Railroad open this weekend

Doug Brandau of Sterling stands beside a 36-by-30-foot model railroad, nestled in a re-creation of the Allegheny mountains. The model, a replica of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in the 1950s, was built by William Hammer and Richard Jones, both of Polo, Paul Pierson of Rockford, and Doug Brandeau of rural Sterling. (Photos by Chris Padgett/SVN)

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STERLING - The first thing you see when you step into Doug Brandau's converted horse barn is the mountains. They came together, like the rest of his 36-by-30-foot model railroad, in bits and pieces. The reproduced Allegheny mountain range, dotted with West Virginia mining towns, farms and shops, started in the corner nearest the door, Brandau said. From there, boulders and trees and tracks, less than an inch wide, spread to the top of the barn's 9-foot ceiling and across the room. "We wanted to make it so you see the mountains first, and then the train," Brandau said. "We wanted to make sure you couldn't see over the top of them." Brandau, 61, and his train-loving buddies - William Hammer, 75, Richard Jones, 72, both of Polo, and Paul Pierson, 51, of Rockford - have been working on this model, bit by bit, lamppost by lamppost, street sign by street sign, for 9 years. "We're nowhere close to done," Jones said. "There's a lot of detail we're working on." The retired farmers and horsemen have lived in mountainless Illinois all their lives. They've studied photos and blueprints of 1950s-era Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad stations - they've ridden the modern-day lines themselves - to make sure they got each building, each hillside, each mine shack just right. Saturday and Sunday, they'll open their opus to the public. They've opened the model railroad to the public in the past, most recently in October. "Frankly, I wasn't going to do it again," Brandau said. "The main reason why we didn't open it up more often was the quality of the railroad was dropping. It got to be 'Throw the darn thing together so we can open it up to the public.' It takes a beating." Still, the men want to share the nearly 90 miles of track their hobby represents. "It's historic," Brandau said. "It's better than I had ever dreamt." If you go When: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 1-4:30 p.m. Sunday. Where: 17845 Rigler Drive, Sterling. Directions: From Sterling, go north on state Route 40, turn left on Fulfs Road, go 3.7 miles and turn left on Rigler Drive. From Morrison, take U.S. Route 30 and turn left on Habben Road, right on Holly Road, then left on Fulfs Road and right on Rigler Drive. Admission: $6, to help pay for the railroad's maintenance and expansion. For more information: Call Doug Brandau, 815-625-7699.