More than 200 vendors set for Rail Festival

FOSTORIA—The outlook for this year's Fostoria Rail Festival is "amazingly busy and full," according to Ellen Gatrell, secretary/treasurer for the nonprofit Fostoria Rail Preservation Society. The 22nd annual celebration of the city's rail history and its continuation of being a much-traveled route is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., next Saturday at Fostoria Junior/Senior High School, 1001 Park Ave., and Fostoria Elementary School, 1202 H.L. Ford Drive. Admission is $5 per person, with youngsters under age 10 getting in free. Proceeds benefit the rail preservation society. In addition, many train enthusiasts -- referred to affectionately as "those crazy people," by Gatrell, who counts herself among them — visit the Iron Triangle Railpark, 499 S. Poplar St., to see what the day's traffic looks like and check out the B&O Railroad Caboose from the 1960s. While Fostoria Elementary School's gym will host five large model railroad setups and a handful of vendors, Fostoria Junior/Senior High School will be filled to the gills with railroad-related vendors and visitors having varying degrees of railway interest. "Last year, we had 198 vendor tables and this year we had over 200 (registered) before Labor Day," Gatrell said. "I didn't keep up with it as much as I should have, and eventually I got to 218 and I said, 'That's it.' "We'll squeeze them into the gym and the cafeteria and the lobby and the hallways. Plus, we have five more that the model-train guys will have over in the (elementary school) gym." Such items as toys, books, model-train paraphernalia are sure to be predictably present among the vendors, but Gatrell said some surprises may be in store. "I think there will be a huge array of items," she said. "There are many more smaller vendors. We do have large vendors; don't get me wrong. But people have other places they have to go, or some of them have just retired. And a lot of people who we have this year, we have not seen before or it's been years since they've been here. So, we're getting a lot of new interest from vendors." In addition to looking at the various vendors' wares, visitors will be able to see the entries in the Lens-Eye Photo Contest. The model-train exhibits vary in their elaborateness, but all of them seem to have a constant flow of onlookers, many of whom have questions about the setups. Those attending the festival may park for free and walk between the buildings or get rides on one of two golf carts that will be in operation or on the Romick Railway, a trackless train that can be seen at a number of area events. Food and drink will be sold in the junior/senior high cafeteria. Visitors will also be able to sample entries in the soup contest. This will be one of the intermittent years when those who attend the show will be asked to write down their hometowns to fulfill the curiosity of the rail preservation society. Gatrell said such a procedure was also carried out when hundreds of people flocked to the rail park for a prime view of the solar eclipse. "People don't understand how far people come for our show," she said. "The eclipse — people were there for that one day from 13 states and Canada. We had them write down their names and hometowns in the caboose, on paper. You have to have something written down to prove that these crazy people come. "That was like a double-duty for them. The rail festival is double-duty, too, because they come to the train show, we have the whole gym at the elementary school full of model trains, plus they can go to the railpark and watch the real trains." Gatrell almost daily goes to the railpark to check on maintenance needs and chat with visitors, many of whom have been attracted by looking in on Fostoria through the eyes of the cameras that have been installed at the park by websites www.railstream.net and www.virtualrailfan.com. The railpark, which the city opened in 2013, is never closed to the public and draws people from near and far, Gatrell said, but while she estimated "thousands and thousands" visit each year, she's not gained an exact count. To gather such information and more about the visitors, she said, a QR system will be installed. "I think you'd be surprised at how many people do come," she said earlier this week. "Today, there was somebody with a Maine license plate. We have a guy from Duluth, Minnesota, who was a member of (the Fostoria Rail Preservation Society) — he's been here since early last week and I think he's staying until Thursday and he's going to other locations in the area to train-watch, too, but Fostoria is his main hub." Gatrell said funds from this year's rail festival will go toward needed work at the rail preservation society's home office in the former Lake Erie & Western Railroad depot at 128 W. North St. The building was constructed for $825 in 1878, according to literature from the rail preservation society. Now, said Gatrell: "We have a put a new foundation in our depot, and I know it's going to be at least $100,000. They have to lift it up and work at it. It's not an easy task." More information about the festival is available on the Fostoria Rail Preservation Society's social media page, at www.fostoriairontriangle.com or by contacting Gatrell by calling 419-435-1781 or emailing to ellengatrell@gmail.com.