The model train group Detroit United Railways participates in the Lansing Model Train Show on Jan. 12, 2014, in the Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education. Detroit United Railways president Lewis Hay said that the group has been around for 50 years. Erin Hampton/The State News
During the warmer months, Walled Lake, Mich., resident David Jasinski tends to his sprinkler business. But once snow is on the ground, his love of collecting and selling model trains turns into a full-time job.
“I started when I was a youngster and my dad got me into it,” Jasinski said. “It’s just a hobby and I made a business out of it.”
On Sunday, Jasinski and more than 2,000 train enthusiasts flocked to the MSU Pavilion for the Lansing Model Railroad Club’s Annual Model Train Show and Sale.
The event included trains of many sizes, custom-built tracks and activities such as caricature drawing.
The event has steadily grown since it was moved to the Pavilion in 2001, said Michael Frezell, train show coordinator and the club’s membership secretary. He said the event began in the 1970s.
He said the show generally draws a combination of vendors and small-time builders with a passion for trains.
“Some of these (people) are vendors, so that’s either their primary business or they do it as a hobby to sell stuff,” Frezell said. “Some people are selling their own collection. Some people, like our club, get donations and we sell that.”
For some, the show provided a glimpse of history. Club volunteer David Nagel said many of the makeshift towns surrounding the trains were modeled after Michigan locations, some reaching back to the 1940s.
“A lot of the members grew up in that time period, so they’re used to seeing the trains running along the tracks in the industries,” Nagel said.
“It is more about a lot of the older members and what they like to model because that’s when they grew up. To them that’s familiar and that’s memories.”
The show also gave train dealers such as Jasinski the opportunity to showcase technological advances and adjust to changes in the train market.
Jasinski, who has been selling trains for about 10 years, said builders recently began downloading train noises from their computer directly into railroad tracks.
Jasinski said many buyers are scaling down and buying smaller trains, which tend to be more expensive.
“A lot of people are getting away from the bigger ones because it takes up more room,” he said.
But for others, the event fueled the interest of its youngest participants.
East Lansing resident Martha Piper decided to bring her youngest son, Rem, to the train show after he received his own themed train set for Christmas.
“I have two daughters, but now I have a son and he is so into trains,” Piper said. “He has looked forward to this for six months.”
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