More than 500 people have come to the Nacogdoches Train Depot over the past two weekends to see a large display of Lionel electric trains.
The Loblolly Railroad Crew is in the final days of exhibiting its model train display. It features four operating trains that run through different scenes inspired by the East Texas landscape with its oil fields and pump jacks. George Ellis says this display is set up 15 feet from the main line train tracks.
“Any time during the day a Union Pacific freight train could come through traveling from Shreveport to Houston,” Ellis said, who grew up running model trains in his basement. “It gets pretty exciting when we’re operating trains in the depot -- blowing the whistle and ringing the bell -- and a freight train comes through at 40 miles per hour.”
The model trains will be running from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sunday the exhibit is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Nacogdoches Railroad depot, a restored building that’s 103 years old.