TRAIN REACTIONS : Local Aficionados Present a Model Meet That Promises Fun on a Grand Scale

What is it with kids and trains? From Thomas the Tank Engine to the Little Engine That Could, trains transcend the ranks of mere transportation to become rolling symbols of fortitude, courage and all-around pluck.

Parents aren’t immune to this either, often hooking up with their children’s train mania without a backward glance. We read train stories at bedtime; we labor mightily (and curse discreetly) over model train layouts. And, muscle cramps be damned, we even fold ourselves into Lilliputian theme-park trains to catch the glow of our kids’ faces as they ride the rails.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Orange County Model Engineers will let visitors indulge their taste for trains at no cost--that is, if you don’t count the parents’ chiropractic bills. From 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., about 35 miniature trains from across the country will rumble over the Mackerel Flats and Goat Hill Junction Railroad in Costa Mesa’s Fairview Park in the model engineers’ annual train meet.

Admission is free, and visitors may ride any of the operating trains as often as they like at no charge. Donations, however, to the nonprofit group will be accepted. Vendors will sell train-themed souvenirs and collectibles, and picnicking is encouraged.

Train owners and enthusiasts from as far as Florida, along with many of the 90 men, women and children who belong to Orange County Model Engineers, will be on hand to drive the trains and discuss their hobby, according to member Bob Donnelly of Costa Mesa. There are roughly 1,500 model engineer clubs nationwide, including groups in Riverside, Los Angeles and Chula Vista.

The Orange County group offers free train rides every third Saturday and Sunday at the Costa Mesa park, typically attracting 2,500 or more visitors in a weekend. Club members also put on tours and rides for birthday, community and school groups--generally for a small fee to cover insurance costs. This weekend, the group will designate some unsuspecting passenger as their 100,000th rider and award him or her with an engineer’s cap, a train whistle and a private train ride.

“The whole idea is to perpetuate (interest in) trains,” Donnelly explained. “Everybody loves trains; people knock themselves out setting them up under the Christmas tree for one week a year. Here, they can sit back and enjoy that on a grander scale.”

Visitors to the annual train meet will ride in open-air passenger cars pulled by engines built to one-eighth scale, said Donnelly, who recently retired from Disneyland’s security department. Most are diesel fueled, but several steam and electric engines are expected to be on hand. Many of the privately owned vehicles were purchased fully assembled or built from kits, Donnelly said, adding that visitors will also see trains that were hand-built by master craftsmen.

“Some of the guys just design and build their own. One fellow from Holland was back there a few years ago and was impressed with an electric train he saw in France. He got the plans and downscaled them and built one himself.”

Passenger cars typically seat three to five people (for safety reasons, children under the age of 1 and pregnant women are not allowed to ride). Each engine can also pull freight cars. A cattle car constructed by one local member boasts a small plastic herd and, for an added touch of authenticity, tape-recorded moos.

Situated on 45 acres of parkland that the model engineers lease from the city for $1 per year, the Mackerel Flats and Goat Hill Junction Railroad is one of the largest layouts of its kind in Southern California, Donnelly said. In five years, the railroad has grown from 700 feet of aluminum track laid 7 1/2 inches apart (“we run on recycled beer cans,” Donnelly joked) to a 2 1/2-mile course that offers riders views of Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and, much to the chagrin of some golfers, Costa Mesa Golf and Country Club.

“If a guy is teeing up, and one of our engineers blows the whistle . . . whooo, look out!” Donnelly said, laughing. Miffed golfers have been known to “accidentally” hit a practice shot in the track’s direction, he added, “but never when the public’s around.”

The whistle-blowing isn’t just for atmosphere’s sake. Train operators, whizzing along at 7 m.p.h., follow the same rules and regulations as the staff of a full-size railroad; hence, whistles must be blown every time a train goes over or under the railroad’s 93-foot trestle bridge.

The Mackerel Flats and Goat Hill Junction Railroad has much of the same equipment that might be found in a full-size yard, including a turntable and a hydraulic hoist for lifting cars.

A large portion of the layout was built from castoff materials. Many platforms and walkways were built with concrete left over from the John Wayne Airport expansion. Used water tanks for the station’s tower were contributed by American Airlines, and railroad ties are built from Home Depot’s castoff lumber soaked in motor oil from local car dealers and garages.

Even the group’s clubhouse is recycled. In its former life, it was a shed in the city’s maintenance yard.

Members want to add another 10,000 feet of track, making the railroad the largest of its kind to haul the public in the United States, Donnelly said. Budgetary considerations may delay the expansion, but that slower pace is just fine with Donnelly.

“We just want the public to hopefully learn a little bit about trains and then sit back and have a good time. You need that these days.

“Like we tell a lot of the kids, ‘The West wasn’t settled with 747s.’ ”

* What: Third annual Orange County Model Engineers’ Train Meet.

* When: Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17 and 18, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

* Where: Mackerel Flats and Goat Hill Junction Railroad, Fairview Park, 2501 Placentia Ave., Costa Mesa.

* Whereabouts: From the San Diego (405) Freeway, exit on Harbor Boulevard and drive south. Turn right on Wilson Street, then right on Placentia. The park’s on the right.

* Wherewithal: Rides and admission are free, but donations are accepted.

* Where to call: (714) 548-7246 or (714) 751-7706.

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