Stories From Main Street: NJ Hi-Railers' Small Model Trains Are Larger Than Life
PATERSON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Picture the model trains under a Christmas tree, but to the extreme.
In an old silk mill in Paterson, there's a miniature world of wonder, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.
"The New Jersey Hi-Railers is a train club, similar to Lionel's-sized trains, O-Gauge trains," Bob Iuliucci said. "We have the biggest layout in the country. It's 185 feet by 40 feet."
Iuliucci recently showed Adams the trains, trestles, bridges, skyscrapers, cityscapes and little people.
"We have a waterfall at one area," Iuliucci said. "We have a 50-foot-long mountain. ... We have so many tunnels and things like that."
There's a mile of track, more than 360 switches and six loops. It's longer than half a football field. Video monitors watch the tunnels because some of the locomotives are expensive.
"Lionel's Union Pacific Big Boy is $2,000," Iuliucci said. "They have computer chips in them. They have computer boards in them that control the lighting, that control the operation of the engine -- forward and reverse -- the sounds that the engine makes."
The New Jersey Hi-Railers strive for authenticity.
"The subway stations are so detailed, we even have rats, model rats," Iuliucci said.
Twenty-three trains can run at once. It takes more than seven minutes to go around.
For the Hi-Railers, who had two of their train sets appear in "The Sopranos," it's a ticket back to childhood.
"It really is all about fun," Iuliucci said. "It's about families."
The Hi-Railers are holding an open house Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit NJHiRailers.com.
"Christmas season is the time for trains," Iuliucci said.