PRIME TIME
Railroad Memorabilia
On Display At
Albuquerque
Rail Fair
By Martin Frentzel
S
earch all the garage sales you
want, but it is doubtful you will
ever find a $30,000 railroad
lantern like the one being shown at this
year’s 22nd annual Albuquerque Rail
Fair – the place to be May 20 if you are
fascinated by railroading memorabilia.
The Santa Fe Railroad lantern which
has a cast blue globe with the Santa
Fe emblem in the glass, is one of only
a handful known to exist, said Bryan
Moseley, who developed a passion for
railroading as a teenager and worked
for the Santa Fe Burlington Northern
railroad for a time. He is not only a
partner in the group that produces the
fair but has also attended all previous
21 events. Needless to say, he has seen
his share of fascinating artifacts pass
through it.
“I once saw a Fred Harvey chamber
pot,” Moseley says, “and those are
pretty darn valuable if they are in good
condition.”
If you don’t set your sights too high,
you should find plenty of other railroad
items for sale at the show. About 75
percent of the 110 or so participating
vendors will be selling dining car
china, locks and keys, lanterns, signs
and posters. Some vendors also
specialize in model trains. Six or seven
model railroad tracks will be operating.
Those looking for treasures specific
to New Mexico and the Southwest
should be able to find dining car
china patterns. Two patterns from
the glory days of Santa Fe Railroad
travel are popular – the Mimbreno
pattern featuring animals adapted from
Mimbres pottery, and a California
poppy pattern. “The Mimbreno china
was designed by Mary Colter, who also
decorated rooms at the El Tovar Lodge
at the Grand Canyon,” Moseley says.
Dining car menus are another
popular item that should be available at
the fair.
The event is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at
the School Arts Building at Expo New
Mexico. Entrance fee is $7.
MODEL TRAIN COMMUNITY
Al Hovey caught the model train
bug when he was about 9 years old
in Iowa and received his first model
train set. Now that he is 70, he finds
great fulfillment in helping boys, and
the occasional girl, work on model
railroads. Working through the Rio
Grande Valley Model Railroad Club,
children ages 5 to 18 meet with
Hovey at the North Domingo Baca
Multigenerational Center, 7521 Carmel
NE. Meetings are held 9 to 11:30 a.m.
the second Saturday of every month.
In all, there are about 19 model
railroad clubs in the Albuquerque and
Santa Fe area, and the Albuquerque
Society of HO Model Engineers
is one of them. Chuck Aylward
says ASHOME meets at 1 p.m. the
third Saturday of every month at its
permanent layout at Hoffman Town.
The New Mexico Council
of Railroad Clubs serves as the
communications arm of the model
railroading community in the Santa
Fe and Albuquerque area, says Harlan
“Buzz” Lenander, the superintendent
of the Rio Grande Division 6, Rocky
Mountain Region, National Model
Railroad Association.
Lenander says the council has no
officers, no dues, and they meet four
times a year. “We try to promote the
hobby and exchange information,” he
says. That information is sent via the
group’s website, https://sites.google.
com/site/nmcrrc1/. The best way to
have something posted on the is to send
it to Lenander at [email protected]
May 2017
7