Model railroads draw attention at annual festival

Hugh McMillan

Special to the Gateway

Al Zimmerschied of Gig Harbor said his interest in railroads may have come from a Standard Gauge train set in the mid-1930s.

Zimmerschied, of “The Lakes,” was behind a platform supporting the permanent HO gauge model railroad display on the fifth floor of the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma earlier this month. The display depicted Tacoma in the 1950s and even had the old “Top of the Ocean” restaurant nestled above Puget Sound in Ruston.

The display is the responsibility of the Puget Sound Model Railroad Engineers, of which Zimmerschied is an active member.

Other features of the display, which was shown from Dec. 26 through Jan. 3 at the 13th annual Model Train Festival, were the Tacoma Northwestern Model Railroad Club, Kitsap Live Steamers, Pierce County Lionel Club, Operation Lifesaver and the Mount Rainier N-Scale display featuring the local commuter train, “Sounder.”

There was also Mary’s big Circus, which filled a room crowded with kids as well as trains; Steven Goldenbogen’s Playmobil Train; TrainBuilder Productions; 4D; Pacific NW Region, HO Modular Group; and, briefly, Kid’s Play G-scale.

Zimmerschied and his fellow train buffs made a sea of visitors feel welcome and patiently answered an outpouring of questions from young and old alike.

By 1941, Zimmerschied said he became interested in the more realistic HO scale model trains. During the next 50 years or so, he continued modeling as a loner, although he had joined the National Model Railroad Association and frequently attended local clinics.

“I modeled by myself,” he said.

After he retired, Zimmerschied joined the Boeing Employees Model Railroad Club and started learning the advantages of modeling in a group.

“When I learned of an HO scale model railroad to be built in the new Washington State History Museum,” Zimmerschied said, “I signed up to build a structure for the railroad and then joined the Puget Sound Model Railroad Engineers, the group that would be building the railroad. In the last 12 years, I greatly expanded my knowledge and skills in model railroading and in the railroads themselves.

“Even more important, I got to know a great bunch of guys who have similar interests,” he said. “Gig Harbor is well-represented among the membership of the PSMRE: Bob Ayer, Al Babinsky, Paul Rising, Chuck Soule, our president, Steve Carter and myself are all residents of Gig Harbor.”

Those interested in joining or participating in one of the great model railroads in the Northwest can check out the 4th Division in the Pacific Northwest Region of NMRA at www.4dpnr.org or the Puget Sound Model Railroad Engineers at www.psmre.org.

Hugh McMillan is a longtime freelance writer for The Peninsula Gateway. He can be reached at 253-884-3319.