Unique model train displays showcased in West Deer for holiday season

Joe Puet is just as excited about model trains now as he was as a little boy.

On Sunday, he enthusiastically showed his 1-year-old grandson Daniel Kline an O Scale model train display that had been set up at the Bull Creek United Presbyterian Church Model Railroad Association Holiday Train Display in West Deer.

“He likes to touch,” Puet, 61, said of his grandson. “I had to read him the sign that says, ‘Do not touch.’ ”

Puet has been bringing his grandchildren to the annual display for a number of years. Sunday was Daniel’s first time.

Puet said he likes to do that because model trains are timeless and fun for people of all ages.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re old like me or young. I still have the fascination of the trains,” Puet said. “The fun is when you get down at eye-level and you watch that train. I never get tired of that. I did it when I was 6 years old, and I still do it when I’m 60 years old.”

Billy Atkinson and Rick Holsing are the heads of the railroad association, which has been putting on the display for the past five years. They said model trains are popular around Christmastime because many families used to have model trains around their Christmas trees.

“Most people think of trains and Christmas,” Atkinson said.

This year’s setup includes three different layouts in HO, On30 and O Scale, which are model train sizes. There are 14 trains divvied up among the three layouts, pulling anywhere from six to 20 cars each.

Atkinson and Holsing created the On30 Scale layout, which, in addition to trains, incorporates wildlife, people, buildings and greenery.

They have a scavenger hunt list challenging people to find certain features immersed throughout the display such as a woman washing a car, Bigfoot, a white tail buck, a hobo playing a guitar and a moonshine still.

“People love that,” Holsing said of the list.

Atkinson said the level of detail the railroad association members put into their layouts makes them different from other area displays. The On30 Scale layout has a scarecrow among a field of sunflowers, a man panning for gold, and a beaver dam. The O Scale layout has a spaceship and a Marburger Farm Dairy barn.

“We change something every year because we want people to continue to come. Every year, each layout does something different,” Atkinson said. “Everybody loves the scenery and the detail we put into them. When they leave they say, ‘The detail was unreal.’”

Set up of the displays usually begins in January or February. Railroad association members go from working on the displays once a month to four times a week as the holiday season draws closer.

But the reactions they get from the patrons makes it all worth it.

“When little kids come in the door and you see their faces when they see the trains, all the hard work and all the hours that we spend building it is forgotten,” Atkinson said.

Patron Denise Patsko was impressed with the O Scale layout, specifically the spaceship, which she said reminded her of Mars, Pennsylvania, the Marburger Farm Dairy barn and the Isaly’s.

“I grew up with Isaly’s,” said Patsko, 63, of Valencia, Butler County.

The church allows the railroad association free use of its building to host the display every year. The railroad association asks for donations to see the display, which are given back to the church and to the Allegheny Valley Association of Churches food bank. It costs $3 per adult and $1 for children under 12.

Donations aren’t the reason the group started the display, however.

“We did it cause we enjoy trains,” Atkinson said.