Lionel Collectors Club convention attracts out-of-state train lovers
Fans make tracks to enjoy models
The whir of model trains and enthusiasts thrilled at the sight of miniature locomotives will fill the Adam’s Mark Hotel this week.
Buffalo is hosting the Lionel Collectors Club of America convention. The 38th annual model train gathering is expected to draw more than 1,000 to the hotel through Saturday, organizers said.
Among the highlights will be two expansive train models that the public can see for free Thursday through Saturday. One, in the hotel’s lobby, sits in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal during the holidays and is operated by Lionel model trains. Another will almost fill an entire conference room.
“It’ll take them all night to set it up, and all day to take it down,” said Dick Johnson, president and CEO of the club.
On Monday, hundreds already were convening on the Queen City to converse with their fellow railroad folk. Among them were Greg and Donna Elmore of Monroe, Mich.
Greg said he has loved trains since his childhood in the 1950s. Now, he can run up to seven trains at a time in his basement. His model at home includes police and gas stations and a bar and grill named after the couple’s son, Dion.
Donna, his wife of 38 years, was a little less enthusiastic about trains.
“If he could get rid of the washer, dryer, furnace and water heater, then he’d have the whole basement,” she said.
But they go to the convention every year to make new friends who share Greg’s love of trains. One of them is Alphonse Kolis of Michigan, who attends each year with his family. He said he even ties his vacation time into the convention. His son, Vincent, has gone every year since 1996, when he was just 2 months old.
“We have such a beautiful country, and this is a way to see a different part of it each year,” Alphonse said.
Those in the club can purchase a Buffalo-themed train treat this week. Anchor Bar model train cars and Niagara Falls-themed cars are both for sale to club members.
The Niagara Falls car is filled with miniature daredevil barrels. That train car is sponsored by the fictional “Stiff’s Funeral Home,” whose phone number is “1-800-Good-Bye.”
Johnson said the Anchor Bar car seemed like a natural fit for Buffalo. It will be presented to the restaurant today.
Throughout the week, convention- goers will take different train and nonrailroad-related trips throughout Western New York. Monday, they spent the day on the Medina Railroad.
Three generations of one family are here this week. Adolph and Joan Weigant, their daughter, Kathy, and granddaughter, Krysti, 14, all of Wichita, Kan., attend the convention each year.
Adolph said he remembers running to see the trains in his neighborhood in the 1940s; he would smile every time the engineer would toot the horn as the locomotive rumbled by. .
Chuck and Dottie Evans made the trek from their home near Philadelphia. A large model train sits in their living room. Chuck will dress as a conductor or engineer and give tours of his set to area Boy Scout groups. Dottie said her husband, a retired Methodist minister, is still a big kid inside.
“The only difference between a man and a boy is the price of his toys,” Chuck said.
A model train show is set for this Saturday, starting at 9 a. m. Admission is $7 — $5 with a coupon from the Web site, www.lionelcollectors.org/convention . Children under 16 accompanied by an adult can attend for free.
