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Women in Model Railroading – Jeff Gross
My apologies to those I promised this article would come in a timely fashion. I caught the Train Show plague and was down for the count! Fortunately, my age is just a number and I bounced back quick. Hence, I find it easy to challenge someone my junior to a triathlon. I wonder if Tom Brady did that with his current girl. 😎 Now that I am back from the dead we can rock and roll.
January 25th was another chapter in the model railroad industry. The Amherst Model Railroad group stood up to Mother Nature and opened their show on Saturday the 25th, and Sunday the 26th was arbitrary. Friends who packed up at 9 am Sunday found their travel back to the South Shore upwards of 4+ hours when the travel normally would be 1.5 hours under dry conditions.
I want to credit John Sacerdote with referencing the Women in Model Railroading group in his Update video.
I think the good ole boys Executive Board at the Train Collectors Association might want to reconsider their vision and goals and employ an untapped resource. This is 2026 and times be a-changing. TCA it is also the time to go digital! It will be an association saving game changer!
While the WIMRR did not have a booth this year they put on an excellent presentation at 3 pm and then an all-hands operating session 6-8 pm.  Great job, ladies, as nothing compares to hands on operation! There was a significant increase in the ladies of all ages at the show Saturday. While there were a number of ladies in pairs there were also a few by themselves. Some single moms brought their youngsters along, which is a great idea. What better family environment than to have the family involved in the hobby rather than bring the little ones to an ICE protest?
One woman was attending for the sole reason of adding to her Railroad hat pins. Sadly, my friend, Bill, who allowed me to use his tables as a staging area did not have any pins for sale. We will next time! What was highly noticeable were the large number of couples in attendance. Gentlemen, if your significant other has an interest in the hobby, she is a keeper. I witnessed many women ages 21 -70 making quotes like “gee, I like that color scheme on that GP-9 or I think those styles trees will look great on the layout.” Take notice and by all means include them in the Railroad empires. What caught my ears was a comment by a knowledgeable woman that she knows the difference between a Prairie and Mogul engines. Not this kid as Prairie wheel arrangement always needs to be looked up on my part. Ladies, take this from a voice of experience, always make sure your track is clean if you are an operator. I’ve used test tracks at train shows where the engine did not run well, but after using some Track Magic on the test track rails the engine was full steam ahead.
Track Magic track cleaner cannot have enough good reviews as the cleaner is in a class of its own. It is pricey at $19.95 for 50 ml but other cleaners, or Isopropyl Alcohol, or even 409 spray cleaners do not compare. I purchased two 250ml bottles while I was there Saturday. Track Magic is made in the UK by the Deluxe Materials Co.
I have become friendly with the owners John and Vivean through the Amherst show and enjoy the interesting conversation and the UK vs USA banter that goes on. Deluxe always has new to market items at the show for Model Railroaders to check out. John and Vivean carry a number of useful and ergonomic adhesives one can consider.
I noticed quite a few ladies on the internet creating very artistic dioramas for their layouts. The creativity and artistic ability these Railroad ladies have is impressive. The masters like Van Gogh and Rembrandt would agree. My good friend Alan opened a brick-and-mortar Hobby shop in Palmer MA and plans to stock Track Magic and other Deluxe Materials products as well. What Alan does not have in stock he can get from his Distributor in Manchester, CT rather quick. Ladies, keep this in mind as Alan’s shop is only 20 minutes from Springfield, MA.
Alan’s store is C&H Hobbies and is located at 1085 Park Street in Palmer, MA. Alan has been open for 4 months now and is one of the few brick and mortar hobby stores left in New England. C&H Hobbies carries a tremendous line of Woodland scenic materials and also HO and Airplane model kits. Have a youngster that is interested in Anime, Alan has that and Dungeons & Dragons as well. The Hobby building also houses antique and consignment shops as well. One can make a day of it as just around the corner is the Mass Central/ CSX/ New England Central Diamond and interchange. Right in the diamond is the Steaming Tender Restaurant which from experience has great lunches and dinners. In the nice weather (not this 10F, 24 inches of snow nonsense) one can eat on the patio while being entertained by the trains going by. The interior of the restaurant is decorated in an antique railroad theme.
The next show up for you ladies that are expanding your interests will be the Worcester Model Railroad Show in Auburn, MA.  This will be their 33rd show and hopefully we will have the same large crowd as we had last year. Apparently, the show directors hired an advertising wiz, and attendance has gone through the roof. C&H Hobbies will attend having a pair of tables there containing an interesting array of train items.
New England Railroad will have an assortment of HO scale Railroad cars and Engines. For you veterans attending the show; the lone dealer with the American Flags will offer a 10% discount to all Veterans and current Military. USCG Veterans/Active get a 15% discount. Valid VA or Military ID or DD 214 required. The discount applies to all Lionel, American Flyer, HO trains and Die Cast cars and Hess trucks. One of the benefits of making purchases at the train show is you can inspect the train or item on the spot. Another benefit with show attendance is the fact there is zero chance of the package being crushed or destroyed by the Post Office as which seems to be a common place as of late for this writer.
There will be approximately 25 other model railroad dealers at the Auburn show offering items for sale as well as HO& N scale operating layouts available for viewing. Raffle tickets will be available at the show for a complete 4’x8’ model railroad layout (on display). The 60’x 40’ Worcester Model Railroad Club layout will be open and operating using Digital Command Control and is only 15 minutes from the show in Webster, MA. We hope to see all of you there at the show!
