Railroad open this weekend

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 Piers