The Montana Museum of Railroad History in Great Falls hosted its annual “Fun Run” where train enthusiasts of all ages could experience the museums expansive model train layouts in action, and run their own trains on the track.
Former president of the Montana Museum of Railroad History, Dean Zook says the Fun Run is an event where “we invite people, especially somebody who got a train set for Christmas to come bring and run the train here on the layout in the club layout. You get a nice train set, it runs on a loop around the tree. That's fine. But you bring it here, you can send it down a long, straight railway into a tunnel, out across the bridge, to see what model railroading is really all about."
In a hands-on opportunity, members of the Great Falls Model Railroad club showed visitors how to set up, power, and control the trains on the expansive track, representing the Montana railroad.
Zook says, “Not only is there running the trains, there's building the track, building the buildings around it, putting down the scenery. Certainly there's all of the electronics and wiring."
A few members were running trains using a relatively new system, called Digital Command and Control, where multiple trains could be run on the track at once, independently of each other. Previously, the trains were controlled with a controller that had to be plugged in, but now, they can control the trains using software on their phones.
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The club had five trains running the track, but say the system can handle over 90 trains running at once. Members had to constantly communicate with each other to avoid a collision, creating a social, quick paced environment.
One member of the Great Falls Model Railroad Club, Riley Robinson, says, “We have to communicate to make sure we're not going against each other. We've got to make sure who's got the largest load, so they usually get the right-of-ways.”
The Great Falls Model Railroad Club is always accepting members, and anyone can participate.
Robinson says, “I enjoy seeing the young youngsters out here getting into this hobby. These guys coming down and stuff and actually running with us and being part of our club has actually made sure our club goes on into the future."
The Montana Museum of Railroad History is open every Saturday, from 12:00pm-4:00pm located at 400 Third Street NW in Great Falls. The club meets every Thursday from 7:00pm-9:00pm.
For more information, click here to visit the website.
