Joel Moore's first experience of seeing a model train was when he was a very young boy. "When I was 8 years old, my father had taken me to a friend's house to see his train layout. It was love at first sight," said Moore. "He bought me a kit and I built (my first train car), and it grew from there."

Today, Moore has created several HO train displays in his home and shares his knowledge of model railroading with others. He also uses images of his trains in a series of books he has authored about the Civil War.

Moore, a retired teacher, historian and Civil War re-enactor, recently presented "Explore the World of Model Trains" via Zoom during a program sponsored by the Friends of Hopewell Furnace. Moore, a resident of Narvon, has been a member of the group for the past eight years.

During the presentation on Jan. 9, Moore shared photos of his extensive private collection of model trains with the group. The slideshow highlighted all the details of Moore's main train display, which depicts the fictitious Virginia and Truckee Railroad in West Virginia. Intricate details on the layout include small figurines representing townspeople, buildings and railroad cars, many of which Moore built by hand.

Moore's train layouts are located in the basement of his home. For the main display, he has transformed a former storage room to build the layout. "The trackworks went in first," he said, noting that friends helped him build the layout. "This represents the junction of two railroads. The back track is the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. The front track ... is the Pennsylvania Railroad."

Rocks were created out of plaster, tunnels were added for the railroads to travel through and buildings were carefully placed along the railroad, including churches and shops and station houses. Moore also added an electric control station that directs the movement of the trains along the track.

Moore spends time tinkering with the Virginia and Truckee Railroad layout, cleaning it and creating additional hand-built cars. "If it's going to run well, you have to clean the track regularly. You have to clean all the electrical contacts to the locomotives," he noted.

Photos of the model railroad, which depicts life in the 1880s, can be found in a series of books that Moore has authored, including "Summer at Stewart Creek," which takes place along the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. Moore's other books in the "railroad series" are "Summer of Two Worlds" and "Twelfth Winter."

"With the publication of 'Twelfth Winter,' three out of the four stories have been published," said Moore. "'Stranded in Snow Shoe' remains as an incomplete manuscript from nearly 40 years ago. It will hopefully release as a completed work sometime in 2022."

For more information about Moore and other books in the series, visit http://www.jarthurmoore.com.

The Friends of Hopewell Furnace, a group that supports the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site in Elverson, holds an activity on the second Sunday of each month. To learn more, visit http://www.facebook.com/FriendsofHopewellfurnace or http://www.friendsofhopewellfurn.org.