‘I’m a modeler. I collect. I’m a rail fan.’

F or more than 100 years, model trains and layouts have captivated the young and the young at heart. Peaking in popularity in the 1950s, the hobby has faced a slow decline, becoming eclipsed by other, flashier forms of entertainment (think Xboxes and iPhones). This weekend, however, a group of local enthusiasts are working, as one hobbyist put it, to bring model railroading “out of the basement and into the eyes of the public.”

On Saturday, the Third Maine Model Railroad Tour will take place along the Route 1 corridor from Topsham to Lincolnville. At least 10 hobbyists will open their homes and let the public view their model trains, with their accompanying tracks, bridges, villages and more.

Among those displaying their model train layout is Chip Faulter of Phippsburg, who started with the hobby at age 10. As he matured through various stages of his life — “sports, girls, college, marriage,” he said — the hobby still remained in the back of his mind. “I knew I would come back to it,” Faulter said.

Although committed to family — including grandchildren — Faulter estimates he spends about 500 hours a year on model railroading. A retiree after 34 years at Bath Iron Works, he is an officer in the National Model Railroading Association, and is a member of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society.

For Faulter, the hobby is multifaceted, and engages his love of railroads, modeling, electronics, art and working with his hands.

“I happen to like bits and pieces of everything,” said Faulter. “I’m a modeler. I collect. I’m a rail fan.”

He’s also a marine historian — another passion he’s incorporated into railroading. Faulter is building a new section of his layout that replicates landmarks from Portland’s old waterfront area — such as the old Portland Star Match Co. — complete with cranes and ship models.

Hobbyist Jeff Jacobs says he has been in and out of the hobby several times since his childhood. He got into it in the early 1950s, the postwar period that saw a modeling craze. As he got older and had children of his own, he revisited his love of model trains, and even started the Eastern Maine Model Railroad Club in the Bangor area.

He has been working on his train layout in the basement of his West Bath home since 1999.

“It’s relaxation — when your mind is working on a detailed model you’re pretty focused on that. Some people are quite fascinated with collecting representative stuff,” Jacobs said.

Time and money

Jacobs has about 400 freight and passenger cars plus 55 steam and diesel locomotives. As to how much money he’s invested, Jacobs joked “it would probably be grounds for divorce if I divulged it.”

About two-thirds of Jacobs’ basement is dedicated to his layout.

“There’s certainly 300 feet (of track) if there’s a foot of it here,” Jacobs said.

One of Jacobs’ prized locomotives is a Lionel Model 700E, produced in the 1930s, one of the first mass-produced model trains to include fine details such as rivets and pipe. Despite costing $75 — a “princely sum” in Depression-era America, Jacobs said — it set the bar for intricate models.

“When I found one, I put it on my layout to symbolize that milestone,” said Jacobs.

Faulter estimates he has about 350 pieces of rolling stock in his collection, and about 150 locomotives, in addition to track, model buildings, cars, boats, bridges and so much else. Everything is catalogued, photographed, estimated and insured to the tune of $50,000, he said.

For Faulter, the real investment in the layout is time.

“You can spend as little or as much as you want on the hobby,” Faulter said. “I have cars that I bought for a dollar. I can also show you an engine that I spent over $1,000 on.”

Faulter’s layout was meticulously planned and sketched on paper. Other enthusiasts use a more high-tech approach utilizing computer aided design programs.

The oldest section of his layout has been a work in progress since 1986 — representing a 30-year commitment on Faulter’s part — that has been steadily growing.

Since then, “technology has changed considerably,” Faulter said, with engines equipped by microprocessors controlled by a hand-held computer.

The detail is considerable, and not limited to engines, tracks and freight cars. There are miniature buildings, streets and traffic. Tiny LEDs blink on scale-model traffic lights. Small, static scenes are seemingly everywhere. Here, a figurine sits on a bench, waiting for a scale-model bus. There, a light flash as a figurine appears frozen in the act of welding.

Like Faulter’s layout, Jacobs’ track goes under the basement stairs, around his oil tank — “Wherever you can find space you tuck them in,” he said.

Jacobs is retired, having his worked at Bath Iron Works and later for the Navy’s Supervisor of Shipbuilding team at BIW. His discipline was welding engineering and so around his layout there are small welding scenes and a model welding shop.

Another part of Jacobs’ layout includes sound effects such as the calls of gulls and ocean waves. A foghorn will blow at the touch of a button. A working miniature lift bridge is reminiscent of the 90-year-old Carlton rail bridge spanning the Kennebec between Bath and Woolwich. Further back, A scale model wind turbine slowly rotates, a modern touch on the nostalgia heavy layout. Elsewhere, Jacobs has built miniature mountains perforated with tunnels for his trains (“The idea is to captivate kids’ attention because trains will disappear and reappear,” he said).

Another section replicates a switch yard. Still another is a perpetual winter scene for his “Polar Express” train — based on the children’s book and film of the same name. Taking up a large section of his basement is a scene inspired by Aroostook County, complete with potato sheds and trains hauling lumber products.

It’s a project that’s seemingly without end, which begs the question, is a layout ever complete? Asked if he would ever stop building, Faulter said: “No, no, no. It’s all about the journey. If you talk to most model railroaders, it’s building stuff, it’s running stuff. Once it’s all done, a lot of guys will tear it down and start building a different one.”

For those who want to start the hobby, Faulter has this advice: “Go talk to somebody (in the hobby) so you don’t go and spend money on stuff that you don’t need right away. There’s a lot of junk out there. … Spend your money wisely. You can get into the hobby for a couple hundred bucks to build something on a four-by-eight sheet of plywood and to get the feel for it. You can do an awful lot in a pretty small space.”

‘Out of the basement’

There’s about 100 layouts throughout Maine, Faulter said. Building on the community of local modelers is important to Faulter and Jacobs, who want to introduce the hobby to the next generation.

“There’s a lot of other things that go along with this, other than just modeling, to try and bring the hobby to other people,” Faulter said. “That’s the challenge, really. I’m one of the young guys. The challenge is to try and attract younger people to a hobby which, frankly, is hard for them to comprehend. The old guys saw trains every day. They rode trains. Most young people, while they may have seen a train, chances are they’ve never ridden on a train, or had any interest. Frankly, it’s not as cool as computer games.”

For Jacobs, it’s become important to connect with others to spread the word about the hobby. And that’s the point of the Maine Model Railroad Tour — to foster model railroading as well as show off the craftsmanship of individuals.

“It was a hobby that was kind of locked away,” Jacobs said. “People were doing it and they really weren’t paying attention to other people. They were closet modelers. I’ve tried to get the hobby out of the basement and into the eyes of the public — to have these open houses on the Maine Model Railroad Tour. What’s the sense in creating something like this if nobody’s going to see it?”

Saturday’s tour runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on the Maine Model Railroad Tour, including a complete list of participants, visit mainemodelrrtour.com.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com

The Third Maine Model Railroad Tour runs Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, including a complete list of participants, visit mainemodelrrtour.com.

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