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Photograph by David Heller
Bill Nickels, 67, of Sunnyvale, looks up from beside a model train engine and tunnel in his home. Nickels has made four different elaborate train layouts over his lifetime.
Track Stars
Locals gear up for national convention of train enthusiasts
By Michele Leung
Locomotives, cabooses and boxcars will reign at the 65th annual National Train Show, which runs Aug. 5 and 6, at the McEnery Convention Center. More than 30,000 train enthusiasts will walk through the doors and embrace the finer points of miniatures.
According to Nancy Richison, spokesperson for the convention, the train show, operated by the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) in cooperation with the Model Railroad Industry Association, is the largest train show in North America. Different cities take turns hosting the event. The convention garners worldwide attention, with attendees from as far away as Canada, Japan and Germany.
Richison attributes the popularity of model railroads to the hands-on aspect that kids and grown-up kids enjoy. The hobby's appeal is shown in it withstanding the test of time. "You always picture a model railroad around the Christmas tree. It's an enduring picture," said Richison.
The opportunity to work with his hands is exactly the reason Bill Nickels of Sunnyvale enjoys model railroads. "I had a natural talent as a machinist tool and dye maker. It's in my blood," he said.
Nickels has enjoyed his hobby for the past 40 years, modeling in the HO gauge, which is 3.5 millimeters to the foot, or 1/87 of the real size. He says he'll be at the San Jose train show to trade information and tips with fellow modelers. He'll pay attention to vendors who hawk their wares, which range from computerized sets to tools to miniature landscapes. "You get lots of ideas. For example, How do you collect shrubbery?" Nickels said.
Actually, Nickels already has his technique for replicating trees down pat. After all, he's been working on his current layout of a scene of the Midwest, circa the 1950's, for the past 10 years. As a retired software engineer, he has a lot of free time, but he says he only spends 10 percent of his waking hours working on his hobby. After all, a man needs varied interests to make retirement fulfilling.
As for making his landscape, he was willing to share his method for making redwood trees. A cut and rounded roof shingle makes a suitable trunk. Nickels drills holes and places air ferns from the craft store to simulate the green stuff, putting the short stubs on top and the longs ones at the bottom. Other times, he goes to his backyard for his raw material.
Inspiration for a layout can strike at any time. "I go through a design and put it on paper. Usually, it's a doodle on the back of an envelope," he said.
Photograph by David Heller
Bill Nickels, of Sunnyvale, looks on as he runs trains in the basement of his house. The midwestern scene from the early 1950's took Nickels around 10 years to perfect.
Nickels says he is reluctant to spend money on expensive features because he wants to make his layout accessible to his grandchildren. "If it's too expensive, my grandkids wouldn't want to touch it. I want it so my grandkids can run it," he said.
Don't look for Nickels to put his miniature 1950's Americana around the Christmas tree any time soon. "Modelers say that if we ever finish, we start over again," he said.
Ken Lunders of Cupertino is familiar with Nickels' philosophy and shares his steadfastness. His layout of locomotives and boxcars of 1929 is in a constant state of construction and reconstruction. "I will never finish it because if I'm not satisfied with it, I redo it," he said.
The Cupertinian travels back in time with his models to reflect on the train's place in history. "It's an opportunity to research and to look at the influence the railroad exerted on the communities and how they led to their own demise," he said.
Lunders said he could be working on several models at a time, preferring to go for the complex kits. Often, he spends up to eight hours a day on a boxcar. He relies on toothpicks, pins and Exacto blades to perfect his miniatures, which are also in the HO scale. Careful attention to details is a must in this field. "Well, that's a nice way of putting it," Lunders said.
Both Lunders and Nickels are members of the local chapter of the NMRA, and when the yearly national train show doesn't roll into town, members rely on chapter meetings to learn from one another. Every three months, the local chapter holds a miniconvention, during which members volunteer to give clinics and hold auctions to swap parts. "Any man's junk is another man's prize," said Nickels.
The hobby isn't easy on the wallet, and as such Lunders says young would-be modelers are deterred. Nickels agrees. "I heard from the NMRA that the average modeler is 63 years old. That says kids aren't that interested," he said.
However, the train show will be friendly to the younger set. All scouts and scout leaders in uniform will receive free admission at all times during the weekend. The hours are on August 5, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on August 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission prices are adults (12 and older) $8, seniors $7, youth (ages 6-11) $4 and children (infants to age 5) free. A two-day pass may be purchased for $14.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
