“When I was kid I devoured the catalogs. I used to sneak the train catalogs around Christmas time in between the school books and when we had a study group, I would open up the book and then I had the catalog inside so I could go through all the stuff that I would have liked to have had but unfortunately you couldn’t afford it. Or, dad couldn’t. But we grew up with trains, my brother and I, we had a lay out at home that we set up every Christmas, and I’ve got the same table and the same place,” said Philip Graves, of McLean. Graves is now in his 80s, living in the house he grew up in after years of living in Vienna Woods.
That is how it all started for a lot of people at the Vienna Train Show, sponsored by the WB and A Chapter of Train Collector’s Association, held, for the third year at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department, on Saturday, Oct. 31.
Thirteen-year-old Flint Hill School student Cadence Senate received a train set from his grandfather, which started his interest in toy trains. He has been into trains for more than 10 years.
In his makers education class at Flint Hill School, he worked with a friend on finding a different way to power model trains. They came up with a pedal-powered train, which they demonstrated during the show. They also had a full train layout, attracting the attention of young attendees.
The young-at-heart, on the other hand, searched for parts and sets to add to their collections from the tables of toy train vendors, like Jerry Olexson, Robbie Schroeder, Russell Youens of Tiny Tim’s Toys and Trains in Ashland, Va. and Dan Danielson of Toy Trains and Collectibles in Manassas. Some also consulted with train doctor Allen Crotts, of Al’s Toy Train Service in Falls Church.
Author and WB and A member Bruce Greenberg said that toy trains create a “positive world of creative experiences.” He said that the world created around toy trains—the houses, people, cars, trees—leads to explorations about how things work. “How does a motor work? How does a motor make the wheels go round? There are many engineers that started with these questions,” he said.
Collectors and enthusiasts look to the next generation to pass on their passion for toy trains. Olexson’s and Greenberg’s grandsons have caught the bug. As with Senate, toy train collecting continues to attract the young. “We have a few. We’d love to have more. We welcome them. It’s a great experience for children,” said Greenberg.
A good starter set, according to Danielson, is the Pennsylvania Flyer by Lionel, which retails for about $269. “It’s a steam engine. It’s got headlights. It smokes. It’s got a bell, whistle and it makes a chugging sound.”
This article was revised Oct. 7, 2020.