GILROY
– Slowly tugging its load, Engine No. 8632 made its way out of
the mountain tunnel and approached a giant bridge outside of
town.
Out of nowhere, with its horn blasting, a shiny, silver
streamlined locomotive, with the name
”
Crusader
”
painted on the side in a way that made it look like the wind was
about to blow it right off, tore through town and headed back
toward the mountain.
GILROY – Slowly tugging its load, Engine No. 8632 made its way out of the mountain tunnel and approached a giant bridge outside of town.
Out of nowhere, with its horn blasting, a shiny, silver streamlined locomotive, with the name “Crusader” painted on the side in a way that made it look like the wind was about to blow it right off, tore through town and headed back toward the mountain.
The newer, faster engine was roaring past the old-style coal train for what may have been the thousandth time.
Five-year-old Jesse Louie Aguilar’s eyes lit up as he peered in the window from outside and waited for the silver bullet to pass through the tunnel again.
But he isn’t the only child to press his nose against the window at All Aboard Junction, Gilroy’s model train store.
“That happens all the time,” said Pat DeLeon, co-owner of the store located at 1150 First St. “I remember growing up as a kid that it was something I did. That’s what we’re trying to bring back.”
DeLeon, who runs the store with his wife Theresa, said he leaves his electric trains running in the front window of his store and lights up his miniature town each evening after closing time – just in case a few kids or a family stops by to get a look. Late at night, he returns to shut the trains down for the evening.
“It’s real pretty at nighttime,” said DeLeon. “It’s like something from the early ’50s. That’s what I wanted to bring to the store.”
DeLeon finished creating the landscape for his model train store after Thanksgiving, just in time for the holiday season.
“It took about a week,” DeLeon said, “with the help of some friends.”
The model train landscape shows what anyone can do for just a little bit of money.
“It doesn’t cost a lot to do a landscape,” DeLeon said. “That’s what’s nice about it.”
DeLeon said creating a landscape for a model train to run through isn’t nearly as difficult as it may seem and can be a fun family activity.
To start, DeLeon decided on a size and made a base out of Styrofoam. To create a town, he used houses and model cars and even made things himself. Trees and foliage can be purchased at the model train store or can be made at home.
DeLeon used sticks and small pebbles from outside to liven up his scene. To create his rock wall, he bought ceiling tile from a hardware store and broke it into pieces. He stacked and glued the pieces together before painting them with earth tones.
“You can let your imagination run wild – whatever you want to do,” he said. “I tell people, ‘This is your railroad.’ ”
Having a model train is a traditional part of the holiday season.
“You’ve gotta have a train,” DeLeon said. “I’m finding that most of my customers are going back to that.”
Many of DeLeon’s customers are young people starting families and trying to bring back the tradition of having a model train during the holidays.
A starting model electric train set costs anywhere from $100 to $250 and includes the engine, cars and track. The trains also go from the very basic to the hi-tech, including trains with digital sounds and remote controls that can control 100 different trains at once.
DeLeon’s father is the one who got him interested in model trains.
“I’ve been into it ever since he bought me my first train in 1956,” DeLeon said. “It still runs.”
DeLeon’s first train, an American Flyer, sits on a shelf on the wall of the store. He ran it last Christmas but is giving it this year off.
All Aboard Junction has been in Gilroy for four years now, when the former Gilroy and Los Gatos police officer decided he was ready for something else.
“I was always into hobbies, and I thought there was a need for it,” DeLeon said. “The response has been great.”
The store has just about everything one needs not only to have a train, but to build a landscape to have the trains out all year. DeLeon sells trains and track in different sizes, including special Christmas trains and even personalized boxcars with Garlic City Railroad Co. written on them. He has houses, buildings, trees and foliage for landscapes; and even remote control and model cars.
He said the most popular trains he sells in Gilroy are large trains used for garden landscapes. People in South Valley keep their train sets in their backyards all year long.
The hobby has become so popular that All Aboard Junction will hold Morgan Hill/Gilroy Railroad Days in late June, when people will be able to tour electric train enthusiasts’ backyard electric train setups.
DeLeon’s store also offers things for the young engineer. There are books and magazines on trains and little wooden play trains for children not old enough for a remote control train.
“There’s a little bit for all ages – from two year olds to 92 year olds, I guess,” he said. “It’s a learning tool.”
DeLeon describes All Aboard Junction as “a friendly store,” where kids aren’t discouraged from playing with the trains.
“They can actually get a feel for it,” he said.
The store offers free gift wrap, has cookies and coffee on Saturdays and offers free gliders to children who visit the store.
“It’s been fun,” DeLeon said of running the train store. “The kids all call me Uncle Pat or Engineer Pat.”
All Aboard Junction’s holiday hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.
