AARON SCOTT: The Columbia River Gorge
is full of natural wonders,
but barreling along its banks are also wonders
of human engineering: trains.
Combined, the power of trains and the grandeur of the Gorge
is enough to inspire awe.
For one group of Portlanders, the combination
has also inspired a project of epic proportions in miniature.
CHILD: That is humongous!
The Columbia Gorge Model Railroad Club
is the biggest model railroad in the Northwest
and one of the oldest clubs in the country.
Since 1947, its members have built a meticulous replica
of the tracks that trace the Gorge,
from Stonehenge...
to Crown Point...
to Union Station.
There's no way in the world I can build something like this
at my house -- couldn't afford it.
So you join up with everybody else
and we come down here and just have a blast.
[ chatter ]
When the full majesty of the railroad gets chugging
in its North Portland warehouse,
you get a sense of just how far model trains have come
from a circular track in the basement
with a stop-and-go button.
- This is just the entire main line in white,
and then the red spots are tracks
that are occupied by a train.
It's pretty accurate for when you can't see your train.
It takes around 30 people to run the entire setup,
from individual conductors to dispatchers
buried deep inside the model.
- What train do you have?
You have the crossover at Horse Thief.
Let me know when you're clear.
The nice thing about this club
is that there's a whole variety of people.
We have some people that all they want to do
is run trains.
And then there's the opposite, in my case,
is to where I just enjoy doing scenery.
The club chose to set the model in the 1950s,
because that was a golden era
when steam and diesel locomotives overlapped.
Members make most of the scenery themselves,
working off photos and even architectural plans.
For Cynthia Leonard, no detail is too small.
CYNTHIA There we go!
This is a new animation that we put in this year,
which is chickens feeding.
It's a little magnet that goes around
and makes them peck.
There's something about recreating the world
in a very small sort of way.
It makes it very manageable.
AARON SCOTT: Do you ever have fantasies
of King Kong or Godzilla?
[ laughs ] Yeah, everybody -- that's one thing
that we're always talking about,
is, like, walking across like Godzilla, actually,
and yeah, doing the whole Tokyo bit, yeah.
Like Godzilla, trains are captivating in part
because of their size and power.
They roll over the landscape, reshaping the mountains
and cities around them.
There's something rather awesome
about these massive, huge machines
that are moving tons of material and people,
and they're elegant.
The goal of the club feels like a paradox, then,
to replicate that same sense of awe
on the smallest of scales.
[ train whistling ]
- Oh!
That's not moving.
That requires not only realistic-looking scenery,
but also an intricate web of electronics and soundscapes
that hides just out of sight.
I have just completed wiring all of the headlights,
taillights, and streetlamps on this section of bridge.
They're a low-voltage DC
light-emitting diode type wiring.
So don't look at this and say, my god,
I would never let him wire my house.
This is a little different.
It's a constant process of tinkering and upgrades
that feels like you crammed all the Christmas presents
for 130 train nerds into one giant room.
They've recently upgraded the track
from analog to digital
so operators can control any train
from anywhere in the setup.
[ train whistle blows ]
And they're constantly trying
to make the scenery more accurate
by adding things like the Native fishing platforms
at Celilo Falls.
The emphasis on new technology and change
means that the club continues to attract new members.
The stereotype is old, retired white guys.
There's quite a bit of truth to that.
But the hobby is expanding.
You know, my father used to wake me up
and say, "Train's going by."
And I would get up and watch the train.
I did that to my grandson.
And look what he's doing now.
I have to go over to the power
and then when we turn on the layout,
flip a switch that turns on all the building lights,
and then this whole board should light up.
Well, check it out.
Which ones did you do?
Um, I did basically this whole street right here,
all the houses.
The church is lit up right now.
Oh, yeah.
The drug store is lit up.
That looks good!
Good job! Thank you.
Club members put in thousands of hours of work every year,
but it's with one big moment in mind:
November, when they throw open the doors to the public
for their annual fundraiser.
There goes another one!
There's the fast one! They go so fast.
- Since he was one year old, we've been coming to the trains.
He knows all the bridges in Portland.
That's the Broadway Bridge over there.
That's the Steel Bridge over there.
It has a yellow level.
It's nearly impossible to take in every scene in detail.
- Oh, they're moving!
The chickens are moving!
So club members have drawn up a scavenger hunt
with some of their favorite items,
plus some sci-fi Easter eggs.
- Find the lookout towers.
- Find the lookout!
- So that would probably be -- wouldn't that be up
on the top of the hills?
- Is that another dinosaur up there?
I can't tell.
CYNTHIA: We have things kind of just as a little wink
and a nod to the fact that this is a hobby.
It's not work.
Let's have fun.
Just as the beauty of the Columbia Gorge
has been preserved for generations to come,
the Columbia Gorge model railroad club
looks to drawing in these emerging train lovers
to keep their model railroad running
full steam into the future.
ISAAC: That way we constantly have younger members
coming up through the system, learning how to do things,
so when it comes their time, they get to take over
as we move on off into the sunset.
Back to the caboose and down the track, you know?
[ laughs ]
[ train whistle blows ]
[ train chugging ]