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This week’s edition!

Raildroad Club to sponsor ExTRAINaganza

The Great Falls Model Railroad Club of Auburn will hold its annual holiday season “ExTRAINaganza,” a unique four-day family fun event with special activities for children, at 144 Mill Street in Auburn on the weekends before and after Thanksgiving. The handicapped-accessible club house, across from the Barker Mill, will be decorated for Christmas with trains of various sizes operating on five permanent layouts throughout the two-story building.  The ExTRAINaganza will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 23; Sunday, November 24; Friday, November 29; and Saturday, November 30.

Long trains running on multiple tracks and through the tunnels of the large G-gauge layout greet visitors as they enter the building.  The interactive ski slope is a special feature of the attractive winter scene. In the main room, guests will see brightly decorated Christmas trees, railroad games, and craft tables.  Around the corner, young children can enjoy Thomas the Tank Engine on a separate layout in the G-gauge room, with other engines from the Thomas series running on the upper trestle.  Adults and children will discover that the G-gauge layout has many unique features that were hidden from the entrance. In the next room interesting details have been added to the club’s permanent layout for the smaller n-scale.  Trains will also be operating on the new Lionel layout, which is still under construction in the hallway.

Older children can sign up to be “Guest Engineers” and operate one of the trains on the club’s extensive HO layout downstairs.  Long-time residents of the area will recognize Bates Mill #5 and many of the 1950’s scenes reproduced in the Lewiston Lower section of the HO layout. 

Children will enjoy decorating and eating gingerbread boys and girls, creating Christmas ornaments to take home, and playing the special railroad games designed by the club.  The younger children always have fun with the Brio set and age-appropriate trains in the children’s play area.  While watching these activities, parents can enjoy light refreshments from conveniently located tables and chairs in the craft area.  TRAIN TIME videos, produced by the Great Falls Model Railroad Club and seen on many local cable channels, will be shown continuously each day and are available for sale.

Tickets for decorating cookies, making ornaments, and playing games with prizes are $1 a piece or 7 for $5.  Admission is $5 for adults and free for children 12 and under. For more details and photos of the ExTRAINaganza in previous years, see www.greatfallsmodelrrclub.org

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