A Train Set For Christmas

Don Hoffman, a local model railroad hobbyist, has built a four-foot by eight-foot train garden that is on display at the Lincoln Branch Library through the month of December.

The garden includes three electric trains, a variety of town scenes, and a five-foot tall light-up Christmas tree.

Hoffman built the garden using both commercial and handmade pieces. A camping scene includes handmade tents and a small campfire complete with smoke. Visitors can find a general store, train station, and school, some from the 'Sarah, Plain and Tall' collection, along with a covered bridge and river that Hoffman made himself. Two larger HO gauge trains run around the main part of the town, while the smaller N gauge train traces a loop around the tree. "It gives you the effect that it's far away on top of the mountain," said Hoffman.

Many pieces used to build the train garden are repurposed household goods. "It's all fun. It's just your imagination," Hoffman said, describing the different materials. Sandpaper is used to make roads, corrugated cardboard mimics metal roofing, and spray painted tinfoil creates the mountain scene.

Hoffman grew up in a family of model train enthusiasts. He recalled how his father would stay up into the wee hours every Christmas Eve building a train garden. Hoffman said when he and his brothers woke on Christmas morning, "Bingo! Santa Clause came, train set and all. It was a pretty amazing feeling."

As they got older, his father and brother would compete every year to make elaborate train gardens.

Hoffman hadn't built a train garden in 14 years, but decided to build one this year for some local kids. With all the work that goes into it, he wanted to find a space to display it where more people could view it.

"I think a lot of the community will get a real hoot out of it.," Hoffman said.

Visitors are invited to visit the train garden during regular library hours through Dec. 31.