Local mini-build D&R Railroad wows viewers with display
D&R Railroad was originally built to resemble a mining town, though the scenery can be switched out to fit the themes of different events. Shown above is an end view of D&R Railroad.
Creators Rayon, DeGeere very proud of traveling “Covid project” that’s now talk of local shows, festivals
If you have been to a train-related function in recent years, or local festivals such as Apple Butter Makin’ Days in Mt. Vernon or Steam O Rama in Halltown, chances are, you’ve come across D&R Railroad, a mobile model train set built on a 14-foot-long, seven-foot-wide trailer. It is a very popular attraction at these events.
Started as way to promote a hobby, later became a pandemic project for duo
D&R Railroad was built by Dennis Rayon, Mt. Vernon, and his friend, Tom DeGeere, Springfield, as a “Covid project” during the pandemic. Rayon said he and DeGeere built the train set because they enjoyed building, but they also wanted to make a display that could be set up or removed quickly and easily.
“(We) wanted to make a trailer that we could take to different functions to promote the hobby,” he said, “but our main objective was Tom and I both loved to build things and model railroading gives us a reason to build something. We wanted a trailer that one person could set up in 30 minutes or less and take down in that time or less, so that was the parameters that we took in building the trailer.”
Significant amount of time, effort went into building railroad
Building the railroad, Rayon said, took about half of a year.
“We started building this right before Covid hit,” he said, “and when Covid hit, it put us full-time on this trailer. We worked (seven to nine) hours a day, five days a week, and it took us six months to produce this trailer. We have about 1,800 hours in the trailer, not counting the extra modules that we have to trade out.”
Rayon described the process he and DeGeere used to build the setup.
“We wanted a trailer (that was) 14-feet long, normal (and) almost seven-feet wide,” he said, “so we knew we had to build inside those parameters. We took a brand-new tandem axle trailer, and then we built the top part which included the sides, the doors and the roof, and then we went and worked on the inside layout. Our main thing was to have a mountain in the middle, so people on one side of the trailer could not see people on the other side of the trailer looking back at them. Then we wanted the front end to have a wow factor at that time, (though) we didn’t quite know what that was as we started. So, (when) we built the mountain in the middle, we offset (it) from the middle so we would have more room on one side than the other, and that one side would have replaceable modules or otherwise replaceable themes.”
Features can be switched out to create different scenes
The display also features modules including people, buildings and more, which Rayon and DeGeere created with a 3-D printer. The modules can be placed and removed, and Rayon said that he and DeGeere often switch them out to give viewers different scenes to look at when they show D&R Railroad.
“We have different modules that we replace,” he said. “On one side, we have a hillbilly scene which was the original. We have a city park-farmers market-greenhouse theme, (and) we have a cowboy-western town theme. We have an … (Apple Butter Makin’ Days) in Mt. Vernon theme, and we have an Oklahoma theme. We (also) have a steam engine show theme (for when) we set up at the antique tractor and steam show in Halltown for four days. The Oklahoma theme was made to do the mid-continent train show in Tulsa next summer.”
Mobility means more people can see railroad
Rayon said the mobility of the train set means he and DeGeere can take it to places such as nursing homes, where people might otherwise not have the opportunity to see it. As a result, he said, thousands of people get to see D&R Railroad.
“That is the beauty of this set up,” he said, “as we take the display to them. They do not have to come to us to see it. We have had literally thousands of people see this layout. We estimate that 40,000 people saw us at Apple Butter Makin’ Days this past October.”
Building project brought a great deal of satisfaction
While D&R Railroad was a major investment in time, effort and material, Rayon said the level of satisfaction he and DeGeere got from building it, and continue to receive in showing it, has made the whole project worthwhile.
“Tom and I have had a tremendous amount of enjoyment building this trailer,” he said, “and as we were building it, we were talking about how much fun it was going to be to show it off in different locations. The new module trade outs that we do gives a variety; even if you have seen us at one location, it may be different when we go to another location. We have actually done multiple-day shows and trade out different scenes from one day to another. It takes about 15 minutes to change out from one scene to another.”
Still, Rayon said he and DeGeere do attempt to economize their effort whenever they show the railroad at events.
“Our whole concept is to make it easy and quick,” he said, “because we are not young people.”
This story is a republication from our Jan. 29, 2025 Winter Ag issue.
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Lawrence County Record
312 S. Hickory St.
Mt. Vernon, MO, 65712
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