Group lives out boyhood dreams of trains in Metro East Model Railroad Club

Dan Brannan, Content Director

Nov 27, 2015 2:00 PM

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Bob Gibson observes model trains rolling on tracks at the Metro East Model Railroad Club facility in Glen Carbon.

Bill Birdsell Bob Gibson, a retired Edwardsville attorney, has the contention that all boys grow up loving trains.

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In retirement, Gibson and several others decided to live out their boyhood dreams and join the Metro East Model Railroad Club. This past weekend, the club had an open house with live trains moving up and down the tracks for the public to see. For all the men, working with the model trains is a passion, something they each look forward to doing every week.

“I have loved trains since I was a kid,” Gibson said. “I am a retired Air Force/attorney and I couldn’t do it during that time, but when I retired, I started working with trains. This is something I really enjoy doing.”

The members of the club all seem to not only have the love of trains in common, but tinkering and creating some excellent displays.

Bill Birdsell, another club member, shares Gibson’s feelings about trains and loves the creative side of the presentations.

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“I started years ago with a Lionel Train and became fascinated with it,” Birdsell said.

Each quarter, the Metro East Model Railroad Club hosts an open house to the delight of the public. Every Tuesday night, the group works on the layout of the scenery and trains and on Thursdays have a brief meeting. Normally 120-200 people visit the open houses.

The group has also built a train layout for the Glen Carbon Public Library that was finished a few weeks ago.

What Birdsell loves most about working with the train club is “building and controlling your own empire.”

“These are boys toys,” he laughed. “We all have our own specialties. If you are in a very stressful situation, when you walk into this, it relieves you of a lot of the stress.”