Train enthusiasts break out models at mall

Whirring across a miniature track through molded terrain and plastic towns, model train displays are a holiday tradition. They also give hobbyists a chance to show off their collections.

For the past 24 years, members of the Clovis Area Train Society have been sharing their passion for pint-sized locomotives.

Kicking things off on Black Friday, this is the second year in a row members have set up their holiday display at North Plains Mall, inviting shoppers and passersby to marvel at their tiny world.

"We're a group of modelers that have always wanted to show our love for the hobby with the general public," said Greg Jennings of the Clovis Area Train Society. "We do things in both Curry and Roosevelt (counties) and are up to travel about four hours."

The group sets up a portable, modular track that can be assembled in a few hours, with displays arranged along the train routes that include everything from small towns and businesses to whimsical sci-fi scenes.

The display will run every weekend from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday through Christmas.

The group also creates displays for the Roosevelt County and Curry County fairs and recently held their annual play day at the former Sears building in Clovis with a slew of displays and tracks of all different sizes.

The CATS has 18 members, but is always looking for more, Jennings said.

"It's challenging, especially getting younger people started. Most people start the same way. They'll get a train at Christmas time and end up hooked," Jennings said. "For this club, you don't even have to have a train. But if you have one you can bring it and we can put you on the track."

Jennings said the biggest barrier these days is financial, but encourages anyone who wants to be involved in any portion of the hobby to reach out and get involved. While running the trains on the tracks is interesting enough on its own, there's a lot more to be done to bring a display to life.

For example, portions of the display might need to be molded into hillsides or a space might need to be filled with a diorama of a town, train station or something more creative.

"We all started with just a layout underneath a tree," Jennings said. "This is the next step, to do something like this. For example, at the front of our display we put a tiny drive-in theater. We've been playing movies that catch people's attention. They might stop and think of a time they saw that movie or a movie in a drive-in theater and that's an opportunity to present a story. That's what this is about for a lot of us. Creating and telling stories."

In addition to modeling efforts, CATS has also been hard at work trying to restore the full-sized train on display at the Clovis depot. According to Jennings, work has been steady though slow. He estimates there's another two years of work to be put into the project, along with general maintenance to be done afterward.

Information: Contact Greg Jennings or Eugene Kelly at:

[email protected]