First Annual Model Railroad Home Tour
Sponsored by the Ligonier Valley Rail Road Association
April 25, 2009

FIRST LAYOUT TOUR A HUGE SUCCESS

The first annual LVRRA layout tour was a huge success due to the hospitality of the hosts of the six model-train layouts. Russ Lowden, Bret and Pudge Pohland, Don and Doris Graff, Ed and Karen Kuhn, Ralph and Donna Scalise and Dick and Carol Sheats, all model train enthusiasts, opened their homes and warmly greeted more than 175 visitors on Saturday, April 25, 2009.

Last summer, the idea of the tour originated with Gladys Light, who suggested the LVRRA host a tour of model train layouts similar to the popular home, kitchen and garden tours sponsored by other organizations. During the next few months, six Friends volunteered to organize the inaugural event.

Chairman, Dick Flock, a member of the National Model Railroaders Association, along with Gladys Light, Dick Sheats, Dave Somerville, Ray Robb, and Bob Stutzman, first met November12, 2008 to outline the project. Prospective hosts were invited to participate, a date was set and the particulars worked out, with a goal of 100 paying visitors.

The event far exceeded all expectations when 175 tickets were sold and people, unfortunately, had to be turned away. The tour also spawned increased interest in the LVRRA and its primary objective of preserving the legacy and history of railroading in Ligonier Valley and added to the Friends of the LVRR membership. In addition, the tour also piqued interest in model railroading in general and raised public awareness of the model trains that the LVRRA markets as a fundraiser.

Kudos to the hosts, committee members, print media, Ligonier Radio, organizational newsletters including the Ligonier Chamber of Commerce, and to the cadre of 25 volunteers who greeted visitors and assisted the hosts in various ways.

Encouraged by people’s requests for another layout tour and their positive comments about the price of the event, the committee is already beginning plans for next year’s event.