PLAINS, Pa. — Depending on your point of view, model railroad scenery can easily make you feel like you're somewhere you've seen before.
"A danger sign on the fence is sort of like, 'What's the point of it?' It's so small you could barely read it. But once you actually take the time and go on, put them all up, it gives it a whole new sense of realism," said David Balko.
The Hudson Model Railroad Club in Plains Township has been keeping this commitment to realism in its sets since the 1980s.
"Our goal here is to sort of display things that people can relate to," Balko said. "We have a coal mine. We have a sawmill. So, we try to just hit bits and pieces that people would likely see in their backyard, on their daily commute, stuff like that, to sort of give them something to relate to."
Sometimes it's not that easy. Many of these sets were made from scratch.
"They don't really make a kit for a railroad scrap yard, so members donated equipment, parts, pieces that they took from work and that were getting thrown away, and we just sort of assembled it all together into something that looks like a scrap yard," Balko said.
"We call it kit-bashing where we just will take two or three kits, use parts from each one, and put it all together sort of make what we want."
In the club's off-season, there are some changes happening in a section that was an oil terminal and will now be turned into something else,
"We got it all reinforced so we can add new scenery. We're going to make it sort of like a rock wall, like what you see on the other side. There'll be a new tunnel portal that goes in. There's a lot of propane in this area, so instead of doing oil, we're going to have this as a propane terminal."
Before that, some reinforcements, like chicken wire, will be added.
The Hudson Model Railroad Club will have a few open houses this summer. Get more info on Facebook.