Photo by Tyler R. Perry • Kevin Gracey, center, demonstrates his model train display in 2012 at Cass City’s Rawson Memorial District Library. The display will return this holiday season.
Tyler R. Perry
For the Advertiser
CASS CITY — Most people look back fondly on special Christmas gifts they received as children. For Kevin Gracey, it is the gift his brother received that he remembers best, because it led to a life-long hobby for him.
It all started during the Christmas season of 1973. “My younger brother went to Bad Axe and told Santa he wanted a train for Christmas,” Gracey says. A while later a phone call came, informing Gracey’s brother that he had won a drawing for a model train set.
For years, Gracey tried to get his brother to give him the train. His mother, however, always intervened, advising Gracey’s brother to keep the set. After ten years of asking, Gracey finally got the train, trading his keyboard to his brother in exchange.
The joy of owning that first train sparked in Gracey a desire to continue collecting – a hobby that continues to this day. Gracey still has that first train, a 1973 Lionel Blue Streak Freight. “My prized one is my first one, because I know where it came from,” he says.
His initial interest in trains, however, has expanded to include train displays. “To me, it’s the operating accessories,” he says, citing the saw-mills, buildings, lights, and other accessories that help to create a winter scene for the trains to travel through. “It’s a blast. The people who say, ‘I had this when I was a kid’ [make it enjoyable].”
Today, Gracey enjoys sharing his passion with the public locally, setting up his display during Fall Family Days at the Thumb Octagon Barn and during the Christmas season at Rawson Memorial District Library.
“I love Christmas,” Gracey says. “I love the lights, and especially with Christmas, people come into look at it…it’s satisfying. It’s a good hobby.”
During most of the year, Gracey’s display is housed in his basement. “I have a 4’x20’ display and it’s solid Christmas – buildings, lights, everything to do with Christmas. It’s a year-round thing.”
Gracey is quick to point out that he couldn’t maintain the display without the help of his wife, Diane. “My wife has everything labeled in tubs,” he says. “She does all the landscaping.”
In addition to his display, Gracey enjoys buying and selling trains. “I’ve been to some shows and set up to sell there,” he says. “But sometimes it’s a two-hour drive, an hour to set-up, then a seven-hour day with the display.”
With the advent of Ebay and other online markets, Gracey says he doesn’t do the shows any longer. He does give a word of warning about online markets to prospective train collectors, however. “Be very careful. You need to know what you’re looking for,” he says, referencing the varying degrees of quality and prices.
During the holidays, Gracey will be setting his train display up at Rawson Memorial District Library in Cass City. He says he is hoping to run the train on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during the month of December.
“This year we’re going to do Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer” as our theme, he says. The display will feature buildings, characters, and scenes from the famous Christmas story.
Gracey says children love watching the magical, miniature “winter wonderland”. “The kids, if you get something they can relate to…it’s just that much more satisfying”, he says.
In addition to the display, the public is welcome to enter a raffle for one of two H.O. model trains donated by Cass City resident Stanley May. One train is guaranteed to go to a child, while the other will be given to a person of any age. Tickets are $0.50 each and will be available for sale at the library until December 20. For information about the raffle, contact the library at (989) 872-2856.
For more information about the display, or collecting train sets, contact Kevin Gracey at (989) 415-7036.