Hundreds of people are expected to attend the 38th Annual Fall Train Show from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Springfield Expo Center, 635 E. St. Louis St. in Springfield.

Along with more than 100 vendors selling model train supplies, the event hosted by the Ozark Model Railroad Association will feature train operating sessions, networking with train enthusiasts, door prizes for kids and adults and ten or more model railroads on display, including a large garden railroad layout operated by the Ozark Garden Railroad Society.

Springfield resident Waine Kirby will be among those attending.

Kirby, who serves on the board of the association, began buying model train parts and going to train functions in the 1960s but it wasn’t until a few years ago when he bought a house with a detached two-car garage that he finally began taking those parts out of boxes and putting them together into a layout.

After all, he had more “boxes of stuff than a hobby shop” and it was time to put it to use.

Now he spends his free time in the garage - where he installed heating and air conditioning - working on what will one day become a realistic operating railroad station on a small scale.

Kirby said he uses and has learned a variety of skills from his hobby, including electrical, construction, model making and planning. Learning those skills and the trial and error of the hobby are why he loves it.

"It takes thought and you learn patience,” Kirby said. “If you don’t have it or learn it, you’ll quit.”

For more information or table reservations, call 417-664-4208 and visit http://omraspringfield.org. Admission to the event is $6 for adults and free for ages 12 and younger.