OGDEN – Dale Spaulding loves trains.

Maybe that’s because the trains are big in and around Ogden and, being in Weber County, he grew up with them. But the truth is, he doesn’t know exactly what draws him to them.

“They are just fascinating,†he said. “I have often tried to understand this.”

This fascination led him to start a company in Ogden focused on model trains in 1971 – the wonderful world of trains – and this month he celebrates 50 years in business. He’s had ups and downs. Over the years he has had to take on up to two additional jobs at times to keep things afloat. But he succeeded and, at 71, he continues.

“It’s been fun,†said Spaulding, who lives in Hooper although his store is near the heart of Ogden at 3061 Washington Blvd. Nothing better than seeing the smile of a child amazed by all the trains and train stuff in his crowded store, complete with several working trains.

In fact, it’s the only store in Utah to focus so much on model trains, he said, although there are more general hobby stores in the state that also sell sets. of trains and paraphernalia. It also has a train museum – several elaborate trains and more – in a small building at the back of the store.

To mark his company’s golden anniversary, as well as his 50th wedding anniversary with his wife Ralane, Spaulding is having a party at his store on Saturday, which he calls the Big Daddy Show. He married his wife in August 1971. The public is invited and the party starts at 7 pm in the open space behind the store.

He also sat down with the Standard-Examiner to talk a bit about the past 50 years, trains and more.

Spaulding grew up on his family’s farm in Hooper, which he helped run well during his stint as train shop manager. His interest in trains started in Hooper, said Spaulding, when he received a wind-up train toy from an uncle.

He eventually got his own train and, throughout, had the real-life trains in and around Ogden to watch. Getting stopped by a passing train can be a problem for some, but not for Spaulding. “When you’re a train enthusiast, that’s not a bad thing,†he said.

Years later, while trying to get a Lionel train set, he had the cold shoulder of a local hobby store operator who did not order from the manufacturer for reasons that remain a mystery. Given the popularity of the Lionel brand at the time, Spaulding was prompted for action and opened his store in 1971, initially in his Hooper home. He eventually moved the store to Ogden, landing at 3061 Washington Blvd. in 1981.

At first, Spaulding remembers selling up to 400 trains in some years – sales levels it hasn’t matched since – and he remembers the later craze for Thomas the Train toys.

Throughout the shifts and shifts, however, the love of trains has remained stable, as well as the love of seeing trains of sparks provoke in the younger generations. “Parents don’t always understand it, but children certainly understand it,†he said.

The problem with model trains and train sets, Spaulding said, is that you are the driver, you are responsible. “You’re the boss,” he said. “Not many people are the boss these days. But you are the boss of the railroad.

Looking to the future, his 15-year-old grandson expressed his interest in one day taking over the reins of the store. Time will tell if that will play out and during that time Spaulding tinkers around the store, selling trains, train goods and more. When a child enters, he lights the oars and gives free rein to the magic of the young.

“It’s all worth it,†he said.

Bulletin