A sprawling landscape with rolling hills and open skies offers its inhabitants activities like kayaking on a glassy river, a visit to the hardware store or movie theater, camping near dinosaurs and, of course, a train ride.
The setting of Brown County Model Trains offers a vast — but miniature — expanse within its walls, where visitors of all ages can experience the magic of imagination.
David Hoggatt has been in business for three months now, opening up the storefront in what used to be the public restroom in Antique Alley.
After a renovation from the ground up, adding windows, new flooring, a covered patio and painting the building a soft pink, Hoggatt is ready to welcome customers of all ages.
He’s the sole proprietor of the venture, “for better or for worse,” he said.
Most days, he said, it’s for the better.
Trains have been a part of Hoggatt’s life since he was a 3-year-old boy growing up in Indianapolis and in his 20s he wanted to do a large layout involving people, buildings and scenery for his tracks.
But, he ended up traveling around for work, living in apartments and houses that wouldn’t allow for the space.
He graduated from Ball State and moved to New York City, working in and around the city as an architect for 20 years.
After getting a little restless in architecture he started working for Home Depot, where he stayed for 15 years. He moved back to Indianapolis and owned a store in Brown County for three years, Peaceful Valley Arts and Crafts, which was also in Antique Alley.
He moved back to New York City for a year then on to Gatlinburg, where he worked for the Smoky Mountain National Park Visitors Center.
“I’ve been around, I’ve been all over,” he said.
When in Gatlinburg, Hoggatt said he started to toy with the idea of opening a model train shop, but never was able to make it into a reality.
A friend of his on Facebook would share pictures of Brown County, making him realize how much he missed the area. He decided to move back in January and started the project of opening his shop.
The goal of his shop is two-fold, he said. The basic goal was to introduce trains to the new generation.
“I got my first train when I was 3 years old. I built this shop around the kids, they come in and run the trains, some kids have never seen one, much less get close to it,” he said.
The second goal is to build a profitable business: he’s also a dealer of Bachmann, the largest manufacturer of model trains in the country, as well a Walthers dealer.
He also sells Indiana-made wooden ornaments. He’ll be bringing in stuffed animals from Wild Republic, as well.
Kids can step up to the platform and see a miniature world right before them, with moving parts and colors that catch any onlooker’s eye.
They can run the trains for free, seeing them go over bridges, through tunnels and junctions on Hoggatt’s hand-crafted scene.
“Kids come in and they just kind of go crazy,” he said. “Kids have so much fun and they’re entertained for a few minutes.”
Even though it’s oriented towards kids, Hoggatt said anyone can come in and enjoy.
“The miniature aspect, movement, lights, colors, sound — it’s all about the detail,” he said. “When I was a kid and had trains, my imagination would put me right inside the trains. I would want to go right inside those little houses. Kids come in and say ‘that’s the house I want to live in,’ they put themselves right into the picture. It’s all about imagination and creativity.”
When Hoggatt was growing up, trains were gender specific, he said, boys having trains and girls having dolls.
“Fortunately it’s not like that anymore,” he said. “Girls have just as much fun as the boys do.”
It’s a kid-friendly place, any after-school or summer program can make it a field trip destination. A group from the Brown County YMCA visited the shop last month.
“It’s just a place where kids of all ages can come in and have fun,” he said. “Again, if they want to buy trains, that’s even better.”
Hobby shops were everywhere when Hoggatt was a kid exploring the world of trains. Because of the internet’s rise, the number of hobby shops are just a handful because all buying is done online, Hoggatt said.
There are still a lot of big train layouts run by clubs and museums that keeps it alive, he said.
“It’s still new and evolving, but it’s how I envisioned it,” he said of his shop.
“I’m trying to add a building or two a week. Eventually this will really be covered with buildings, houses and activities. I tell kids every time your family comes back there’s going to be more to see.”
Brown County Model Trains
Location: 75 S. Jefferson St., in Antique Alley
Phone: 317-783-6726
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: Brown County Model Trains
Hours: Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
