Greenberg's Train and Toy Show will be rolling into the station at the Lancaster County Convention Center this weekend.

Lancaster is just one stop for the show, which features a huge display of model trains, train collectibles, demonstrations, a train marketplace and even a train that carries passengers. The show has been traveling all over the eastern United States, from Maine to Virginia.

"Lancaster was an obvious destination for the Greenberg train show, with the train museum in Strasburg and the Strasburg Rail Road. The area has a rich history of railroading and there are a lot of train enthusiasts," says Frank Hicks of Greenberg's Train and Toy Show.

Based in the Baltimore area, the show was founded in 1976, based on the huge collection of collector, publisher and model-train expert Bruce Greenberg.

Greenberg's collection was so impressive that organizers decided to hit the rails and share his ever-expanding collection of model trains and train-set tables.

The trains come in all sizes, from the 1:22-scale G-gauge, known as a garden railroad, to the tiniest 1:220-scale Z-gauge. In between, there are the familiar Lionel O-gauge at a scale of 1:48, American Flyer S-gauge at a scale of 1:64, and two most popular sizes, the HO-gauge at a scale of 1:87 and N-gauge at a scale of 1:160.

"We also have a train that's big enough for the kids and their parents to ride," Hicks says.

As Hicks points out, the shows often include local collectors and organizations. So, for the Lancaster show, the Southeast Pennsylvania Garden Railway Society will have a large G-gauge model railroad operating. G-gauge trains are usually operated outdoors through garden displays. They are the largest model trains available and can often be seen operating around Christmas trees at the holidays.

Allegheny Western Lines has a large HO-scale train layout that it will be operating at the show. The layout, a world in miniature, features intricately detailed scenes replicating real-life towns and fields.

The Lower Susquehanna Valley Modular Railroaders will be setting up an O-gauge train layout. The O-gauge trains run on a three-rail track and have been around since before World War II.

The earliest trains are made entirely of metal and are known as tin-plate trains.

East Penn Valley Traction will be operating two separate HO-scale trolley layouts, one set in a detailed cityscape layout with multiple trolley cars running at the same time, as well as a Port-O-Pike layout, where kids can use real trolley-car controls to run the models and become certified trolley operators. The model trolley cars in both of these layouts get their power from a tiny wire running over the track, just like real trolley cars in cities such as San Francisco and Philadelphia.

Hicks adds that the show also features the Roaming Railroad riding train and the Winners Circle Racetrack, which is a radio-controlled car racetrack where kids can drive large-scale R/C cars.

"Since 1976, Greenberg's Train and Toy Show has been the largest traveling model train and toy show to serve the northeastern United States," Hicks says.

Greenberg's Train and Toy Show

Sat. and Sun. 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.

$7 adults, free for children under 12

Freedom Hall

Lancaster Co. Convention Center

25 S. Queen St.
www.greenbergshows.com