For Terry Bowie, toy trains always went with Christmas.
As a kid in the '50s, Bowie would stand for hours outside Atlanta department store windows, mesmerized by the tiny Lionel engines zipping around the tracks.
Now in the age of high-tech holiday gadgets, the 61-year-old toy train collector has re-created some of that railroad nostalgia in Norcross. Bowie, along with a team of four other toy enthusiasts, recently set up a large display inside an empty storefront in the downtown district, less than a block from the real-life train tracks near Thrasher Park.
"I thought it would be a great thing to do to bring some cheer to young and old alike," said Bowie, who has lived in or near Norcross for 37 years. "We've had a lot of people come look at it. Little kids put their faces against the windows."
For three hours each Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday night, Bowie has operated two passenger trains, a freight train and streetcar on a wood table display 16 feet long by 8 feet wide. The trains -- with their white lights and faux passengers -- snake around a miniature town filled with churches, factories, movie theaters and diners on a double-tier track.
Bowie has collected the pieces over three decades, and many have never seen the light of day. The 14-foot-long Santa Fe Super Chief, a passenger train, is one of the pricier pieces, running $3,700. Altogether, the set is valued at more than $10,000, he said.
Bowie got the idea for the display before Thanksgiving. He noticed some empty Norcross storefronts and thought a train display would coincide nicely with the city's three-day-a-week holiday carriage rides. So he asked the owner of 29 S. Peachtree St. for permission to set up shop. Then he gathered a volunteer team of design, carpentry and electrical experts -- buddies of his in the national Train Collectors Association -- to help put his plan in motion.
A set of this size would normally take two months to wire, lay the track, assemble accessories, and build and paint the table, Bowie said. The group did it in 10 days, working from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The trains came online Dec. 5.
On Tuesday night, Jonata Cutler, 3, of Norcross marveled at the display, pressing his tiny hands and face against the glass. "That's a Santa Fe," he yelled out, pointing to the sleek red-and-silver passenger train. "It's going 'round and 'round."
Ty Smith III, 7, also of Norcross has been hooked on trains every since he was diagnosed with autism at age 3, his father said.
"He basically lives for trains," Ty Smith Jr. said. "Every night when I go home from work, he asks me to take him to the train tracks [near Thrasher Park]. When we told him about the toy trains in the window, he said, ‘Let's go.'"
Smith said trains keep his son engaged, with their flashing lights, bells and whistles.
"I like the noise," said young Ty, who along with his brother Charlie, 5, have at least 20 toy train engines at home.
Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson said the display brings back memories of 1959, when as an 8-year-old he received a Lionel train set for Christmas.
"It's unexpected," Johnson said of the toy train setup. "You think there's a shop there and you walk around and there's a little wonderland inside.."
Bowie hopes the display will preserve memories of Christmases past and spark a renewed interest in toy trains.
"Some developer told me the future is in the past. People want the nostalgia of simpler times," Bowie said. "Kind of keying on that, these trains are the same way."
IF YOU GO
What: Toy train display Where: 29 S. Peachtree St., Norcross When: 6-9 p.m. Friday; Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Trains take a break Christmas Day.
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