Railroad club decides to cancel open house

By ERIC SEIVERLING
eseiverling@yourmvi.com

A 30-year tradition will be broken this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, the Mid-Mon Valley Model Railroad Club announced plans to cancel its annual open house event at the club’s headquarters on Main Street in New Eagle.
The open house allows residents to see the model trains on display throughout the three-room space as well as get a look back in time to the 1940s when trains, coal cars and river boats were fixtures in the Mon Valley.
Club’s president Tom Crespo said the decision to cancel the event was made after Gov. Tom Wolf tightened restrictions on indoor gatherings Thursday to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“It was a combination of Gov. Wolf’s directive and low attendance the past two weeks,” Crespo said after the decision was made. “With everything going on this year and last weekend’s attendance, we as volunteers just figured it would be better to cancel.”
The open house is typically held on weekends from the Saturday after Thanksgiving through the first weekend after the new year. It features three to four trains running simultaneously over the entire layout.
Crespo said the club will not open its doors to the public this year and is not considering rescheduling the open house.
“We just do this during the holidays,” he said. “It’s the tradition of trains people associate with the holidays.”
This year’s cancellation is the first time in the club’s approximate 30-year history the event has been shut down.
The club originated in the 1990s in Charleroi and was there for 10 years before relocating to its New Eagle home at 159 Main St.
The decision to cancel wasn’t an easy one for the club members.
“People aren’t coming out,” said club secretary Susan Werner. “It’s not worth it to make it feel like they’re not safe to come out. It’s killing us because we don’t really want to do that. I’m assuming things will be better next year and we’ll resume activities next year.”

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