34th Annual Muncie Model Train Show at Delaware County Fairgrounds Feb. 28

Model railroaders, collectors, and families will fill two buildings at the Delaware County Fairgrounds on Saturday, Feb. 28, when the 34th Annual Muncie Model Train Show runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and children 12 and under are admitted free, with free parking on the fairgrounds at 1210 N. Wheeling Avenue, Muncie, IN 47305.

Vendors will be housed in the Memorial Building while operating train layouts will run in Heartland Hall. The lineup includes more than 200 vendor tables and six operating layouts in various scales, plus circus memorabilia and local railroad historical societies on display. Food sold on-site will raise funds for local Boy Scouts, and the event is promoted by organizers as "Indiana's largest and longest-running single-day train show."

The Muncie & Western Model Railroad Club (MWMRC) organizes the annual show as a fundraiser for the Muncie Children’s Museum. The club notes, "The MWMRR club hosts this fun and educational annual event to raise funds to maintain the new operating 3-rail O-gauge layout at the Muncie Children’s Museum and repair and add new locomotives and train cars on the museum’s layout. These are trains seen on today’s railroads in and around Muncie and throughout Indiana and represent important transportation and logistical careers." Proceeds will help pay for maintenance, repairs and additions to that operating 3-rail O-gauge exhibit.

The show offers practical value for anyone looking to get into the hobby or expand a roster. Vendors sell new and used equipment, parts and rolling stock, and operating layouts provide live demonstrations of wiring, control systems and realistic scenery. The Muncie & Western club, founded in 1990 and named after the historic Muncie & Western Railroad Company known as The Ball Line, partnered in 2023 with TW TrainWorx to build a 30' x 60' O gauge layout at the museum. The museum layout recently gained a Behavior Associates of Indiana Early Learner's Center building created by club member Kris Keeler Sedgwick Models.

The club is preparing for the show with a monthly meeting set for Tuesday, Feb. 24, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Muncie Children’s Museum upstairs by the layout. Entrance to the vendor building is on the south side of the Memorial Building on the fairgrounds.

For community members, the show is more than a marketplace; it is a chance to support local STEM and history education, see multiple scales and operating systems in action, and connect with experienced modelers who maintain the museum’s O-gauge exhibit. Expect a busy Saturday and bring time to browse, compare prices and ask layout builders about techniques and local railroad history.