Railroad Club presents Hobo Holiday
The Great Falls Model Railroad Club will present its fourth annual Hobo Holiday on Saturday, May 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the club’s two-story, wheelchair accessible building at 144 Mill Street, across from the Barker Mill Apartments in Auburn. Children and adults are invited to add to the festive atmosphere of this family-fun event by dressing as hobos.
The event will provide visitors with a unique opportunity to learn about this fascinating part of railroad history while enjoying model railroad displays and participating in various activities and games. Hobo culture and hobo folklore will be outlined in a special handout and hobo symbols will be placed around the building to alert the initiated about potential dangers or where they are welcome. Everyone will have a chance to sample hobo stew.
A scavenger hunt will encourage participants to investigate the entire railroad club building, with its extensive library and model railroad layouts in various scales. Younger children will enjoy the special play area with age-appropriate trains and will operate Thomas the Tank Engine on the newly expanded layout in the G-gauge room. Older children will run trains on the club’s permanent HO layout downstairs. Children’s games will include Hoop a Caboose, Roundhouse Roulette and Fishing for Prizes in the special fish pond. Model railroad supplies and TrainTime videos will be available for purchase.
Railroads are private property and hobos rode trains illegally. Since the club does not want to encourage trespassing on railroad property, one feature of Hobo Holiday is a Railroad Safety Quiz. Operation Lifesaver safety posters will be on display throughout the building, providing information to be used to answer questions in a Railroad Safety Quiz. Those who answer the questions correctly will be entered into a drawing for prizes, including gift certificates from Governor’s Restaurant and Craft Mania and a free pass to ride on one of Maine’s participating tourist railroads.
Admission to the event is $3; children under 12 will enter for free. For more information, see www.greatfallsmodelrrclub.org.