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On the right track

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Scale Rails of Southwest Florida will have its spring train show on Saturday, March 15, and Sunday, March 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Araba Shrine Temple at 2010 Hanson St. in Fort Myers.

There will be numerous dealers and collectors selling trains and accessories, as well as five outstanding operating layouts to see.

After more than 30 years of holding the show around Thanksgiving, Jim Edmier, chairman of the event, said the club decided to change to March so more snowbirds can come.

“Too many people are away on Thanksgiving, including members. We’re hoping that in season we’ll get more people,” Edmier said, adding that about 1,000 people came to the November show.

Around two dozen vendors are expected to participate, with about 100 tables of merchandise, Edmier said.

Among the fantastic layouts will include the Christmas O scale layout decorated in winter scenery, an ON3 layout, a Z scale layout, the Scale Rails Tidewater District layout in N scale, and a complete N scale railroad layout, built by the craftsmen of Scale Rails, which will be raffled off.

The club members have been working on it for weeks and were putting the final touches on it when visited last week.

“It’s something they can take home and the kids can use it. It has transformers and scenery, locomotives, cars, the whole bit,” Edmier said.

All attendees will receive a free invitation to visit the club’s clubhouse at 1262 Piney Road in North Fort Myers, where guests will find a complete HO triple deck digitally controlled and operating layout.

There will also be an O gauge Lionel Circus Train for the children to run.

O scale is the largest train, with HO being half of an O scale. N is half of HO and Z scale is half of N.

“You can have whatever scale you want, depending on how good your eyesight is,” Edmier said.

Admission is $7 for adults, $2 for teens, with children under 12, along with service personnel, in uniform admitted free. Food will be available.

Scale Rails of Southwest Florida is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and encouraging the art and craft of model railroading by preserving the history, science, and technology of rail transportation.