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The O-Gauge trains are in the urban sprawl that takes up one room. Photo by Katie Anderson
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Years after one little girl was denied her wish of a train set, she has helped found a club that's passion is model trains.
Darlene Blazina, Aitkin, had always wanted a train set when she was growing up, but her parents refused to buy her one, and, instead, made her play with dolls, according to Northern Trackers Railroad Club charter members Bill Bury (Crosslake) and Butch Sommers (Hackensack).
According to Bury, the club's former president, and Sommers, the current president, it was after Blazina grew up that she decided she was going to finally fulfill her wish of having a train. She went around to local hobby shops in 2006 and put up signs for people interested in joining a model-railroading club. Blazina ended up founding the Northern Trackers Railroad Club.
Three years later, three of the original six charter members, including Blazina, are left, and the club has grown to 51 members.
The club is based in Crosslake and has its building there, but the members are from all over the United States. The club socializes as a group and goes on tours of historic places besides getting together to build models.
"We are always looking for new members. If anyone is interested, they should feel free to stop by," Sommers said.
The Northern Trackers Railroad Club's building in Crosslake is where they display their many different railroad replicas. The largest is their historical replication of the railroad in the Brainerd lakes area from the years of 1905 to1915.
The O-gauge train layout takes up a 30 square foot room and accurately shows what the towns and areas around Brainerd would have looked like during the days of the railroad. Another section displays the area around the mines in the Crosby and Ironton areas, as well as a large holding yard that replicates yards that were in Bemidji or Duluth.
"All of our replicas were very carefully researched from photos from the Minnesota Historical Society, so that we could give an accurate picture of what mining and logging looked like in these areas," Bury said.
The trains are all digitally computer-controlled trains and run off electric house current transformed into 12 to 16 volts, according to Sommers. "We can run as many trains as possible as long as we have enough power to move them," Sommers said.
Club members created all of the trains, tracks, and surrounding landscape. The club also displays many pieces from people's private collections that they have donated to the club.
Another train layout is designed specifically for children, and they are allowed to play on that model.
The club's O-gauge train layout that they display is not based on any specific historical site, and it's more of a typical urban setting.
This layout has many fun things for people to watch, including a car that pulls out of a garage and fills up at the pump, and the antics of a haunted house.
Admission is free to see The Northern Trackers Railroad Club's displays, and they are open to the public on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 3 p.m. until November and through the winter months when they are only open on Saturdays.
They are located at 35170 County Road 3 in Crosslake. They are also open by appointment for individuals and tour groups. Call (218) 692-1900 to make an appointment.
