The Holiday Train Show will be running once again in Bordentown City.
Residents will have the opportunity to kick off their holiday season on Thanksgiving weekend when the ninth annual Holiday Train Show is showcased at the Old City Hall in Bordentown City.
The annual event is sponsored by The Old City Hall Restoration Project Committee.
Long-time Bordentown residents and model train enthusiasts, Joe Malone and Zig “Ziggy” Targonski, had developed the idea to coordinate a model train show to give the area a unique, special event for the holiday season.
Their goal was to also to draw people into the area for local business support.
With the annual event continuously gathering crowds between 7,500 and 10,000, Malone, a former city mayor and assemblyman, anticipates this year’s event to be another success as he believes it offers a feeling enthusiasm and togetherness for the community.
“[The best part is] seeing the enjoyment of kids and families,” Malone said. “Just to see the kid’s eyes light up when they come in the room – and the excitement. The noise of the trains running around and the whistles blowing.
“They look forward to this show every year. They come and they enjoy themselves, and it’s a good family-time thing.”
Offering various types of train setups and scenery, Malone and Targonski, along with his wife Nancy and other model train enthusiasts, showcase their personal collections and displays for attendees to view and engage with one another on the hobby.
The show will include a triple-decker main setup in the middle of the main floor with 11 to 12 trains running as well O gauge and standard gauge trains, including a special Thomas the Tank Engine setup that kids can run themselves.
Downstairs, a separate train club will be showcasing “very, very precise” HO scale trains.
“Probably by the end of the day and duration of the program, we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 trains running,” Malone said.
In keeping with the tradition of the annual event, it’s open to the public and free of admission, but visitors are welcomed to make a donation for the refurbishment project for the Old City Hall.
The Train Show officially begins on Nov. 23 when the event will run through noon to 8 p.m. on opening weekend.
Beginning on Nov. 30, the show will be open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will run each week through December on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Old City Hall is located at 13 Crosswicks St., Bordentown.
