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HARTFORD -
Call them "rail fans", or "iron horsemen", or "ferro-equinologists", whatever you call them, they take the business of play very seriously. This week for the loco-motivated, Hartford is on the right side of the tracks for a week of training at the National Model Railroad Associations annual convention at the Connecticut Convention Center. "All 200 years of steam are represented here, diesels, electrics, commuter railroads, the New Haven (Railroad) is involved, you name the railroad it's involved," said Vin Gallogly a rail fan from Trumbull and an Association board member.
Peter Jensen traveled from Sydney, Australia essentially to play with trains, "its almost an art form in a lot of ways, you're creating something in miniature, you're to operate it as prototypical as you can, you just try to recreate a bit of history," Jensen said.
You could say the Convention Center is the crossroads of the train world this week, the last time the national event came to New England was 1986 when it was held in Boston. "We're going to achieve more than 1000 people coming to the convention proper and on the weekend we hope to have as many as 20 thousand," Gallogly said. All those hobbyists provide some steam to the area economy, filling up 3 Hartford host hotels. And, all week, grown men and women will be taking miniature to the max, "it's just one of those passionate things you try to do," Jensen said.
Peter Jensen traveled from Sydney, Australia essentially to play with trains, "its almost an art form in a lot of ways, you're creating something in miniature, you're to operate it as prototypical as you can, you just try to recreate a bit of history," Jensen said.
You could say the Convention Center is the crossroads of the train world this week, the last time the national event came to New England was 1986 when it was held in Boston. "We're going to achieve more than 1000 people coming to the convention proper and on the weekend we hope to have as many as 20 thousand," Gallogly said. All those hobbyists provide some steam to the area economy, filling up 3 Hartford host hotels. And, all week, grown men and women will be taking miniature to the max, "it's just one of those passionate things you try to do," Jensen said.
