It was known as "the East Yard," or Manor Yard, and was one of Columbia's two rail centers at a time when railroad was king. Through the holiday season, a small version of "the Columbia of yesterday" is yours to see.

In Ephrata, the year is 1953, and you can see a whole town — from a logging operation to locomotives "alive with sound," as one organizer says.

In Strasburg on Paradise Lane, there are five continuously running train layouts, not to mention the showing of toy-train movies while the little trains chug along.

These miniature-train displays are among the many — spanning Lancaster County — that are open to the public now through the holiday season.

As an organizer of one local display said, "The Christmas season is a time for model trains."

The Columbia model-train layout is housed at the local Historic Preservation Society office, 19-21 N. Second St., and gives visitors the chance to "travel back in time to the 1920s to see the Columbia of yesterday."

It's open Sunday afternoons through the month from 1 to 4.

The other miniature-train displays:

• In Elizabethtown, at the E-town Public Library, 10 S. Market St., from 6 to 8 p.m. this Thursday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. the last two Saturdays of the month, Dec. 22 and 29.

It also will be open New Year's Eve from 4 to 7, in conjunction with E-town's celebration that night.

A train raffle also will be held with tickets available at the train display. It's sponsored by the Train Guys of Elizabethtown organization.

For information, call the library at 367-7467.

• The Ephrata display, now in its 18th year, is hosted by the Ephrata-based Short Line Model Railroad Club.

The display at the club's headquarters at 11 S. State St., Ephrata, features a model of the Pennsylvania-Reading Anthracite Lines, and now includes no less than 600 feet of double- track main line.

Like the Columbia display, it's open Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m.

For 2007, the railroad club has added a replica of a logging operation typical of one found deep in the Pennsylvania woodlands, organizers say.

A new cordless digital-control system has been added that "brings the locomotives alive with sound," said the club's Lee Herr, who usually operates the display's main line.

A club member for 10 years, he said the display, recapturing a moment in 1953, offers "a trip back in time, back to when when coal was king.

"There are a lot of trains and a lot of detail scenes to see ... and a lot of character in the display, if you keep an eye on it," he added.

With 40 cars on the main line, he said, "The kids will be, 'Wow, that's a long train!'"

• In the heart of downtown Lancaster, the model-train and village display at 28 Penn Square, atop Citizens Bank, is again open to the public.

The display, which usually draws 3,000 people a year, is open this Friday evening from 6 to 9, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday afternoon from 1 to 5.

Call the Lancaster Mayor's Office of Special Events (291-4758) for further information and hours.

• In Manheim, a miniature-train layout is again on display at the historical railroad station, 230 S. Charlotte St.

Call 664-5155 or 665-7201 for hours or further information.

• At Dutch Wonderland Family Amusement Park on Route 30 East, vintage model trains are running continuously through a village for the holidays.

Hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays, 4 to 9 Saturdays and Sundays, and each day Dec. 26-30, from 5 to 9 p.m.

For more information, call Dutch Wonderland at 291-1888.

• In Manheim Township, the All Aboard Rail Road, 1952 Landis Valley Road, will be open from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in December, and daily from Dec. 26 through Dec. 31.

For more information, call 392-1568.

• In Strasburg, the Choo Choo Barn, Route 741 East, will be open seven days a week (it's closed Christmas Day) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through the end of the year.

It also will be open until 8 p.m. the next two Fridays, Dec. 21 and 28, when admission is a canned food donation.

For more information, call 687-7911.

• Also in Strasburg, the National Toy Train Museum, 300 Paradise Lane, again is offering its five operating train layouts.

The museum is open weekends in December, and each day from Dec. 26 to 31. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., although it closes early New Year's Eve.

For more information, call the museum at 687-8976.

CONTACT US: doconnor@LNPnews.com or 481-6033