Bob Burroughs built his in a room over his two-car garage in Macswoods. Down in Pamlico Plantation, Phil Adams took over one and a half bays of the Adams’ three-car garage for his. In both homes, an elaborate network of rails connect one destination to the next, winding through towns and countryside, over bridges and through tunnels, all meticulously reproduced to create a sense of place on a small scale.

In the U.S., model railroading is a $1.5 billion a year industry, according to Burroughs. It’s spawned countless conventions, clubs and expos across the country. It’s a growing hobby, one that has had Burroughs working on the railroad for nearly 70 years. He got his first model railroad on Christmas Day in 1946. Since, he’s worked with them on and off — more on in the years since his retirement. Growing up, however, he said model railroading was a family affair.

“My cousins, some of them had layouts in the basement; others just had a train around the Christmas tree,” he said.

Burroughs system takes up most of the large room dedicated to it. Situated at about four feet off the ground, one can duck beneath the platform to pop up in the center of the layout.

“That really is the best way to view it. It looks more realistic that way,” Burroughs said.

It’s an immense spread, representing countless hours of working, building entire towns, but Burroughs said he didn’t start off large.

“Up until about 15 years ago, my layout was just a four by eight platform,” Burroughs said. “You don’t really need that much room.”

According to Adams, there are two types of model railroaders: those who build permanent structures and those who work with modular systems, with modules that can be pieced together to build larger structures. But not everyone has the room to dedicate to big model railroad systems like Burroughs’ and Adams’. However, that doesn’t matter.

“Most of the people when they start, they start with a four by eight piece of plywood,” Adams said.

Depending on the scale, Burroughs said a model railroader could build quite an elaborate system on a 2-foot by 4-foot piece of plywood. And that would fit anywhere.

Both men are avid model railroaders, and the draw is a combination of the creative and intellectual—setting up  It’s not just a matter of putting trains on a track and watching them go, it’s about putting together the pieces that would create a revenue-producing system: building towns and industries, linking business and moving product.

“In a way it’s like a strategic game,” Burroughs said. “It’s not a static thing. You can change it all the time. … The motto is: ‘dream, plan, build, enjoy.’”

“I tell my wife all the time, ‘I’m not playing with my trains. I’m actually working on my railroad,’” Adams laughed.

Adams said when his kids were growing up, the entire family helped strategize, as well as create landscape and towns.

“When we lived in Missouri, all five of us did — our three kids and my wife and I — we used to build buildings together as a family. … That’s the joy of having it is to be able to do it together.”

Model trains have often been associated with Christmas — as Christmas gifts or winding beneath the Christmas tree — and Adams said the indoor nature of winter makes it a great time to take up the hobby.

“This time of year is the ideal time if you’re going to get started,” Adams said.

If not, it won’t take an invitation to see one of Burroughs’ creations—one of his modular exhibits will be on display in two different locations in Washington over the next two weeks: at Second Baptist Church on Friday, from 5:30-8:30 p.m., Saturday, from 1-4 p.m. and Sunday, from 2:30-6 p.m.; then the Historic Port of Washington Museum from Dec. 15-19 (Dec. 15-17, from 4-6:30 p.m., Dec. 18, from 4-8 p.m., and Dec. 19, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.).