All aboard! Greater Toledo Train & Toy Show returning for 2022

        After being postponed last year due to COVID-19, the Greater Toledo Train & Toy Show is on track to be bigger and better than ever when it rolls into town on Sunday, March 13 at 11 a.m. at the Owens Community College Student Health and Activities Center, 30335 Oregon Rd., Perrysburg.
        Originally launched on March 8, 1998, the Greater Toledo Train and Toy Show offers a day of family fun for grownups and kids alike. This year’s show will feature more than 250 dealers bringing distinctive toy and model trains of all gauges and manufacturers as well as toys from all eras – plastic, tin, die-cast, pop culture and so much more.
        Repair service and appraisals will also be available.
        “Parents and grandparents will surely relive happy memories from long ago when they see many wonderful toys and operating displays from their own childhood,” said Roger Ramsey, aka “Roundhouse Randy," of Toledo Toymasters, which organizes the show. “Bring along the kids and an extra special time awaits you showing the youngsters old-time toys in operation they would otherwise never see today.”
        Among the many famous layouts and exhibits that will be operating all day long during the show are:
        • Two must-see operating LEGO layouts presented by the Michigan LEGO Users Group and the Swanton Model Railroad Club. Both feature an operating LEGO City, with trains made entirely of LEGO bricks. All sorts of LEGOS will be available from a variety of sellers.
        • An entire wall of vintage, rare and operating A.C. Gilbert Erector Set displays featuring toys from the 1920s presented by members of the AC Gilbert Heritage Society. “This year we have two new operating displays you will not want to miss, including an incredible ‘Celebrating Toys of the Past’ exhibit,” Ramsey said.
        • The Toledo tradition lives on with Toledo Toymasters’ Tiedtke’s Department Store American Flyer antique operating post-war “S” gauge train display. This layout, plus a 1950s Lionel O-Gauge store display will be operating on a real and life-sized “train truck” presented by Toledo Toymasters.
        • Train operating layouts in all gauges of toy trains from area groups, including the scenic HO layout by the Hobo Crew, layouts from the Swanton Model RR Club and the Eastwood Junior High School afterschool club.
        • Toledo Public Schools’ Toledo Technology Academy award-winning robotics team will be at the show with demonstrations.
        • The Midwest R2D2 Builders Club will be on hand to share droid creations that are “out of this world.”
        • Romick Railways outdoor riding train will be offering rides ($3 per ticket, weather-permitting).
        General admission tickets are $7. “Early bird” tickets, which offer admission at 9 a.m. – which offers a quieter and less-busy show experience – are $10. The show runs until 3 p.m. for both ticket types. Children ages 12 and younger are admitted to the show free with one paid adult admission.
        Advance tickets are available online at eventbrite.com/e/175629110397.
        Visit toymasters.org for more information.