Railroad club's annual display includes downtown Youngstown in '50s, other landmarks

AUSTINTOWN

The Youngstown Model Railroad Association’s annual open house Saturday is a “remember when” event for the older visitors and an “oh, wow” moment for the children and grandchildren they brought with them as they see models of the trains that used to frequent the area.

The model railroad association’s open house continues from noon to 6 p.m. today, Nov. 12-13 and Dec. 3-4 at the club’s building at the intersection of Raccoon and Four Mile Run roads in Austintown. The cost is $4 per person and free for children 11 and younger accompanied by an adult.

Two complete layouts are on display - “O” scale and the smaller “HO” - each with over 100 scale miles of track.

The new passenger station depicts the original home of the Youngstown Model Railroad Club, and the New York Central Railroad station that was downtown Youngstown is complete.

The “HO” layout, located on the lower level, features a variety of industries, urban areas, mountains and wooded settings.

A display representative of a four-block area of downtown Youngstown in the late 1950s includes replicas of Pennsylvania Railroad’s coaling tower from Girard, the Model Railroad Club’s first home, and the New York City passenger stations.

For more on the event, read Sunday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.