They’ve been working on the (model) railroads, all the live-long decades. Clubs in Colorado Springs and Pueblo create whole miniature communities: mountain towns, a cattle stockyard, a Sinclair gas station, tunnels and bridges, streets and sidewalks—all connected by tiny tracks, with trains making the circuit. 

“We welcome interest in all scales,” said Kim Wickham, 73, president of the Pueblo Model Railroad Association (PMRA), located in the Historic Kress building. He cites various-sized projects among PMRA members, including N, G, S and HO, as well as vintage 1920s Lionel trains.

For the Pikes Peak ‘N’gineers, the N stands for N scale only—currently second in popularity to HO scale and half its size. Formed in 1989, the club occupies a small room in—fittingly enough—the old Rio Grande depot, at 32 S. Sierra Madre St. 

This is the hobby of their childhoods, but with technological upgrades. With the flip of a switch, train whistles blow and cows moo. Mike Peck, 77, programs his phone to produce sounds for the ‘N’gineers. A backdrop boasts twinkling lights fashioned with fiber optics. Steve Tesnear, 72, a 17-year member, 3-D prints scenery, including a windmill and even Godzilla.

 Many model train enthusiasts developed their interest early. Wickham grew up in La Junta, a longtime hub of the Santa Fe Railroad (now BNSF Railway). Childhood trains around the Christmas tree and later employment as a car inspector for the railroad further fueled his interest. 

“My dad, it’s all his fault,” said Peck. “He made me take five days to build a flat car in HO.”

“I never had a tree house when I was a kid, and I always wanted one,” ‘N’gineer Ron Theisman, 87, said, pointing out a cozy hideaway nestled among branches, then a bi-level locomotive. “I have a model Amtrak train just like one I rode in 1991. I came back and duplicated it.” 

To achieve the realistic large boulders and mountains dotting the layout’s scenery, Peck said they use rock molds filled with plaster. Other materials are equally convincing. 

“We switched over to foam for our traveling layout, because it’s lighter for us old guys,” said Peck. 

 The ‘N’gineers are gearing up for their TECO (Train Expo Colorado) show at the end of February, at the Norris Penrose Event Center. 

“It really gives you camaraderie with people you’ve met before,” Peck said.

The ‘N’gineers own a trailer with multiple tables. At a show in Cheyenne, Wyoming, they teamed up with the Estes Valley Model Railroaders, with plenty of room for everyone and their trains.

On the smaller side, Peck told of an acquaintance who brings a self-contained “Train in a Tub” to shows—a battery-powered layout with buildings and trains made of paper and packed into plastic bins.

For all the precision involved, the hobby has its share of lighthearted moments. When Wickham lived in Emporia, Kansas, he helped set up a Christmas train display in an empty mall storefront, running Thomas the Tank Engine for kids. One pint-sized expert quickly corrected the installers, saying, “You’ve got the coaches in the wrong order.”

They installed Plexiglass to keep little fingers away from the setup.

“But we had more problems with the adults,” Wickham laughed.

 A tunnel on the ‘N’gineers’ layout was referred to as the “locomotive eater” because they’d go into it and derail. 

“We had locomotives stuck in there and we couldn’t get to them, so we had to cut a hole in the top,” Tesnear said.

TINKERERS OF TINY REALMS

Working on model trains can be a good stress reliever at times, “except when you’re fighting something to get it to work,” Tesnear said. “We’ve got some short tempers here. Sometimes cars go flying across the room.” 

Wickham enjoys the building aspect. 

“I do quite a bit of the electrical, working underneath and getting things to run like they’re supposed to,” he said. He applies paint and decals according to his Santa Fe employment memories.

“Steve’s our main carpenter,” Peck said. Tesnear built the interior of the ‘N’gineers’ trailer, then created foldable shelves using leftover scrap materials to economize storage in the club’s tight space.

 “I like the woodworking part of it,” Tesnear said. “I sit there and think about it. I know what I want to do.”  

Working with model trains suits seniors with mobility issues. Those in wheelchairs may work on tabletop layouts. And the hobby may be shared with grandchildren.

NEXT-GEN HOBBYISTS

While the club’s members skew older, Lucas, 8, strolled about, dispensing precocious bits of train trivia and holding his own against the seasoned members. 

“Lucas threw off our [age] curve,” Tesnear laughed. “Instead of it being around 75, he brought it down to 65.”  

With childlike wonder, he regales listeners with tales of World War II’s Big Boy, the largest steam locomotive and his favorite. He owns a miniature replica and saw the real one twice in Cheyenne. Wyoming. 

MAKING TRACKS 

The Pueblo club has a small layout that visitors may operate. Members challenge them to get the cars where they belong. 

They display a layout at the Colorado State Fair and recently held a model train open house at the Florence Pioneer Museum, which houses railroad-related historical artifacts from Florence and eastern Fremont County.

The ‘N’gineers bring their traveling layout to Rocky Mountain PACE every year. 

“They really enjoy coming to see us. A couple guys remember us from year to year,” Tesnear said.     

There’s an ‘N’gineers open house on the last Saturday of each month, where visitors can watch the tiny trains in action. Club members are on hand to answer questions.

At the old Rio Grande depot, an actual train rumbled by the window as its miniature counterpart chugged along the perimeter of the room, going nowhere yet everywhere, laying tracks of memory from childhood through the retirement years, one locomotive lap at a time. 

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