Model Railroad Open House

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Zanesville and Muskingum County has some very interesting attractions but maybe none as hidden as the Zane Trace National Trail Model Railroad display.

ZTNT Model Railroad Club Treasurer Rick Gooden announced this weekend’s open house event that allows the public to witness the passion and details that club members have put into the layout. 

“We welcome everyone to come down. We’ve had these open houses for years but we seem to have a lot of people come up to this one. It’s a lot bigger than the old club we had. There’s things that are new that you’ll have to go around and look. And people come up to look and see, you know, what’s this here and it’s just different stuff because most of it is done. And then people come up and enjoy just watching the trains run,” Gooden said.

The layout includes many fine details that club members have incorporated into the display that sets it apart from other model railroad layouts. And visitors will be offered a scavenger list that encourages them to search the layout for those particular peculiarities.

“We can run this like a real railroad. It has all the signals running. It fictitiously goes from Columbus to Chicago and it takes about 35 minutes to go around this layout. But to put all the people and all the stuff, the cars in town, we did a lot of lighting. This railroad could really be run in the dark,” Gooden said. 

The open house will take place from 11 to 4 both Saturday and Sunday on the second floor of 24 South Sixth Street in Zanesville. Admission is free but donations are greatly appreciated.