PORT ANGELES — Like their love for trains, the annual North Olympic Peninsula Railroaders’ show keeps growing.
In its 19th year, the Train Show and Swap Meet is being moved to the Clallam County Fairgrounds, 1608 W. 16th St.
Leaders of the miniature railroad collectors club said the move is simply to give the show more space.
The show, featuring train displays, vendors, raffles and more will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Club President Steve Stripp said he and other club members anticipate finishing a second HO-scale layout that replicates a portion of the North Olympic Peninsula’s former railway next year and it likely wouldn’t fit in the Sequim Prairie Grange with the existing layout and the growing number of vendors.
“We realized we had an opportunity to expand with the layout and bring in [other groups] so we went forward with it,” Stripp said.
The location is closer for club members to move the original layout to the fairgrounds, he said, and it will allow more room for about 30 train vendors.
Also, club members will welcome a second HO-scale layout from a Bremerton club, and display a 1/8-scale steam engine from the Kitsap Live Steamers.
Railroaders continue to offer an HO-scale set and a wood train set for children to use, too.
The club has been a staple at the Clallam County Fair for nine years in a row. Members set up their original HO-scale set in the Home Arts/Hobby Barn.
Stripp anticipates easily filling the barn with displays, vendors and people, and he even made a model layout to help with setup.
He said energy among the club’s 36 members is high, with an influx of younger members joining.
This year the club received a grant from the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau to advertise out of the area in the Seattle Times, Model Railroader magazine and hot spots online for train enthusiasts.
It also has added more sponsors, including Les Schwab Tires, Lincoln Industrial and “Model Railroad and Legos” from eBay with long-time sponsor Pacific Rim Hobby.
Stripp said club members anticipate a good turnout and hope it continues to build for the club’s 20th show next year — the same year that the Clallam County Fair will mark its 100th year.
The North Olympic Peninsula Railroaders meet at 3 p.m. on the last Saturday of the month (Oct. 27 this month) at the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave.
For more information, call 360-582-1316 or visit stevenstripp@juno.com.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
