TRAINS OF ALL SIZES KC Wittenmyer historian for the Swanton Area Model Railroad Club poses with HO scale left and G scale Baltimore Ohio model railcars in front of the full size Wheeling Lake Erie caboose in Swantons Pilliod Park A group of the clubs members led the recent project to give the caboose a new and historically accurate paint job
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
Since the early 1980s, the Swanton Area Railroad and Model Club has been …. the local community.
According to club historian KC Wittenmyer, the group began with “six fellas from Swanton” getting together round robin at one other’s homes until it was eventually turned into an official club and later incorporated.
Wittenmyer said the magic of the hobby is that “you can do literally anything you want to do.” In particular, he noted the ability to build the miniature landscapes through which the trains travelf, limited only by the imagination.
“What we do is create your own little world, if you want to build something,” Wittenmyer said. “If you want a Civil War set where the Union and the Confederates are fighting, you can actually get figures – HO scale, O scale, N scale – whatever figures you want and you can actually make a modular of Antietam or Gettysburg or any battlefield you want to do.”
But choosing the layout is only first step, as train enthusiasts, or ferroequinologists, must also learn the skills needed to construct their tiny worlds.
“The hobby is multifaceted. It’s everything from when you build modulars you learn electricity, you learn carpentry. You make scenery, you lay track, you do electrical work for the track to get the stuff in there,” Wittenmyer said. “There is no end to modular railroading.”
Often a club member will come up against a task they are not as skilled in – say an electrical issue for someone who is better with model fabrication – and trade services with someone more versed in the immediate problem.
The variety of experience among the members of the club also offers different opportunities for learning.
“We have a couple real railroaders that actually are engineers that run this line,” Wittenmyer said, pointing to the tracks running along the northern edge of Pilliod Park. “Then they come, and they play little trains with us too.”
He stressed that Swanton’s club is for everyone, noting that memberships cover the entire household. “We’re a family social club. The families are always included,” he said.
“Quite a few of the wives are involved in different aspects, or they’ll go to the show, and they’ll do their own craft stuff, or they’ll just talk to people.”
Wittenmyer’s own journey into the world of trains began as a young child. “My grandmother bought me a Lionel train set for the Christmas tree when I was about five years old, and the bug just got hooked,” Wittenmyer said.
“I had an uncle who worked for CSX for many years until he passed away in 2012 and he used to teach me about trains left and right.”
His first contact with the club came through his now-father-in-law in 1997, at which point it was the only such club in the area. “I’ve been playing trains with these guys off and on ever since,” Wittenmyer said.
The club holds business meetings on the first Friday of each month (except July and September, due to conflicting holidays). Many of the meetings include extra activities meant for club fellowship.
In August, the club holds an ice cream social, and in November, they offer cider and donuts. Four times each year, they have a spouse appreciation dinner, usually including chili. “If you go away hungry from that it’s your own fault,” Wittenmyer joked.
During the time leading up to the meetings as people show up, some members use a swap table to make deals to get rid of equipment they’re not using, find something they need, or both.
The club has divisions for N, HO, and O scales as well as for Lego trains. The O-scale (or “Lionel” scale, from the name of the brand whose O-scale train sets largely ignited the hobby) division operates displays at the Toledo Zoo, the Wildwood Manor House, and the Fulton County and Henry County fairs.
The club is also involved in several community events, including Christmas at the Cabin, and, in the past, the Swanton Corn Festival.
To further pursue its goal of teaching the public more about trains, the club is also involved with national non-profit train safety organization Operation Lifesaver.
Club members helped lead the recent effort to repaint the Wheeling & Lake Erie caboose in Pilliod Park.
According to Wittenmyer, they did some due diligence and obtained historically accurate paint and lettering samples, as well as information on the verbage that would have appeared on the side of the caboose.
Wittenmyer also pointed out that, while the club has “Swanton Area” in the name, its members sometimes go quite a distance in pursuit of the hobby, traveling as far as Cleveland, Columbus, and Pittsburgh.
The Swanton Area Railroad and Model Club can be found online on Facebook. Its next business meeting, during which the club’s 41st birthday will be celebrated, is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, February 2, in the Swanton Village Council Room. The annual membership fee is $35.
