The Prince Albert Model Train Show returned to the Gateway Mall on Saturday and Sunday at the former Staples location.
Brian Randall, club president of the Prince Albert Model Railroaders, said the show helps the club support themselves in the coming year. Fellow enthusiasts from around the province came to support this show. Randall said it allows the Prince Albert club travel to other shows.
“The show is looking great,” Randall said. “We lost a couple of clubs that couldn’t make it because of the weather. That was the ones from Southern Saskatchewan, Regina, Moose Jaw. But we gained a local group, a father-son layout. They weren’t here last year, so it’s kind of balanced.”
The father-son group from Prince Albert was railroad enthusiasts father and son David and Mark Zulkoskey.
Clubs at the show this year included two sets from the Prince Albert club, including Randall’s, as well as displays from clubs in Martensville, Saskatoon and Melville, which was the only representative from southern Saskatchewan.
The Prince Albert club was glad for the chance to stay home this weekend while still putting their creations on display.
The Club used to host the event at the Prince Albert Golf and Curling Club for about 15 years. The first year that they returned was in the Midtown Hall.
Randall said that they host an annual show because the club likes to show off their hobby.
“It’s great just to promote it,” he said. “The public enjoys it, plus it’s a money raiser for our club.”
Randall said that the space was excellent for a model railroad show. In previous years, the club organized shows in the Gateway Mall area that typically hosted the Optimist Winter Wonderland. The partnership came about because Model Railroad member Vince Parker is also a member of the Optimist Club.
Despite the small size of the trains and tracks, the model railroad setups take up plenty of space.
Randall said there are several factors that make model railroading an interesting hobby. One of the biggest is the educational component.
“The thing is with this hobby, no matter what you’re taught in school, you can apply it to the hobby,” he explained. “When it comes to engineering and geography, design, everything, mathematics, like painting, art. It’s got it all.”
Randall said you can also teach yourself how to do things. With his own setup, there is a painting of Northern Manitoba as an example.
“I find it does keep your mind sharp,” he said. “I’ve painted my own backdrop. I’d never painted before in my life. I like it, I’ve got a lot of compliments on it and I just say, ‘well, you know what, I just gave it a shot.’”
Randall came from a background working on the railroads but said the hobby draws people from any walk of life.
“We’ve got members in our club, they never worked for the railroad at all, but they just had an interest in the hobby,” he explained.
Randall said that trains of any size can be fascinating to people.
“It was the travel back in the day,” he said. “The highways were just dirt roads, basically, and you travelled, by train from one town to the next or to the big city.”
The Prince Albert Model Railroaders have been around for 20 years. At one point, there were as many as 20 club members, but that’s dropped down to six since then.
A model train on the Prince Albert Model Railway Club’s setup is on the tracks during the Club’s annual Model Train Show at the former Staples location in the Gateway Mall.
Randall said several factors caused membership to decline, but COVID-19 was a big one. When the pandemic shut everything down, club membership dropped to four people.
“Club membership’s falling less and less each year,” Randall said. “We’re hoping (to spur some interest) but unfortunately it’s not just our club. A lot of club’s members are getting older and it’s just the young people, they don’t want to get involved.”
Randall added that he was happy to see that the club survive and put on the show.
The Winter Wonderland space allowed them to keep the space pleasant.
Randall said on Saturday that the crowds had been great so far.
Randall added that it was nice to be able to use the Winter Wonderland space right after their season for the show because it gives them some decoration.
He said that the space made an impression on the Regina Club the first year.
“It was the first time up here nd they’re kind of looking around. They’re like,’ this is kind of strange with all the trees and that.’ Then by the end of the show, they’re like, ‘you know, we really like this. It’s something different. It’s not just a big open hall,’” Randall said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
