Train Display Has Permanent Home at Camp Jefferson

Model trains around a Christmas tree have long been a tradition in many households. However, Jefferson residents don't have to wait until the holiday season to see a whole room filled with a model train set-up. They need only to go to , where one whole cabin is devoted to a miniature railroad setting, thanks to the BD&W Club.

"BD&W stands for Berkshire, Dover and West Milford," said the group's head, Jim DeYoung. "That's where our members come from, and we figured it sounded like the name of a railroad line."

The group has eight members at the moment, all train enthusiasts who gather their cabin at Camp Jefferson to work on the model train set-up that takes up the entire room.

"When the town bought the camp in 1998, they gave us this cabin, and we rebuilt it for our set-up," DeYoung said. 

The building is open during the township's and during the celebration. 

"We also invite community groups, like boy scouts and girl scouts, in to view the museum and work with the trains," DeYoung said. 

He also does an elective on model railroading at .

DeYoung has been a train enthusiast since he was 12, and for many years he built an elaborate train display in his yard during the holiday season, which people would flock to see. He's given up the Christmas display, and now does one in the spring.

"It takes many hours to set up a display like that, and it gets awfully cold outside," DeYoung said. "My wife does beautiful gardens at the house. The trains look great with the gardens, and it's much more comfortable to be outside setting everything up in the warmer weather."