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Just A Few Days Left Before Train Exhibit Leaves Fairfield Museum

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The end of the holidays will mean the end of holiday decorations that make homes particularly festive: The Menorah gets packed away, Christmas trees are put to pasture and, for many, the model train that ran circles around the tree stand finds its way back into the box.

Fred Fassman (Left) talks to a museum goer on Sun., Dec. 28.

Fred Fassman (Left) talks to a museum goer on Sun., Dec. 28.

Photo Credit: Salvatore Trifilio
Photo Credit: Salvatore Trifilio

Luckily, there is still time left to visit the Fairfield Museum and Historical Society’s annual holiday train show. On Sunday, Dec. 28, the local museum was crawling with families, patrons and the occasional passerby.

Grand displays populate three large rooms at the Old Field Road building, representing model train clubs from throughout the state.

“It took four members three days to set up this particular display,” said Fred Fassman of Fairfield’s own Housatonic Model Railroad club. He stood in the middle of a large oval table, where he controlled the model trains displayed on an “old 1950s layout” and fielded questions from interested spectators.

Fassman’s models were small and detailed, powered by electricity. He said he and his fellow club members work out of the Fairfield Public Library and have been participating in the year-end exhibit for nearly 15 years.

“The club has been around for quite some time,” he said. “This particular layout we do for the Fairfield museum, and we put it up once a year for them during this exhibit.”

A room over, Connecticut G-Scalers club’s display went up in scale and as a result up in power as well. Their trains run on diesel, but the stories of the men and woman involved in the club are similar. They all started with a small model train navigating the circumference of their childhood Christmas trees.

“I think that’s how we all got started,” Ray Jakabcin with a smile.

The Holiday Train Exhibit is displayed each day at the Fairfield Museum and Historical Society and will remain open until Sunday, Jan. 4. The exhibit is closed on New Year’s Day.

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