Ride the rails this weekend at a national toy train convention in Wichita

Whether you are an avid toy train collector or just want to check out some demonstrations, the Toy Train Operating Society has you covered this weekend.

The Toy Train Operating Society National Convention is in Wichita this year, and on Friday and Saturday, the event is open to the public. The ballroom area of the Drury Plaza Broadview Hotel, 400 W. Douglas, will be the site of a train show featuring various vendors, demonstrations and two large train exhibitions.

“They will be able to talk to experts that will show them different items and (help) them decide what they want,” said Shari Shockey, the show’s advertising coordinator.

She said there’s something for everyone ages 1 to 100.

“This is for families. This is a convention for people who are avid train collectors, operators and for those, most importantly, who are interested in starting a train set,” Shockey said. “The children will enjoy seeing the trains and watching them run on the exhibits.”

On Friday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. and again on Saturday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., the doors will be open to the public. Tickets for the weekend cost $5 for adults. Children under the age of 12 will be admitted for free with the purchase of an adult ticket.

The 53rd annual national convention for the Toy Train Operating Society, which is made up of primarily train collectors and toy operators, is the first one hosted in Wichita, Shockey said. The national headquarters is located in California, she said, and most of the conventions have been on the west coast.

“We’ve been trying to get this convention to Wichita because we have a lot to offer,” Shockey said.

The process of getting the convention in Wichita, she estimates, took more than a year and a half. It involved collaboration with Visit Wichita, the Toy Train Operating Society Sooner division — which represents Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas⁠ — and the Wichita Toy Train Club. The national board leaders visited Wichita, and that sealed the deal, she said.

“It was important that they got a feel for Wichita and they liked what they saw,” Shockey said. “We gave them a good pitch and they did select Wichita.”

In the future, Shockey said she’d like to see the convention return to Wichita, but she also hopes to show other groups and organizations that Wichita can be home to their events as well.

“We’re hoping that we are setting a precedent for other hobbyists, other collectors to look at the value of having their convention in Wichita,” she said. “We know that Wichita has a lot to offer.”

For more information about the event or to learn how to get involved with the local division of the Toy Train Operating Society, visit ttos-sooner.org.

This story was originally published August 2, 2019 at 5:41 PM.