest with an open house this weekend, which is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. The open house is their first since 2019. During the first several months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the friends missed their time together.

"That was not a happy time," Rood said.

Although railroading isn't as popular these days, Austin said, a few of their models also showcase Thomas the Tank Engine and British trains. The club interests range from running the trains to the engineering and designing the layout. Rood enjoys "(making) cars look decrepit."

"We got in because we kind of had impressionable years when rail was converted from steam to diesel. And so you're going to find much of the equipment here is from that era. That's why you'll find many trains here still run cabooses," Rood said.

When the train time is done, special sets return to their boxes and the members gather for lunch — until the joyful whistles blow again.

"I've been able to come here and continue to run my trains, and it's been a lot of fun," Rood said.

What: Rail Runners Model Railroad Club open house

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12 and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13

Where: Grand Meadow Business Center, 209 Second Ave. NE

Cost: Free