Illustration by Adam De Souza
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For many model railroaders, the forced confinement of the COVID-19 crisis has been a bit of a blessing. It is every model railroader’s dream to have weeks of uninterrupted time to spend working on the layout. (In case you were wondering, a train set is what runs around the Christmas tree. A “layout” is the miniature world built in the basements and spare rooms of model railroad enthusiasts.)
Since isolation began, this community – my community! – has exploded with progress photos online. Model railroaders often buy every new train model as it comes out then place it, still in the original box, in the crawl space or under the workbench. These models are for the layout we’re planning to build – one day. But then life gets in the way and that layout never gets built.
But now, guys who never thought they would have time are digging into their piles of model boxes, setting up the layout room, laying track and running trains. Hobby shops have had trouble keeping models and supplies in stock, especially the tools, glues and other supporting items that normally gather dust on the shelf.
While a lot of people are going stir crazy from the isolation, model railroaders are in the groove and hoping it lasts long enough to get all their tracks laid.
A couple of weeks ago, I finished building a road on the 540-square-foot model railroad in my basement. I had been putting it off as I had never built a road before, but eventually I just went with what seemed the most logical method. It’s a 1/87 scale model of Lyn Road, which dips under the train tracks west of Brockville, Ont. Based on how long it took to make those 18 inches of road, I expected the layout I started in 2013 to be finished around Easter, 2061. But now I’m flying through it. The following week I finished a section of Highway 401 that crosses the tracks. I’m building highways, not just roads, now!
This made me realize how vital my hobby is to my well-being. Not only am I able to weather the COVID storm in my layout room, but model railroading will keep me passionate and engaged as long as I am alive. I’m only 45, but I’ve got my retirement planned. (Since I also like to restore old vehicles – I have a 53-year-old transit bus – I probably need two retirements to do it all.)
I was speaking to a friend who is contemplating retiring in the next five years. He hadn’t really thought about what retirement would mean on a practical level. I asked him what he plans to do. “Well, I’ve got my folk-dancing classes and my choir.” “Good,” I responded. “That’s four hours. What else?” “I love photography.” “Great,” I replied. “Assuming you do some photography every day, that’s another 10 hours a week. What else?” “I love to travel!” “Okay, assuming we’ve found a vaccine for COVID and you have the budget for two trips a year, that’s four, maybe five weeks. So for 11 months of the year, you are replacing your 40-hour-a-week job with 14 hours of activities. What are you doing the rest of the time? Watching Netflix?”
This was a real eye opener for my friend, and his next words should be every middle-aged person’s mantra: “I need a hobby.”
A hobby such as model railroading – apart from giving us something to do in our retirement and during global pandemics – is a respite from the headaches and responsibilities in our real lives.
A model railroad is a world we can control. On my layout, every wall and train is squeaky clean, I don’t like graffiti. I also keep kosher; on my layout, every restaurant has a hechsher. The real world has been scary and unpredictable lately; on my layout it’s always December, 1980, and I’m a kid at Guildwood Station waiting for my bubbie and my Auntie Sarah to arrive from Montreal.
Perhaps most importantly, I always have something to look forward to. There is always something to build, as no model railroad is ever really finished. Now that Lyn Road and the 401 bridge are done, I’m heading east to Brockville Station, recreating all the landscape details (and two more bridges) along the way. Kingston, Pickering and Guildwood stations are still just bare plywood with track on it, and I haven’t even started construction of Toronto Union Station. That alone should take about a decade. Should the pandemic continue for another couple of years, the 1/87th size CN Tower may go up a lot sooner than I expected.
Some people are uncomfortable with the idea that I am working on a project that will take me the rest of my life to (almost) complete. I often hear, “Wow! You can never move!” But I take comfort in the permanency of my model railway. While I do look forward to completing the scenery and structures along the line, the process of getting there is even more important. Maybe I won’t ever manage to build downtown Toronto just the way I remember it, but I’m going to have a heck of a time trying. Any chance I get, I’ll be working on the railroad … all my live-long days.
Jason Shron lives in Thornhill, Ont.