Photos: Model train show features big layouts, tiny trains

PORTLAND, Ore. - Model train fans flocked to the Oregon Convention Center over the weekend to check out some amazing train layouts and model trains ranging from massive to minuscule.

Local model train clubs were also on hand as were dozens of vendors selling everything from CD's featuring the sounds of trains in rumbling high-fidelity to collectors offering the rarest of vintage models.

Some enthusiasts in attendance had model steam engines that actually ran on steam power. Local clubs assembled huge, highly detailed layouts that most enthusiasts could only dream of.

Big-name model train vendors such as Lionel, Walthers, Atlas and Bachmann also had large displays.

One massive layout, which featured a lengthy bridge and multiple running trains, was all the more impressive since it was constructed entirely - including the trains - out of Legos.

The exhibition was put on by the World's Greatest Hobby on Tour, a consortium of model train vendors, enthusiast publications and local clubs.

All photos by Bill Roberson, KATU News