For the past 28 years, hobbyists, collectors, and curious visitors have come to Estes Park for Rails in the Rockies, a model train show hosted by the Estes Valley Model Railroaders.
The annual event transforms the Estes Park Events Center into a hub of miniature wonder where toy train tracks wind through tiny towns, locomotives whistle across hand-built bridges, and the artistry of model railroading is put on display.
What began as a gathering of dedicated local hobbyists in 1997 has grown into one of the premier model railroading shows in the region. On Friday, some three dozen exhibitors and vendors hauled storage totes packed with trains, tracks, scenery, electronic equipment, and other paraphernalia to begin the setup for the two-day show.
For Estes Valley Model Railroaders members, this is more than a hobby. It’s a labor of love. Months, sometimes years, go into creating a single layout that tells a visual story of a bustling city, a quiet rural crossing, or a rugged mountain pass and transports visitors back to the golden age of train travel.
Every miniature tree, fencepost, or replica storefront has been carefully chosen and placed. A mountain ridge made from foam and plaster and painted to look real sits high above a farm with miniature tractors and barnyard animals. Trains have been meticulously weathered to appear as if they have been hauling freight for decades. Bridges and tunnels are built to scale.
Together, these pieces create enchanting dioramas where history, creativity, and engineering intersect. Children stood on risers to get a closer look at the scenes—a passenger train rolling into a tiny mountain town with cars, houses, farm buildings, landscaping, and lights that all seemed to come alive as trains ran past.
If you had looked closely, you might have even spotted Waldo walking through one of the displays.
Some exhibitors are solo, others come as teams. The Colorado and Great Western Modular Railroad Club from Westminster had the largest and most elaborate layout with a 40 x 36 footprint. Kiernan Luscombe, a club member, explained some of the intricacies of how the tracks were laid out and how as many as four trains can run at any given time, going clockwise and counterclockwise, without derailing.
Model trains fascinate adults and children
Laura Trump, president of the Estes Valley Model Railroaders, has been involved in the organization for 18 years. Her late husband, Bob, a mechanical engineer, had served as the organization’s president for eight years.
Over the weekend, Trump sat at the Estes Pak Events Center exhibit hall entrance to greet people and monitor the prizes for a children’s scavenger hunt. She and her husband had been involved with Partners, a community-based youth mentoring program. Kathy Whitacre, the program coordinator for the Estes Park Partners program, attended the event with some volunteers and children who were actively engaged in the scavenger hunt.
In the early days of model trains, some operated with wind-up clock mechanisms before batteries were introduced. As trains became electrified, they started using rheostats or variable resistors to supply voltage to the tracks for speed control.
Today, many trains are operated by digital computer controls from smartphone apps that allow multiple trains to run simultaneously on the same track. And as sophisticated as these systems are, the trains can be finicky, requiring the attention of their engineers and conductors when they stop or run off track.
Vendors, some dressed as conductors or engineers, and swap tables added another layer to the experience. One vendor was selling large metal sculptures of engines that he said were designed as mantle pieces. Collectors browsed through vintage locomotives, rare model kits, or bins of track pieces just waiting for a new home. There were starter sets and how-to guides for beginners looking for an entry point.
Model train sizes, or scales, are expressed as ratios of the model to the real train. The most popular size of trains is HO, meaning “half O,” indicating the scale is approximately 1:87, or half the size of O-scale models.
A few exhibits provided hands-on experiences for kids to operate power switches and control a train, and a wooden toy train track was set up on a rug for the very young.
The local community behind the event
In an age dominated by screens, model train clubs offer tactile, hands-on experiences along with the camaraderie of fellow hobbyists.
The Estes Valley Model Railroaders, a nonprofit club dedicated to the craft and the community, meets on the first Wednesday of the month from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Hondius Room at the Estes Valley Library.
Proceeds from the Rails in the Rockies event support the club’s ongoing projects and educational outreach to schools, youth organizations, and community programs.
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