I seem to have a theme lately between the NYBG show and the one described below all within two weeks of each other.

The Anthracite Model Railroad Club train display on the second floor of the Shamokin Public Library is a holiday tradition in our area with people lining up around the block to see the coal region in its “glory days” (circa 1955).

I’d seen the display before, but I was going with my dad and our new pastor. My dad grew up in 1950s Shamokin so this was nostalgia for him, and it gave him the opportunity to play “tour guide” pointing out how everything in this area since then. The whole event impressed the pastor who called the intricate HO display “remarkable - a true spectacle.”

My dad was also want to tell anybody who would listen how as a “founding board member” of the club he “helped create” this display. He didn’t do any actual work on the display, but he was bragging how my brothers “helped construct” parts of the modular displays when they kids.