A Club Is Looking for a Buyer to Preserve a Museum-Quality Model Railroad Setup in the Basement of a Rocky Hill Home

By Lea Florentine | Posted October 17, 2024

This year, the annual Pacific Southern (PS) Model Railroad 2024 Show in Rocky Hill will go on — hosting shows for the public this year on October 19 and 20.

It’s a regular 4-bedroom home on a 2-acre lot in Rocky Hill. However, it gets about 1,000 visitors a year, has an extensive model railroad setup in the basement, and is home to a 30-member nonprofit club that wants to keep their masterpiece intact, but cannot afford to purchase the property.

This year’s shows are in honor of the late Carl Pate, a PS member since he graduated from college some five decades ago. After he and his wife Anne purchased the house on Washington Street, where the PS resides, eight years ago, they revived the shows for the public after a several year hiatus. The 5,000-square-foot display includes several trains, some with as many as 75 cars, running through incredibly detailed, hand-crafted scenery.

Hopefully it won’t be the last show for the PS. Anne will be selling the house, and hopes to find a buyer who will allow the PS members to keep meeting in the basement weekly and hold public shows one weekend in October. Carl, who became a gifted modeler after several years on crutches as a boy, created several highlights of the PS.

He designed the Carlton Saw Mill after looking at several mills throughout New England and New York State. He started with a six-foot-long piece of basswood, cutting it into matchstick-sized timbers with a miniature table saw. The piece of wood that remained after construction is displayed on the wall in front of the mill.

For the Pate Brothers Circus, Carl used six tiny pieces of wood to build each of the 400 chairs. He hand-painted these, as well as 375 people sitting in the audience. He soldered 1,000 joints for the lion cage, and sifted the sand on the floor several times. He spent six years making the circus’ big top, including six hours sewing its canvas top. The circus train debuted in the 1970s, and has since doubled in length to nearly three dozen cars.

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Carl also created the hot air balloons floating among the clouds. Anne explains, “Each represents four different scales in model railroading. The biggest balloon is O scale; the next smaller one is HO scale (like the PS); then N scale; then Z scale.” This was Carl’s solution to cover a pipe that runs down the wall of the basement.

The artistic talent and attention to detail of all of the PS members is evident throughout the display and its 10 miles of track, all laid by hand. They built most of the scenery and many of the trains and buildings by hand. Anne, who became president of the PS after her husband Carl’s recent death, adds, “All members come to this club with different abilities: software, electronics, model building, scenery construction.”

The PS members have continued to add to a modular freight yard, modeled after one from New York City in the 1940s, and to work on a new train connection that runs below the existing display. The members of the PS invite the public to come and enjoy their one-of-a-kind display, packed with visual treats such as a model of the old Rocky Hill train depot built by PS founder Bob Latham. The group meets each Wednesday night from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Anne reminds readers, “The club is looking for a buyer for the home and railroad to continue to preserve this museum-quality layout.”

The PS railroad train shows will be held October 19 and 20 at 10 am, 11 am, noon, 2 pm, 3 pm, and 4 pm at 26 Washington Street in Rocky Hill. Admission is $10 per person (age 5 and under are free), paid via cash, credit card, or personal check, at the door. Proceeds will benefit Rocky Hill first responders. Parking is on the street. Each 45-minute show is limited to 50 guests.

Visit rockyhilltrains.org for more information.