OGDEN -- Miniature locomotives chugged along an expansive track, through tunnels and tiny mountain passes Saturday during the Hostlers Model Railroad Club's annual Fun Run at Union Station.
The event allows kids who received HO-scale model trains for Christmas to run them on a circular track that measures 56 feet long and 22 feet wide, said Mike Murphy, president of the Hostlers Model Railroad Club.
The club meets monthly at Union Station and has 218 members, who range in age from 11 to well into their 80's, Murphy said.
Each club member is responsible for designing a section of track used during the Fun Run and other train shows throughout the Intermountain West.
Some of the track sections include miniature buildings, cars, mountains and tunnels.
Members of the Hostlers Model Railroad Club enjoy designing the sections because it allows them to be creative, said Murphy.
"You have to be part artist, part electrician and part carpenter," he said Saturday in the Grand Lobby of Union Station.
The miniature trains used by the club are exact replicas of the real thing and are equipped with horns and whistles. Some of the trains are powered by direct current electricity and others are operated by remote control computer devices.
It takes about five hours for the club to set up track for the Fun Run, said Murphy.
For some club members, like Tammie Cordeiro of Clearfield, miniature trains fulfill a fascination with the railroad that began during childhood.
"I just always watched trains go down the tracks," she said.
Cordeiro's section of track for the Fun Run includes mountain scenery and a number of small buildings. Her husband, Jim, provided a section that features a tiny drive-in theater with a screen and movies actually shown with a small DVD player.
Justin McFarland of Clinton, who brought his 3-year-old son, Porter, to the Fun Run, said it was cool to see the miniature trains whizzing along the track just like their much larger counterparts.
"We love to go down to the railroad tracks and sit and watch them," he said.
The Fun Run continues at Union Station from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free.
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