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Trains again roll through Warren
Photo
Jack Twaddle of Liberty makes adjustments to a model train at the Riverside Railroad Club at 220 W. Market St. in Warren. Club membership dues and open houses raise money to maintain the outdoor track. The next open house will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. Aug. 22.
By Elise Franco
WARREN
Riverside Railroad Club members aren’t ashamed to admit that they play with toys.
Darrin Warren, 46, of Fowler, and Mike Zador, 61, of Warren, founded the club in 2002 after meeting at the SCOPE Center, at 220 W. Market St., in Warren.
Warren said he and Zador shared a mutual appreciation for model trains and wanted to create something they could share with other enthusiasts.
“The most-motivating factor that draws people in is nostalgia,” Warren said. “They remember the trains going through the city when they were younger, and end up collecting the models.”
Zador said the space behind the SCOPE Center ended up being the perfect location to build the track.
“I looked out the back window here, and it was overgrown and ugly,” he said. “So we got with the SCOPE director, and 12 years later, this is what our little train set has turned into.”
The track’s layout stretches across an area that is about 100-by-50-foot in a fenced-in space beside the SCOPE Center, as well as an additional 25-by-50-foot area behind the building, Warren said.
Zador said though the basic layout of the track, designed by Warren, remains the same, some necessary improvements are made each year. He said a lot of work goes into the planning and carrying out of these additions.
“We’ve put in some additions to the tracks and connected sections of track so the cars flow better,” Zador said. “By practical experimentation, we’ve figured out what works and what doesn’t.”
Warren said each time the club members get together they have to perform electrical checks, clear debris and level uneven surfaces before the trains can run. There are about 20 club members.
“It’s a good day when you put [a train] on the track and it goes around with no problems,” he said. “Which is why the maintenance is so important.”
Though dozens of replica buildings, cars and greenery line the tracks, Warren said the landscape doesn’t currently include any local replicas.
“We would love to eventually incorporate even more local architecture,” he said. “Right now, we’re working on plans building a replica of the old Erie Station.”
Warren said it’s difficult to complete those types of projects quickly because the club operates with a limited source of income.
He said membership dues and donations during open-house events raise about $1,500 annually, all of which goes directly into maintaining the track.
The club is having an open house from 4 to 8 p.m. Aug, 22 at the Warren SCOPE Center, 220 W. Market St. Zador said the club is accepting donations at the event and invites the public to stop by.
“The open houses are a great place to come see the trains and meet people who share the same hobby,” he said. “We gained a lot of members that way.”
One such member is Andrew Fitch, 32, of Austintown. Fitch is the club’s newest member who said he joined about two weeks ago, after attending an open house.
He said he’d done some research on garden railroads, and Riverside Railroad Club was the only local group he came across.
“It’s nice to be around other people who share this common interest,” he said, “It’s more than what I expected.”
Fitch said he’s been interested in trains — real or model-size — since he was a child and currently has four locomotives and several dozen freight cars in his personal collection.
“I lived four blocks from the tracks growing up,” he said. “I would go down and watch the trains, and I spend a lot of time at the hobby show in town.”
Joan Twaddle of Liberty said her love of trains began when she was young as well.
“I’ve loved them all my life,” she said. “For my 16th birthday, I asked for a train set.”
Twaddle and her son Jack have both been members since 2004.
Twaddle said she thinks trains are interesting because they’re like toys for adults.
“It stays with you. It’s nostalgia, to an extent,” she said. “I love riding on trains. I love playing with trains. It’s really just a neat hobby.”