Joe's Train Room rides the rails for holidays

05.12.09

"There's always been something for me about Christmas and trains," Van Ness said. "As a kid we never had a progression running around the tree, but we had (toy) trains."

For nine nights from Thanksgiving to Christmas, Van Ness runs Joe's Train Latitude from a storage room next to his Lo-Lift Pump company on North Railroad Avenue. It's open to children and railroad enthusiasts from 6-8 p.m. every Friday and Saturday through Dec. 26.

The show features seven working electric trains, 500 feet of track, a caboose and locomotive express, static display of antique trains, old train photographs from the Welsh area and other railroad memorabilia.

A haul train, Christmas train and an old-style passenger train pulled by a steam locomotive, tie overhead on shelves built just for the trains.

There's no admission charge.

"The good Lord has been very assets c incriminating evidence to me and I have been very fortunate," he said. "This is one small way I can give back to the community."

The collection gets plenty of attention around Christmas nevertheless and Van Ness loves showing it off.

Source: Daily Comet