Train Gang keeps an old tradition alive
In this July file photo, the Train Gang’s display at Washington Crown Center includes re-creations of downtown Washington landmarks.
Darien Little, of Taylorstown, watches the trains go by with her niece, Isabella Hadden, of Washington.
Train Gang member Sam Bear fixes model trains and other pieces of equipment that go in their display.
The trains are coming back into the station.
That station is in Washington Crown Center in North Franklin Township, and a local group has set up shop there to keep old traditions alive.
Washington County’s Train Gang is a club about 20 members strong. They are a collection of train enthusiasts who remember the days when it was common to see a model train making laps around the Christmas tree.
In an empty storefront in the mall, they have designed an elaborate set up of 15 model trains that travel past a circus, space station, complete with a flying model rocket, and even recognizable downtown Washington landmarks.
“The people that come in are just in awe, especially the older people. They remember what it was like,” said Joe Jack, a member of the Train Gang. “The trains were a big part of everyone’s life.”
Jack worked for Norfolk Southern Railway, previously Penn Central, in Beaver County.
The Train Gang’s spot in Washington Crown Center is a mutually beneficial arrangement, according to Jack. The mall provides the space, the club just pays for utilities and the display brings people into the mall.
“Whoever deliberately comes to us shops in the mall. We’ve had thousands of people come and see over the few years we’ve been in the mall,” Jack said.
The Train Gang open the doors to its display on the second and fourth Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m. during the summer months.
The Train Gang will have an open house Aug. 28. The event will feature door prizes, and the group will raffle off a train.
Starting on Black Friday, the Train Gang is open six days a week through the holiday season.
There is no admission fee, but the group does put out a bucket for donations, all of which are given to local charities.
The Train Gang has given to many different organizations over the years – Meals on Wheels, Washington City Mission and Washington Area Humane Society, to name a few.
“You name a charity, we’ve probably donated to it,” Jack said.
Steve Mitch, another member of the Train Gang, lives in Wheeling, W.Va. He worked for Oglebay Resort, and helped build a train display at the resort’s zoo.
Mitch said there was no group similar to the Train Gang around Wheeling.
“When I retired, I was looking for a place to go. It gives me a space to run my stuff,” Mitch said.
Though the mall was a bit emptier last year because of the pandemic, the Train Gang hopes to continue this holiday tradition as normal life begins to resume.
“We want to put a little Christmas spirit in their otherwise hectic lives,” Jack said.