August 16, 2019
3pm-4:30pm
Alden B. Dow Home and Studio Archive and Theater
315 Post Street, Midland MI
Cost $15
All aboard for a special program devoted to Alden B. Dow’s love of trains at the Home & Studio on Friday, August 16, at 3:00 pm! An enthusiastic scale model train collector, Mr. Dow acquired or built from kits approximately 200 engines, mostly vintage brass locomotives, as well as a variety of specialty train cars. His goal was to own a replica of each major steam engine used in the United States. His efforts to preserve some of Michigan’s old working steam engines shows the extent of his interest beyond just scale model railroading.
The program will be led by Logan Schupp, a graduate of Northwood University with seven years’ experience running and preserving steam locomotives. He is currently employed as a conductor at a local railroad and has studied steam locomotion and Michigan railroad history from a young age. Over the past two summers, he has been inventorying and cataloging Mr. Dow’s model train collection, and recently started posting stories featuring the most noteworthy models on the Home & Studio Facebook page in a series called “Front End Friday.”
Highlights of the program include:
– Discussion of the different types of trains on display and the point-to-point set-up in the Archives
– Behind-the-scenes look at Mr. Dow’s train workshop
– Display of railroad-related books, catalogs, correspondence
– Screening of “Trains,” a 16mm movie filmed by Mr. Dow that features the last runs of New York Central’s passenger trains in the Saginaw/Bay City area and “Last of the Giants,” a movie produced by the Union Pacific Railroad.
