What was Roadside America?

I know that model railroading isn't the most popular hobby these days (depending on who you ask), but it does sadden me to hear or see a model train exabit shut it's doors for good, especially in the case of Roadside America, which wasn't just a train display, but a handmade miniature village made by one man...

Laurence Gieringer

Photo curtesy of Wiki Commons

The creator of Roadside America Laurence Gieringer was a fan of miniatures since he was a kid. At 5 years old, Gieringer went out on his own to collect what he thought was a miniature building of a hotel. It certainly looked that way out his bedroom window, but when Laurence went out on his own to get the "toy", he found that it wasn't as close by as it appeared to be. The boy got lost and spent a night in the woods, but was able to be found the next morning. 

You'd think such an event would put a damper on Laurence's love of miniatures, but it didn't effect him. 

Later in his teenage years, Laurence would try to craft his own miniature buildings, with his parents building him and his brother Paul a workbench with some tools to use to make the buildings. While Paul became uninterested in making the miniatures, Laurence kept at it, and became better and better with practice. 

On board with the trains 

One little known fact about the miniature village is it didn't have trains in it at first. When Laurence started out making the village that would become Roadside America, it featured buildings and scenery only. 

In an interview Lionel, the manager of Roadside America Brian Hilbert explained that it was Laurence's son in law that asked to add trains to the miniature village. Laurence was OK with this as back then, trains were the main transportation in America. 

It should be noted that when the display was growing, Lionel was starting to become a household name in the model railroad industry. Lionel was going through both it's pre-war and post-war era when Roadside America was growing. 

Be prepared to see more then expected

Trains weren't the only thing to see in the display. Hundreds of handmade buildings of all kinds (movie theaters, barns, stores), 4,000 miniature people, and even a waterfall and river could be found in the display. 

The water features on the display are what I find to be the most impressive. It's no secret that water and electricity don't mix well together, yet Laurence somehow got real water to run throughout the 7,450 square foot display, even including a little pond in the back with folks fishing in canoes. 

Anther good feature of the display was the night show. At times, the lights would be dimmed, and folks who stayed to watch the display would be treated to "God Bless America" playing, followed by a plane going around on the ceiling, and even light up fireworks that would display on the wall. 

It was both a patriotic show, and something for those that wanted to see the display lit up at night. 

The end of Roadside America 

While the pandemic was the last straw for Roadside America, it wasn't what mainly killed it. The family/caretakers of Laurence's display wanted to sell the place off to new owners, but those plans fell through. Finally, it was announced that Roadside America would be auctioned off, with all the houses and trains sold off to those who wanted them. 

Closing thoughts: 

 A part of me wishes someone had saved Roadside America or even donated it to a museum. Nothing against any other train displays out there, but what made Roadside America special was that almost everything was handmade. Yes there were some pre-made things such as the train and track, but every tree, buildings, and road was handmade by Laurence himself. 

It gave the layout both a personal touch and made it a time capsule, letting those that went in look at a display that was most likely older then them...