For more than a decade, Rob Caves has invited the public to his Altadena backyard to experience an ever-growing model train universe built by him and his fellow hobbyists in the Christmas Tree Lane Model Railroad Society.
Why it matters: The vision, started in 2010, was to recreate a train journey from San Diego to Seattle — featuring a hit parade of locations along the route. It was first built in Caves's garage, but quickly outgrew the 400-square-foot space to overtake a sizable portion of his backyard.
Why now: Caves typically opens up his backyard for the public to enjoy these creations on the first Saturday of November. This year, these Saturday viewings end on Jan. 4.
Growing up, Rob Caves remembers there was always a train set under his family Christmas tree.
As an adult, the Los Angeles native has brought this fond memory, and his passion, on a grand scale to the backyard of his home on the famed Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena.
For more than a decade, Caves has invited the public to experience this ever-growing labor of love built by him and his fellow hobbyists in the Christmas Tree Lane Model Railroad Society.
The model train display first started in the garage — and quickly outgrew the 400-square-foot space.
Rob Caves standing next to one of the many train sets he and his fellow hobbyists built.
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Fiona Ng
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LAist
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" It was completely wall to wall, five decks of trains," Caves said. " So we decided it's time to make it bigger, it's time to make it better."
That was 2010. What Caves and his club members did were constructed what he called "peninsulas" — or extensions — out of the garage. They then built displays housed inside — complete with train tracks, scenic backdrops, landscapes, structures and whatever else you can think of.
"The whole idea behind the layout was to model the West Coast of the United States," Caves said, who moved into the Altadena house with his partner about two decades ago. "Just do the whole thing in miniature."
Specifically, the plan was to recreate a train journey from San Diego to Seattle — featuring a hit parade of locations along the route.
In San Diego, he said, the layout includes the Pacific Surfliner running along the Pacific Ocean. Customary with this massive built, Caves made many of the set's miniature elements himself via 3D printing.
"You can't go buy a Surfliner in the store, so I just go ahead and build them on the computer," he said. "I like to add people sitting in the seats on the trains. It's the little details that make everything so much fun about the hobby."
Miniature Disneyland.
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In Orange County, one of the highlights along the route is Disneyland. "When kids come to see the layout ... they go right to Disneyland and they love the fireworks and all the stuff that we put there, the little details and Main Street USA," Caves said.
Minature downtown Los Angeles.
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Moving northward to Los Angeles proper, the set includes different scenes of downtown.
A Los Angeles street scene in the miniature train set build by Rob Caves and members of the train society.
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One of his favorite set pieces is Union Station — a place that cemented his passion for trains.
"When I was a kid, my grandmother used to take me on train trips out of there. So I scratch built that station — one of the first things that I actually did way back in 2010," Caves said.
Model train set of Union Station built from scratch by Altadena resident Rob Caves.
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Another favorite of Caves is the L.A. River.
A miniature model of the L.A. River lined with model train tracks
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The train ride also zips by places like the former Glendale Southern Pacific train depot that is now an Amtrak station.
The Glendale model train depot.
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And the project memorializes bygone everyman landmarks like Fry's Electronics in Burbank.
The old Fry's Electronics store in Burbank.
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The train keeps going north, passing by a station in Lancaster.
Lancaster model train station. The train layout is protected behind a clear vinyl cover.
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Caves said there are scenes of the Sierra Nevada mountains and whimsical touches along the way, like Godzilla knocking down power lines, or the Star Trek mountain — "kind of like Mount Rushmore" but with characters from the franchise.
The train layout's Mount Rushmore of Star Trek favorites.
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Until finally, we arrive in Seattle.
Last stop: Seattle.
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This vision have taken up multiple rooms of added space in his backyard — and counting.
"The layout has definitely gotten bigger each year," Caves said. And when necessary, new "peninsulas" are built to house new sceneries.
For example, there's a room dedicated to narrow-gauge trains that were used in the 1900s.
A scene from the narrow-gauge train room.
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"Those would be able to go around curves because the track is a little bit smaller than standard trains," Caves said. "You see a lot of trains in Europe that are like that because they just need to be able to negotiate steeper grades."
Another scene from the narrow-gauge train room.
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So far, Caves estimated that his backyard train universe contains 30 scale miles of tracks. In non-model train speak, he explained, think of one scale mile as "if you were a tiny figure on the layout, and you walked 30 miles on the layout."
Basically, a lot. By his account, he and his fellow model train enthusiasts have about a third more to go.
But who knows, because just like the real deal, building a miniature model is an experience that keeps on giving.
"The idea that you're gonna get on a train and go travel somewhere is just such a neat concept," Caves said. " I think there's something kind of hypnotic about being on a train and looking out the window and just kind of like forgetting about the rest of the world."
How to visit
Caves typically opens up his backyard for the public to enjoy these creations on the first Saturday of November. This year, these Saturday viewings end on Jan. 4. Hours are between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.
For more information, including the address, visit Christmas Tree Lane Model Railroad Society's Facebook page or Instagram.
