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Southern Division member Jim Ritten and his layout were recently featured in the Highlands Sun. | |
 (The article is reprinted by permission from the Highland Sun Newspaper.) Two years ago, retiree Jim Ritten of Lake Placid discovered a new hobby which has taken over what used to be his home gym: model trains. His model village features two tracks, an upper eight-foot track, and a 14-foot lower track. He owns six trains, including two passenger trains, as well as tankers, freight cars, and coal cars. “This thing started on a pool table,” Jim explained. “I paid 20 dollars for my first train. Took it home, cleaned it up, and fired it up,” he said with a smile. “I tell Elaine (a worker) from Nu-Hope (Elder Care Services Thrift Store), it’s all her fault for selling it to me.” “He loves it, it’s great,” said Jim’s wife Chris. She described how sometimes when a husband retires, he doesn’t know what to do with himself. “This is a great hobby.” “It’s a lot of fun,” Jim added. “It’s over and over. You get a lot of miles out of it … I can sit here with a coffee or beer, and just watch the trains run." The village is an eclectic collection. Some of the buildings are plastic, but the new police station came from a kit of pre-printed cardstock pieces that Jim assembled. He finds train and village supplies in antique stores, thrift stores, and craft stores. He also frequents Zitnik Trains hobby store in Pinellas Park. The many details of the village include a post office, a church, an apartment building, a farm, and even a tiny person running for the school bus. Jim always strives to make his models realistic. Much of Jim’s personal history can be found in his model train village, including a miniature service station with a car perched on it. Jim explained, “Growing up in Florida back in the ‘50s, my dad owned an Amoco service station with a car on top, off U.S. Hwy 1.” In the 1960s, when Jim was stationed on the USS Independence in the Mediterranean Sea, he visited the leaning tower of Pisa, which can be seen in his village. “Back then, they let you go up in it, and there were no safety rails,” he recalled. Jim served in the Navy from 1966-1970 as an aviation hydraulic mechanic. He is very proud of his military heritage, and explained that his family has served in every conflict since World War I. After the Navy, Jim went back to school, earned his Airplane and Powerplant Mechanics Certification, and also a private pilot license. He retired after 35 years working at Yellow Freight as a truck driver. Jim’s love of trains isn’t limited to model sets. The walls of the train room are adorned with train paraphernalia, including posters, framed puzzles, and there’s a mug with a picture of the train Jim’s great-grandfather drove. Jim and his wife have taken train trips to the North Carolina Smokey Mountains, Vermont, and Clewiston. According to Jim, train-lovers at the Smokey Mountain Trains Museum in Bryson, N.C., have been working on their model train display for 18 years — and they’re still not finished with it. A docent told Jim, “Son, you ain’t never done with it. You’re always going to be tinkering with it.” Jim agreed. “It’s a work in motion. You’re never done … Sunday afternoons I come and change the configuration to keep it interesting … It brings out the creative side of me.” Train models are a work of love, Jim explained. “It takes hours and hours. You don’t do it all in one day.” “What’s the difference between a man and a boy?” Jim asked with a grin. “The price of his toys.” And, of course, the Ritten household Christmas tree isn’t complete without a remote-operated train around the base. Jim wants to start a model train group in Lake Placid. If interested, call him at 352-454-5144. | |
 Photo 01 - Jim Ritten, of Lake Placid, activates his trains in his display at his home. His display has an upper eight-foot track, and a 14-foot lower track. |
 Photo 02 - Growing up in the 1950s, Jim Ritten's father owned a service station with a car on top, which Ritten has recreated here in his model train display. |
 Photo 03 - Jim Ritten operates the train going around their Christmas tree. It wouldn't be Christmas in the Ritten household without a remote-controlled train around the tree. |
 Photo 04 - Jim Ritten blows a train whistle he got for his grandchildren. |
 Photo 05 - Jim Ritten calls this train station "Union Train Station."
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 Photo 06 - Jim Ritten holds up a mug with a picture of the train his great-grandpa drove. |
 Photo 07 - Jim Ritten points himself out in his U. S. Navy boot camp photo. |
 Photo 08 - Jim Ritten watches his Santa Fe Amtrak races past him on the track. |
 Photo 09 - This is Jim Ritten's model train set and village. |
 Photo 10 - Jim Ritten's model train village includes a small airport. |
 Photo 11 - This is Jim Ritten's model village. |
 Photo 12 - This is the Santa Fe Amtrak in Jim Ritten's collection. |
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For Veteran's Day 2022 in the Jacksonville area.... thanks to member Bob Burch | |
 Special Thanks to Richard Paul with the First Coast Model Railroad Society for his HO scale display “Stealing the General” Medal of Honor display. |
Beaches Train Club 157 Belvedere St. Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 For library hours go to here or call 904-255-2665. |
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“The Road to Victory in World War II by Land, Sea, and Air,” is an exhibit honoring these veterans during the month of November at the Beaches Branch Library, 600 Third St., Neptune Beach. | |
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From member Bob Burch:
Beaches Train Club running trains at the Beaches Museum's "Springing the Blooms Event" on April 22, 2022!
Our next event at the Beaches Museum will be Saturday, September 10th: Riding the Rails - Pablo Beach Train Day!
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See what some of our members did over a previous Christmas season!
Village Walk
MOSH Train Exhibit
