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“The thing that attracts kids is just the visual activity of the trains running around the track, and the idea of a miniaturized world,” Oppt said.
Much of the setup involves working on scenery and touching-up the mostly white display (because of its winter snow), which can get dirty from year to year.
“Each year we replace an engine or two,” he said.
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Those engines are pretty tough, and would last very long times if they were operated by normal train hobbyists. But they’re so heavily used in Hamilton’s lobby — viewers can press buttons to make them run, as many times as they’d like — they don’t last nearly as long, he said.
“A hobbyist may use his trains once or twice a week for an hour, but up there, they run quite a few hours every day, so over a year or two, it pretty much burns the engines up,” Oppt said.
Oppt, who lives in Anderson Twp. on Cincinnati’s East Side, said he enjoys making the trip to Hamilton to set up the display with his son and friend.
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“It’s a diversion for us, and even though we get compensated for our time, we feel good about contributing to the community, because I know a lot of people — and not just kids, but adults, too — they come in there almost mesmerized at times, for long periods, just watching the trains,” he said.
The building’s lobby is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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