Mid Michigan Model Train Show and Flea Market to take place Sunday in Finch

Thomas the Tank Engine will not be there, but six other just as capable trains will have to make up for it.

The 26th annual Mid-Michigan Train Show and Flea Market will showcase six model train set-ups and their operators from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday in Finch Fieldhouse.

“The nice thing about the show is that if a family wants to get started (in building model trains) they can come and see pretty much everything they would need,” said Larry Lewis, the President of the Clare Depot Preservation Group. “There will be over 200 vendors with all price ranges and all levels of expertise.”

The show is hosted by the Clare Depot Preservation Group and Dog Tales Inc. Admission to the event is $4 for adults and free for children 10 and under.

Lewis said the preservation group is raising funds to save a historic train depot in Clare.

The depot is more than 105 years old and is the last of its kind in the U.S., but it is located in between two active tracks and upkeep and repairs are difficult.

Lewis said the group is close to having the funds to move the unique V-shaped depot to a new location so it can be re-roofed and turned into a museum for locomotive history.

Among the six tracks on display will be a circus train complete with big top tents, a garden train designed to be set-up outdoors and a train powered completely by steam.

Betty Lewis, head of Dog Tales Inc., said she got involved with model trains because of her husband, but the hobby has become something the whole family enjoys.

“(I really like) the garden train because it’s designed to withstand the weather, so you can just leave it out in your garden,” she said. “It really turns the experience into a family thing, and it’s so nice to see it (the train) run amongst the flowers.”

The other half of the proceeds from the show will go to Dog Tales Inc.

Dani Hiar, the graphics design coordinator for Media Graphix, will be at the show with certified therapy dogs to represent Dog Tales.

Dog Tales Inc. is a four-week program offered to local schools. It allows children 20- to 25-minute time slots to practice their reading skills with a canine companion.

Hiar said Dog Tales is a great way to help children learn to read.

“It’s a fun non-threatening way for kids to learn,” she said. “They get to read to dogs, and the dogs won’t judge them. Taking away that pressure on the child is important.”

Lewis said he got involved with model trains because he is interested in the history and because it is a great way to relax.

“You get to build your own little empire anyway you want to,” he said. “It’s nice to come home from work and just relax in your own world, where everything is just how you want it.”

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