WEST SPRINGFIELD – The Amherst Railway Society will host its 55th annual Railroad Hobby Show on Jan. 28 and 29 at the Eastern States Exposition, 1350 Memorial Ave.

The show is the largest model train show in North America.

John Sacerdote, president of the Amherst Railway Society and the show director, explained the sheer size and scope of the event.

“People are calling this ‘the bucket list show’ … it’s 350,000 square feet of trains. If you do the math, it’s about eight acres of trains. We’re in every winterized building that the Big E has. We take the Better Living Center, the Young Building, the Mallary Complex [both north and south], and we also take what used to be called the Stroh Building which is now called the A Building. So that’s 350,000 square feet of indoor space,” Sacerdote said.

There will also be outdoor displays and activities for children.

“Then we take another 2,000 square feet outdoors because we have a live steam narrow-gauge locomotive from Edaville. The Main Locomotive Works folks trucked this down here and they set up about 100 feet of track outdoors. They run it back and forth, and although you can’t ride it while it’s moving for insurance reasons, they allow people to come on board, ring the bell, blow the steam whistle. The kids go out of their minds over the steam whistle,” Sacerdote said.

Dealing with all things trains, the show has something for everyone with a passion for locomotives.

“This show is so diverse, but it’s all about trains in some way. There’s travel agents that specialize in railroads at the show. There’s a group called ‘The Tunnel Inn’ and it’s a hotel right by this big tunnel in Pennsylvania, and people stay there just to watch trains. There’s a ton of historical societies and private railroads. There are over 40 model railroads and some of them are huge. Our own Amherst Beltlines has 8 or 9 scaled miles of track, but some of the new layouts this year, like the one from the Reading Historical Society, they’re bringing a layout that’s 18 feet wide by 160 feet long. That’s close to a quarter of a football field,” Sacerdote said.

Admission fees are affordable compared to other large events, and tickets can be purchased online or at the gates, according to Sacerdote. Children under 15 years of age may also enter for free as long as they are accompanied by an adult.

“Admission is $15 and if you want to go both days – which I highly recommend – it’s only $27. You can purchase tickets online or at the show. You can actually order tickets while you’re approaching the gates; do the barcode thing on your phone and then take it up to the ticket booth and exchange that barcode or QR code for a bracelet that allows you to go between all the buildings. … If you pay to go to the two-day clinics before the show, you get a ticket for free. … What I like about our admission is that kids who are 15 and under enter for free – when they’re with an adult – because we’re still really big on trying to promote this hobby for children,” Sacerdote said.

With over 35 new exhibitors this year, Sacerdote is excited to bring the show to life, and mentioned one exhibit that he finds particularly interesting.

“One of them is so far out of the ordinary that I just love it. They’ve actually called it ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Model Railroader,’ which is a play on ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.’ So, this guy from Canada called Bernard Helen who sells miniature accessories that you would add to your little model railroad layout (i.e. little dogs, cats, and people), he has a scanning station. … You stand on this revolving thing, almost like an automated turntable, and you’re scanned by camera. The cameras go up and down as they scan you, and when you’re done, he hooks the file up to his 3D printer, and in two weeks you get five copies of yourself. The detail is so ridiculous, you go, ‘Oh my God, that’s me,’” Sacerdote said.

After a COVID-19-induced lull, the show is set to be bigger than ever this year. It will draw participants from all corners of the globe, both vendors and attendees.

“This year it sounds like we’re back to pre-COVID[-19] attendance. There’s not a single hotel room in town. Nothing. And it’s all because of the Railroad Hobby Show. So we’re really excited about it … I have exhibitors and vendors that come from the U.K., Germany, dozens from Canada, I even have a vendor from Australia. I’ve got guys all the way from Montana, Florida, Oregon, California, Utah. We’ve got a two-day clinic period before the show so you can go to clinics and watch professionals and they’ll teach you how to do certain things. I’ve got six people from Finland that are coming. People come from all over the world to this show,” Sacerdote said. “The National Model Railroad Association are actually having their winter board meeting at our show.”

A strong sense of community pervades the show. Everyone comes together in the name of a mutual love of trains.

“People come to the show for years, and there’s tons of incredible traditions that go on. A lot of the vendors don’t consider themselves as competitors with one another; this is an interesting hobby and they all truly try to help one another. They all go to dinner at the same places every year. Some go to Palmer to The Steaming Tender, there’s a lot of places in Springfield that they go to like The Student Prince, Cal’s, you name it. It’s fun to see,” Sacerdote said.

The Amherst Railway Society has roots that stretch back almost 60 years. It is currently headquartered in Palmer, and has members all throughout the state. Membership is affordable and accessible to all.

“[The Amherst Railway Society] started years ago and got fully organized way back in the mid-’60s by a bunch of college professors from the Amherst, Massachusetts, area, hence ‘Amherst Railway Society.’ … We still have monthly meetings. We used to meet in Amherst, but after we did a study about six or seven years ago, we found that almost everybody lived there in the Holyoke-Chicopee area. We had 80 percent of the people driving to Amherst when only 20 percent lived there, so we started looking for a building. We found the great Grange Hall in Palmer, so maybe 12 miles east of ‘the center of the universe’ but what we lost in the Amherst area, we picked up in the Worcester area … so our membership actually grew. And our membership is next to nothing, it’s $5 a month,” Sacerdote said.

Much like the show, Sacerdote said that the club has something to offer for everyone, no matter their specialized interest.

“That’s the beauty of our organization. People who want to play with models can. People that want to go photographing can. We have special interest groups; there’s one for history, one for photography, one for modeling, one for garden railroading, so you can grow plants and stuff. We’re starting a massive garden railroad this spring on the back acre of our property in Palmer. There’s something for everybody in this hobby, and because of that, we’re probably the only train show that brings all of those interests under one roof – really it’s four roofs – … I tell people ‘If you can’t find it at this show, it most likely no longer exists,” Sacerdote said.

Being a nonprofit organization, the Amherst Railway Society donates its excess revenue to other railroad organizations to give back to the community.

“We give away all the proceeds after our yearly expenses since we are truly a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We have a very formal grant program that we allow other railroad-related nonprofit organizations to apply for these grants. Since 1991 when we started this program, we’ve given away over $800,000. I look forward to the million dollar mark which we will probably hit in the next six or seven years,” Sacerdote said.

Sacerdote informed people on how to get involved, and urged everyone to come experience the show in all its glory.

“We have two websites: railroadhobbyshow.com is for the show, but if people are interested in joining and learning more about the Amherst Railway Society, then go to amherstrail.org. … If you’ve never been to this show, it truly is a must-see. There’s just nothing like it in the United States, and all the exhibitors will confirm that. They love coming to the show because of its size, scope, the things you can see. So we welcome everybody to come on down and see for themselves,” Sacerdote said.