By Chris Barber
Contributing Writer

Members of the Ware Village Model Railroad Club gather each week to pursue their respective, lifelong affection for trains. When Christmastime comes, however, they shift their passion into high gear.

Each end-of-year they open their headquarters to the public, not only to show off their toys but to showcase their elaborate setup that contains them.

This year they invited folks in on Nov. 29, Dec. 20 and this coming Saturday, Dec. 27. Visiting hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

These model train club members are enthusiastic about their collection, and they don’t hesitate to share their enthusiasm with demonstrations for those who visit.

The group formed 10 years ago and continues to serve about 10 members of this retirement community.

Their layout is huge, covering the entire downstairs of the Ware Mansion and displaying toy trains of all gauges. There is even one Standard size rail that runs outside in the summertime.

And even at full capacity of pieces in the location, they continue to receive additional collections.

“People retire and downsize to smaller homes. They have trains that may have had since their youth, and they send them over to us,” Yardmaster Dan Derr said.  

The collection is impressive to behold. Scores of track routes run over more than three building areas which have been populated with miniature houses, farms, buildings and towns. Honorary member Annette Pennington is responsible for much of the construction, which includes a miniature town of Oxford and the reproduction of a nearby dairy farm.

The walls are painted with attractive landscapes and cloud formations.

Additionally, it’s not just the trains that move around this yard. Electrician Al Zoeller has elaborately and in great detail wired all the houses, streetlights and track details so they light up, honk and move around as the trains go by.

They have even attached a video camera to one of the engines so they can watch its journeys around the tracks on a screen on the wall.

During the past two open houses, the club has been so stocked with accumulated train cars that club member Al Marcus has been giving away spare ones to children who visit. He said they continue to receive so many trains that they can’t put them all out on display at once.

That doesn’t keep them from accepting additional model train contributions, however.

Marcus added that his now-adult son who lives in Illinois has a stored-away Lionel Train bicentennial engine 1976. He said he wrote to the son and asked him to send it to him so they can put it on display for the America 250 anniversary on July 4, 2026.

The Ware Village sits along Locust Street in Oxford. The last open house for the year is Saturday, Dec. 27. The admission is free, and it is open to the public.