Model train enthusiasts to open their Gloucester County homes to guests

Dave Skinner was not interested in a grand model train layout.

Something small — a “circle of track six feet in diameter.”

Something in a corner of his basement in his Woodbury home, where he could test his HO scale trains in advance of Silver Valley Railroad train club meetings in Camden. There, the now-retired insurance salesman would join others in operating large scale, train track layouts.

That was 1989.

Six feet became seven. Seven feet became eight. Eight went to what today seems to be infinity — and beyond.

Skinner’s West Virginia-based Kade Lines layout is limited only by the basement walls, with tracks that go over the washing machine and dryer — the top loading washer door clears the bottom of the train track layout by an inch — and conceal the home heating system of the North Childs Street home.

For two days this month, Nov. 6 and 14, the layout is open to the public free of charge.

Skinner is one of four Gloucester County model train enthusiasts who will host open houses as part of Model Railroad Month.

The goal of the South Jersey Operators is to introduce the public to the hobby of collecting, building and operating model railroad sets.

Vince Fennell, owner of Track 33 Trains and Accessories in Clarksboro, said he tries to encourage children’s interest in model railroads by offering used trains and tracks for discounted prices.

“The interest has to come from the parents,” Fennell said. “Without the kids, the hobby is going to die.”

He said during the late 1990s, when Thomas the Tank Engine was a popular children’s show, the hobby began to pick up in popularity.

“A lot of people are getting back into it,” Fennell said. “That’s one of the reasons we started our open house.”

The earliest childhood photos of Skinner are often those of him holding an O-gauge Lionel locomotive.

 “In my day, everyone had a Lionel train under the (Christmas) tree,” Skinner said.

As an adult, he hooked up with the Silver Valley group operating out of the old YMCA in Camden.

Groups of adults would operate HO (one half scale of O gauge) railroad layouts. Each operator would have a pre-determined task, such as moving a train’s cargo from point A to point B.

When the Silver Valley group disbanded in the late 1980s, members began building their own lines in their homes.

“It expanded a piece at a time,” Skinner said of his hobby. “I always thought I was done.”

The layout is at eye level. Beneath the lines are examples of O and other gauge trains, train lanterns and other memorabilia. Route maps, photos and paintings line the walls.

Skinner started in what he called the “tool room,” one of three distinct areas of the basement.

He pointed to the north wall.

“I had decided that was the end of the line.”

He expanded there and then looked at the west wall.

“I decided that was the end of the railroad.”

He got to the steps that lead out of his man cave. The steps mark the halfway point around the basement.

Skinner decided he would stop there.

There were obstacles — a section of the brick wall extended out at that point and the washing machine and dryer were in place.

“I added cut arounds,” Skinner said with a smile.

He made sure there were magnets in place under the section of track that ran past the washing machine to secure the top loading door.

Having run track around the inside perimeter of the basement, he began moving outward.

Supposedly, the unofficial guideline for model train operators was to build only where one could reach.

Skinner has sections of track that extend two feet from a wall.

“A ladder” is Skinner’s answer to getting around the guideline.

His wife, Annette, admits she stays out of the basement “unless I want an ice cream from the freezer” or has a load of wash to do.

She is a puzzle enthusiast, using the couple’s dining room table for her hobby.

“It’s easier,” she said.

Skinner has fellow train operators over one Friday a month to run the line.

“It takes about four hours to do the schedule,” said Skinner. “It’s kind of like playing cards.”

Fennell said the operators actually run a railroad in scale size.

“They dump off lumber at the lumber yard and everything,” he said.

Fennell hosts an open house at his business on the first Sunday in December.

During the private-residence open houses from noon to 5 p.m. on Nov. 6 and 14 at Skinner’s home and those of Jake Evaul in Woodbury Heights, P.J. Mattson in Swedesboro and Steve Moylan in Deptford Township, children of all ages will be encouraged to run the lines. Skinner has a series of interactive buttons that recreate sounds associated with trains in a small town.

Some 600 people attend the local open houses each year.

“My purpose has always been to introduce the public to the hobby,” Skinner said of his 18 years of showcasing his operation to the public.

Fennell said children younger than 14 years old should start out with a Lionel-size train set.

“They are easier to work with, they don’t break as easy and are very forgiving,” he explained. “Also, if they do break, there are parts available.”

He said the HO train sets, the name of which is derived from the fact that its 1:87 scale is approximately half of the zero scale that is commonly used to measure model trains, are more difficult to operate and maintain.

“The HO sets are a modeler’s hobby, they are on a modeler’s scale,” he said.

Skinner’s participation in the model railroad open house may be nearing an end.

His family has all moved to the Boston area.

He has already sold some 100 train lanterns via eBay.

What about the future of Kade Lines?

“That’s the question I have not answered yet,” he said.

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The open houses are at:

• Dave Skinner, Kade Lines, 73 N. Childs St., Woodbury, (856) 845-3792.

• Jake Evaul, Camden and South Jersey R.R., 415 Maple Ave., Woodbury Heights, (856) 845-4828.

• P.J. Mattson, Raccoon Valley R.R., 129 East Ave., Swedesboro, (856) 467-0421.

• Steve Moylan, Oak Valley, R.R., 835 Vermont Ave., Deptford.

— Staff writer Kelly Roncace contributed to this story.