By Christina Grand Porter, local author
Tom Elesh remembers always loving toy trains. He got his first, a rubber one that could be pushed and pulled, at the age of 4. He worked for the Trading Post Train Shop in Cleveland in the 1970s and ’80s, and decades later, in 2016, he followed his dream and started the Corner Field Model Railroad Museum, Trading Post, and Train Shop in Huntsburg. It opened in 2017 and is steadily seeing more visitors each year. Tom, his wife, Vicki, and son, Tom Jr., run it, while daughter Ashley helps out and is currently developing a dog training center on the property.
Corner Field buys, sells, and repairs trains, but if you need a repair on that train that runs around your Christmas tree, take it in during the off-season so you’re not bringing it in just before the Christmas rush when both the museum and shop are busiest. In the gift shop, they carry Lionel trains and Gargraves tracks and accessories, specializing in Lionel, MTH, Williams, American Flyer, K-Line, and Weaver used trains. You can pick up an array of wondrous tiny accessories, an engineer’s cap, train whistles, and Christmas-scented train smoke so your steam engine can puff along like a real train.
Prepare to catch your jaw dropping when you walk into the mesmerizing museum. This is the largest family-owned and -operated O-gauge model railroad layout in the entire United States. It took eight years to complete, build, and detail the displays that represent both nostalgic past and exuberant modern landscapes from the 1940s through today. It’s hard to know where to start first, but everywhere you look, there is something delightful to see. The museum layout consists of over 250 steam, diesel, electric, subway, and other engines in O gauge and thousands of trees, automobiles, trucks, lights, and people. And one each of Godzilla and King Kong. There are over 7,000 feet of track, more than 160 turnout switches, over 130 operating animations, more than 200 passenger cars, over 700 freight cars, and more than 3,000 structures and buildings, some of which are over 75 years old.
Tom Jr. has thrown both his heart and sweat into the displays and puts a lot of passion into everything he touches at the museum. He builds and services the stunning exhibits, maintaining the buildings, wiring, scenery, lighting, and trains. Vicki’s grandfather donated land in Chardon in his mother’s memory, so Tom Jr. fashioned a miniature version of the park in their honor. Today, that land is the Walter C. Best Wildlife Preserve. Tom Jr. also created a model of the Best Sand building in Chardon, a company that his great-grandfather founded. Among many other captivating works are charming Amish scenes, a lively carnival, a church hosting an elaborate wedding, a vintage McDonald’s boasting 15-cent hamburgers, and an incredible veterans’ hospital from 1942 that was carved out of a solid block of wood.
People from all over the world who enjoy model trains find the museum on YouTube and are compelled to visit. The family always greets guests and asks where they are from. They have seen visitors from Canada, California, Michigan, and Hawaii (among other states) and even from as far away as China, Russia, the Philippines, Costa Rica, and the U.K. Impressively, one visitor from England turned out to be the very same man who ran the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter movies.
Christmas is the museum’s busiest season. From the day after Thanksgiving through the first of the year, they have an enchanting Christmas display that includes a complete Polar Express set with full sound effects that Lionel produced for the movie. People of all ages visit the museum at this time to kindle their Christmas spirit and reflect on the simple joys these scenes from everyday life in various decades evoke. Mark your calendar to remind yourself to gift yourself and yours with a visit to this remarkable, world-renowned museum that sits in your own backyard.
Corner Field Model Railroad Museum, Trading Post, and Train Shop is located in Huntsburg at 16720 Pioneer Road (44062). Call them at 440-636-5162 or 216-661-7300. They are open Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. They are closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and all major holidays.
