I visited the Great Train Expo today. It's "America's Coast to Coast Train Show".

It featured operating model railroads, train dealers, collectors, hands-on exhibits, demonstrations, and workshops.

There is something that draws us to trains no matter our age.

As a kid, I remember my parents taking  my two sisters and I on a train from Casa Grande, Arizona  to St. Elmo, Illinois to visit my grandparents.

One of dad's funniest memories from our train trips was when my youngest sister woke him up one night on the trip with the question, "Who's driving this thing?".

I love the sound of trains.

My grandparents lived two blocks from the tracks in their small town. When I laid in bed at night right next to the wide-open window I felt comfort from the sound of the train whistle and the rhythmic clunkety-clunk  of the wheels on the tracks as it flew by.

The Great Train Expo show had 200-500 tables of train dealers, who offer everything from...
HO Scale, N Scale, Lionel (O Gauge), G Gauge, Z Scale, American Flyer (S Gauge), hobby tools, die-cast vehicles, train whistles, scenery items, Railroadiania Slides, t-shirts, videos, railroad gift items, books, and photos.

The two model exhibits I became most fascinated with were the N Scale and the Z Scale.
Z Scale is model railroading at the ratio of 1:220.

The Z Scale had the tiniest railroad cars and the thinnest tracks. And of course the scenery was smaller than that of the others.
ON30 basically means “big”, but not too big. The models have a certain bulk
and allows details to be seen. The trains can round tight radius curves, allowing
creative tracks plans to be located in confined spaces. Models will be 1/4"=1 foot scale.

Story and Photos | Kati Garner