CHRISSY OHLINGER /Special to the PVT Chandler Apt is one of a number of model train enthusiasts in the Pahrump area. CHRISSY OHLINGER /Special to the PVT Details around the cars can be as thoroughly engrossing as the trains themselves. Some modelists have worked on their layouts for years, trying to get everything just so or making changes just for fun. Advertisement

When Jim Houts and Conrad Menconi put a notice in the newspaper suggesting formation of a model train group in Pahrump, they had no idea what kind of response they would receive.

The two friends borrowed a room at the Pahrump Valley Methodist Church and set the tables for 16 people. The meeting was scheduled for 10 a.m.

To their amazement, people started to arrive at 9:30 and stayed until past noon. More than 30 people came to talk about model train building and to share ideas and resources.

Houts says that some 20 more people who were not able to attend are interested as well.

Model train building is most popular with the retired community. The trains bring up nostalgic memories for many.

"In my day, you were a really neat kid if you had a model train," said Chandler Apt, another Pahrump enthusiast. He got his first model train some 60 years ago and recalls fondly that it was an old American Flyer. He liked it because it was realistic.

Little did many parents know at the time that they were setting their children up with a hobby for life. An average sized train layout is on a four by eight foot base, but they can also fill very large rooms, often occupying their own special room in a house.

Some enthusiasts copy real, historic train routes, while others invent the topography and rail line.

Model train builders don't just stop at the trains, though. They make all of the track, the mountains or desert and the little scenes that appear around the track.

Sometimes a mine is pictured in the layout, other times a little town. Many have plants and animals, and are often very detailed. Sometimes kits are available, but not always. Working to build something creative is part of the fun.

Model train building incorporates many different kinds of work. An important aspect is the electrical arrangement. All of the track switches may be controlled by a single panel.

Modelists use a degree of construction engineering, as well. Apt built his own bridges from miniature wooden planks.

But above all, the modelists are artists. Whether they are trying to duplicate a real train line or a layout they saw in a book, modelists strive for detail.

Many times they must figure out how to create a realistic looking model without a guide. Apt, for example, cast molds in plaster to make the train tunnel look like real stone. He made all of the plants and water himself, and of course painted all of his handmade landscape.

The real fun is not in finishing the project but in working on it. Modelists may work on the same layout for many years, constantly trying to improve on it. Sometimes they change things around, change the bridge or the town, just for fun.

Houts and Menconi are excited about the group; they hope they can make it an official club.

Activities will probably include train buying and selling, sharing knowledge and resources in general and possibly organizing a show in Pahrump where individual members are responsible for a short section of a giant train track linked together, and the public can be invited to view the trains.

Future meetings are planned for the last Saturday of each month. the group is open to anyone at all who enjoys model trains. Women are also welcome to attend.

The next meeting will be Jan. 26 of the new year.

Call Jim Houts at 727-0142 or Conrad Menconi at 751-2230, or just keep an eye out as the next meeting will be posted in the Pahrump Valley Times.