Recording secretary for LMRC Michael Frezell said the club itself has existed for decades.

"We're a club that's almost 75 years old, so we've been a long-established HO scale club in (the) Lansing area," Frezell said.

This event, Frezell said, serves as a fundraiser for the club, with this year being the 50th year. Since its start, Frezell said the event has grown tremendously.

"As much as we can find out, it started rather small, maybe under 100 tables," Frezell said. "…It basically started at one of the armories in Lansing as a way to raise money, and I think back then, we raised around $3,000, if that. And ever since then, it's grown to larger venues."

Frezell said there are now "3,000 people or more" attending the event, along with many different vendors from all over.

"…Our vendor turnout is incredible," Frezell said. "We have sold out tables for vendors as of September, so it's definitely something that people are excited about, and it brings in a lot of customers from all over the state and surrounding states, and even Canada."

One of the vendors that showcased a layout was the Pullman Train Club, based in Pullman, Michigan.

Train runner for the Pullman Train Club Jeff Coffel said the event helps promote their new club.

"We started it (Pullman Train Club) in January, and officially, we went out on our own a couple weeks ago," Coffel said. "...We're just here to help promote the show. So we do this all the time for schools, fundraisers, Boy Scouts, because Boy Scouts got the badge that you can get, we just enjoy doing it."

Coffel said he first became interested in trains as a child, thanks to his relatives who had the same hobbies.

"(I got into trains because of) my dad and my uncles… from the age of eight, I've had trains, and it's gotten out of hand," Coffel said. "We're building a 30 by 40 layout, permanent, and we have 20 more modules that we could go that much bigger with this."

Having a layout in the show, Coffel said, helps draw in attendees.

"Essentially, when the people are out there buying, they can come in and see what they can do with it," Coffel said.

Similarly, attendee and train enthusiast Timothy Brandt has always been fascinated by trains and tries to attend this event every year.

"I've been a model railroading fan ever since I was a little boy, (and) stop me if you've heard this one, Thomas the Tank Engine," Brandt said. "But as I've grown older, I just got more and more into trains, and I just really, really love it, and I love going to all the different shows. This is probably, especially just in this season right now, I've gone to probably at least three or four other ones, including this one."

Brandt also said he likes perusing through the aisles to see what’s on display "because you never know what you find in a lot of these places."

"(It) is where, you know, you might see something that you remember from your childhood," Brandt said. "You might see, like I said, I grew up with Thomas the Tank Engine, so when I walk past all the wooden Thomas toys, I’m literally five years old again, going ‘I have that one, and that one, and that one, and that one, and that one’."

Additionally, Brandt said being around like-minded people at this event is also an enjoyable aspect.

"It also gives me great ideas, because I'm an active model railroader, not just one who enjoys coming and watching them," Brandt said. "So it's fun to come, and I like to talk to the clubs that are showcasing their layouts. I get ideas. I look at how they did certain things, things on the layouts. There's a lot to learn as just an aspiring model railroader just by osmosis, just coming in and just looking at what everybody's done."

Events like this, Coffel said, are something that the club looks forward to.

"We enjoy setting up. This is a good group, we've got a good rapport. We all like running trains. It's just the love of the hobby," Coffel said.

Compared to other train shows and sales, this event stood out to Brandt due to its size.

"...You might go to one that's really big, like this one, you got all the fun layouts, and then you might go to one that is just shopping, but you might see something really, really interesting that you didn't see at a different show," Brandt said. "...Sometimes there's going to be a different vendor there who has items from an era that either you remember, or maybe someone, you know, growing up that had a train set, you might say, ‘Oh, my grandpa had this one’ or, ‘Oh, this is the exact one that I had as a little kid’. You know, that's one of the things that's always fun about it is that, you know, it's never the same thing twice."

Additionally, Brandt said other attendees may decide to come for different reasons.

"...It's a fun way to get rid of all the crazy that's going on in the world, whether it's politics, family, drama, whatever. It's just fun to come and just play trains (that are) right there," Brandt said. "But I also think a lot of people… appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into model railroading, because again, as someone who's actively doing this, it's a very challenging yet rewarding skill to learn, because it's not called the world's greatest hobby for nothing."

For Coffel, model trains are about more than what meets the eye.

"To me, it's the greatest hobby in the world," Coffel said. "Your imagination, you work with wood, electrical, it's everything… art. It's little bit of everything wrapped up in one."

As for the event itself, Frezell said he enjoys "seeing all the people coming to the show."

"I think the great thing is standing up front, I direct the traffic in the front, and see people lined up going into the show, and then I see them walking out with trains that they've bought and all the smiles on their faces. So, it's really worthwhile," Frezell said.

Frezell’s goal for this event involves a few different factors.

"The biggest goal that we want to achieve is to increase our attendance from the public," Frezell said. "So we want the public to come out, and we want to make sure they're happy, and we want to earn money for the show…it's our fundraiser, and we hope to keep our club intact for the next year, financially."