Talk about attention to detail. Visit the Masonic Village & Elizabethtown Model Railroad Club, and you'll see firsthand the hours of work and passion the members have put into the tiniest details of the expansive train display. From hand-painted signs to period-specific materials, the exhibit brings the past to life, all in miniature.

The club will host holiday open houses from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, Dec. 14 and 21.

"What we've been doing over the last six years or so is getting rid of the toy aspect and bringing things into scale, so everything is more realistic," said club president John Monti. "People don't realize how long it takes to do some of this and the level of detail we put in." One recent section the group worked on required more than 300 hours to complete, he said.

The layout fills multiple rooms in the building on Freemason Drive on the campus of Masonic Village in Elizabethtown.

"One thing that is unique about our club is most clubs only run one gauge of trains," said Bill Fishel, club treasurer. "When we host an open house, we have seven different gauges of trains operating." The display features the small Z-scale - so tiny it fits as a display within the display - to the largest Standard scale.

Scenes feature towns, seasonal activities, local landmarks and more.

A new Masonic Lodge has recently been added, with a group of Masons posed in front of the building. Each man wears a tiny Mason apron, hand-painted by Monti to reflect what Masons wear at their meetings.

When Monti joined the club, he thought he'd focus on construction and electrical aspects of the display. Instead, he's discovered he loves contributing to the scenery and painting.

"I'll also source materials," he shared, noting that pieces come from all over the world, including Canada, Vietnam and Hungary. He points out that the display is truly a team effort. When installing a new period-specific gas station, for example, Fishel recalled that stations of the past had a hose customers would drive over, ringing a bell to signify their presence, so a tiny hose was added to the display.

The club formed in 1997, and it currently includes about 60 members. "It's split almost 50/50 down the middle, with half of the club members being residents here at Masonic Village and half residents from the surrounding community," Monti remarked. It's open to men and women of all ages, and currently the group has three junior members who are under age 18. The club operates its public display from 2 to 4 p.m. on the first Saturday and Sunday of the month from October through April, in addition to its Christmas open houses.

All of the members contribute to the display, providing ideas at monthly business meetings. Parts of the display change regularly throughout the year, including a seasonal section that currently features a Christmas tree lot but will be replaced with a spring scene in a few months as well as a Halloween scene in the fall.

For the members, nothing beats the joy they feel when people experience the trains in action.

"I really get a kick out of the adults that come in here and the kids that go, 'Wow! Look at that!'" Monti said. "The adults will say, 'I was here last month, but I didn't notice that particular thing.'"

Fishel agreed, adding, "That's what keeps us going - watching the faces of the kids when they see this."

The club does not charge admission for its open houses, but donations are accepted to keep the project running.

Members are on hand at the open houses to answer questions or provide more information for people who might like to join the group.

"We have no problem staffing our open houses, because the guys want to share what they love about this," Monti said. "I like to say to adults when they come in, 'Did you have trains when you were a kid?' and when they say, 'Yes, we took them out at Christmastime,' I'll say, 'You need to see us because this is open almost all year-round.'"

The train display building is handicapped-accessible, with plenty of room for walkers, strollers or wheelchairs to navigate it. A free shuttle bus will transport visitors between the Masonic Village display and a train display located in the lower level of the Elizabethtown Public Library.

For more information on the Masonic Village club, visit http://www.mvemodelrailroadclub.com or email mvetrainclub@gmail.com.