Martin Juenge, Max Juenge, 20 months, and Magda Juenge watch trains go down the tracks in a display by the Northern Virginia NTRAK, Inc. in the Herndon Municipal Center. Photo by Fallon Forbush.
The railroad station in downtown Herndon was the center of the community in the 1800s. During the holidays, the trains become the center of attention once again.
Hundreds of people tinkered with trains at the Herndon Holiday Model Train Show at the Herndon Municipal Center and the Herndon Historical Society’s Depot Museum on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 10-11.
The annual event that has been chugging along for 11 years is meant for people to “have fun,” says Richard Downer, who chairs the event and is treasurer of the Herndon Historical Society.
“I’ve always had an interest in model trains,” he says.
Downer has been collecting model trains since he was a kid and has added more than 60 pieces to his collection, which he has on display.
“I get the pleasure of seeing them run each Christmas,” he says. “You never know which modules will be there.”
At this year’s show, members of the Potomac Module Crew from the Potomac Division of the Mid-Eastern Region National Model Railroad Association and the NTRAK and T-TRAK divisions of the Northern Virginia NTRAK, Inc. set up displays for visitors to watch and—at times—operate.
“If things are slow enough, they’ll literally let the older youngsters run the trains themselves,” Downer says.
The basic NTRAK module is 2 feet wide, 4 feet long and 3.5 feet high. T-TRAK modules are much smaller.
“[T-TRAK trains] are designed to go on top of a table and of course have sharper curves,” Downer says.
Standard T-TRAK modules are just over 12 inches long, 8 inches wide and 4 inches high.
The Herndon Chamber Committee of the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce sponsored the show, as well as tours of the Washington & Old Dominion Caboose that is located between the two buildings on Lynn Street.
The W&OD Caboose No. 504, was built by the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway in Ironville, Ohio, in August 1949. After it was decommissioned, the Herndon Historical Society acquired the caboose for the town in 1989. The interior was restored and renovated in 2008 with a grant by the Nelson and Katherine Post Foundation.
Charlie Waddell, president of the Herndon Historical Society, and Gary Rinker, a retired Amtrak train conductor, gave tours of the caboose. They both wore uniforms that would have been worn by train workers in the 1930s and ‘40s.
“You won’t believe the number of youngsters we have come through with their parents,” Downer says. “A couple of the boys will just stay there and have their parents pick them up. They just like to watch the trains.”
Last year, more than 1,000 people attended the show. Despite the cold weather this weekend, more than 420 people stopped by on Saturday and 80 people had showed up by noon on Sunday.