The Toledo area’s longtime train and toy show is making its annual stop at Owens Community College on Sunday.

This is the 27th year of the Greater Toledo Train and Toy Show, which will be at held in the college’s Student Health and Activities Center. 

The show will feature over 250 model train and toy dealers as well as train-themed attractions such as a Tiedtke’s Department Store American Flyer postwar “S” gauge train display and a free train clinic, said Randy Ramsey, the show’s longtime organizer.

The event will also have toy brands including Legos and Hot Wheels.

Mr. Ramsey said the show is the only one in the country that offers a free train clinic, which will see enthusiasts consult on and service different models of trains.

“No matter what kind of train you have, whether it’s American or European or any age, we have people there that can service it and try to repair it for you for free, and give you advice on what it’s worth and what it needs,” Mr. Ramsey said.

He said the Tiedtke’s Department Store American Flyer train display is a huge hit with event participants who remember the old department store before it closed.

“It’s a small store layout,” Mr. Ramsey said. “People get a real kick out of it because you don’t see original department store layouts because they’re only built to last a season or two.”

He expects to see at least 5,000 visitors plus their children at the event.

“We’re the most well attended one-day show in Ohio and in this part of the country,” he said.

The event will feature vendors like Maumee resident Joe Thorpe, who will primarily have post-war trains from 1945 to 1969 and Lionel MPC model trains, he said.

Mr. Thorpe has never missed a show, he said.

“Randy and I are good friends,” he said.

Other enthusiasts like Jim Wolsiffer, member of the Northwestern Ohio Live Steamers Club, a model train enthusiast club, will have ⅛ scale train cars that participants can view.

He said the group will have the train cars on display to possibly garner the interest of people who aren’t familiar with model trains.

“What we’ve been doing for a number of years is we bring equipment and then we introduce it to people that want to get into the hobby,” Mr. Wolsiffer said.

Mr. Ramsey said the show has grown significantly since he and his wife, Lisa, started it at a bingo club in 1998.

During the first train and toy show, he said, participants waited to thank him for bringing a train and toy show into the community.

“People actually used to wait in line just to shake my hand, saying, ‘This is what we’ve needed [in Toledo],’” Mr. Ramsey said. “‘We needed a really nice thing like this, and now we have one of the best toy and train shows in the country.”

First Published March 7, 2025, 3:22 p.m.