Model trains of Railshow 2018 pull into Idaho Falls
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IDAHO FALLS – The whir of electric motors and the “toot-toot” of miniature train whistles filled the Idaho Falls Rec center this weekend. The commotion was all part of Railshow 2018, an annual show dedicated to all things model railroad.
Railshow offers local model railroad enthusiasts a chance to see impressive lines built by regional railroading groups. Fans can also buy cars and other materials to build their own lines and hobnob with other model railroad lovers.
The event is staged the second weekend of October every year by the Eagle Rock Railroad Historical Society. The show is now in its 29th year of existence and is attracting a faithful following, according to Eagle Rock Railroad Historical Society Treasurer David Shaw.
“The first show was a very small show in a very cold, dark, dusty warehouse,” said Shaw. “And we’ve come a long way since then.”
Shaw said the Rec center has hosted Railshow for the past dozen years.
“We’ve got a good crowd that comes every year and is used to coming here now,” he said. “It’s one gymnasium, but it’s full of trains, and it’s a lot of fun, and there’s a lot of different kind of trains.”
This year’s show featured trains and vendors from different areas of Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming running and selling trains of different sizes of rail gauges.
“There’s an HO scale, which is 1/87th of the real size,” said Shaw.
Other trains were small enough in size that they would fit on a dining room table. The Utah LEGO Users Group displayed a train and various scenes built completely out of LEGO bricks. There was even an inch-and-a-half scale train that kids could take rides on set up in a parking lot across the street.
Railshow also draws in train fans from all over the region.
“People come from Montana and Boise and Salt Lake,” said Shaw. “The local area. Anything from Idaho Falls three hours is local in our neck of the woods.”
He says that Idaho Falls fans are especially hungry for train-related events like this one because the area lacks train shops where they can go to build their collections.
“They look forward to this all year long,” Shaw said, “As a place to see trains and buy trains.”
Shaw said the trains draw a range of reactions from child-like awe to wistful nostalgia.
“All the adults are really careful with their trains,” Shaw said. “The kids that come to the show want to know how fast you go and what you can run.”
But speed and running over things are only two of the many fun aspects of model railroading.
“The fun part about it from my perspective is that there’s so many hobbies in the one hobby you call model railroading,” Shaw said.
Woodworkers, electronics nuts, history buffs and hobbyists of many other skill sets can find something to love in model railroading.
“It’s really hard to pick one thing and call it model railroading, and it’s fun that way”, he said. “So many different people can get together and put together a railroad.”
While Railshow only lasted two days, those that missed the show aren’t out of luck. The Eagle Rock Railroad Historical Society has a rail line set up in the basement of the Idaho Falls Rec Center. It’s a representation of the Union Pacific line that ran from Ogden, Utah to Butte, Montana back in the 1950s. This model rail line is open to the public each Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. Visit the Society’s Facebook page for more information.
