West Fargo Club trying to keep their hobby alive

Model Railroading
model railroading
Freight trains rumble through Fargo-Moorhead of the 1950's on the layout of the Spud Valley Model Railroad, housed inside an old Train Depot from Katherine, North Dakota that now resides on the grounds of Bonanzaville in West Fargo.

For many of us it was our dream to find a train set under the tree on Christmas morning. Now, fewer kids are interested in model railroading.

Freight trains rumble through Fargo-Moorhead of the 1950's on the layout of the Spud Valley Model Railroad, housed inside an old Train Depot from Katheryn, North Dakota that now resides on the grounds of Bonanzaville in West Fargo.

The Club has been modeling trains for over 50 years.

Duane Durr – Spud Valley Model Railroad: “I've been involved with this club since I was 14 years old.”

It's provides a chance to get together with others who share a love of trains

Don Radeck – Spud Valley Model Railroad: “I look forward to Tuesday nights coming out here, and we model railroad, and we talk about trains and trains we saw over the week.”

In recent years those numbers on Tuesday night are dropping, and fewer young people are showing up.

Don Radeck: "A lot of it's the electronic age, it's easier to sit at the computer screen and play video games and stuff like that I see that with my own son"

Some of the decline may also have to do with the real railroads they're based on.

Don Radeck: "After the railroads gave up the passenger trains and that, they kind of lost touch with the public.”

Duane Durr: “If you were a little boy or a little girl that lived in the small town of Sheldon, North Dakota you would ride the Galloping Goose into Fargo.”

Model trains may also be pricing themselves out the reach of kids.

Dennis Voje – Spud Valley Model Railroad: “A locomotive when I was a kid was probably about $25 and now the locomotives today range anywhere from $100 to $250.”

Just like railroads faced competition from other forms of transportation, so does the hobby. The popularity of other remote control vehicles has increased greatly while model railroading has decreased. One of the reason sited is the instant gratification you get from taking this right out of the box, where as a model railroad you have to build. But the model train still holds one advantage over it's new hobby competitor

Mark Erdmann – Owner, Hobby Hut Moorhead: “If your layout is done, all of a sudden you think, Oh I could change this, now you've torn up half the layout and your re-doing it again and that's what good about model railroading, it can continue on, where as something like an RC helicopter or car you can only fly it and run it one time. You can do it as many times as you want but there's no difference. It's the same thing.”

While the numbers at the spud valley club are down, there are likely more new members in the future.

Don Durr: “All six of the grandchildren with my son and step children are interested in model railroading.”

If you are interested in seeing the Spud Valley Railroad or joining the group, call them at 701-282-0169 or email them at spudvalley@hotmail.com.