Annual model railroad festival returns to Union Station this weekend
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- The Hostlers Model Railroad Festival returns to Ogden’s Union Station this weekend.
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- A flyer for the 2025 Hostlers Model Railroad Festival.
OGDEN — The Hostlers Model Railroad Festival returns to Union Station for its 35th edition this weekend.
This year’s event promises to be one of the biggest in recent memory, as more than 50 vendors, a veritable bonanza of model railroad layouts and other activities will be featured.
John Griffin — a longtime member of Hostlers Model Railroad Club and one of the event organizers — says more than 6,000 people have attended past events over the course of a weekend. And a large turnout is expected once again for this year’s festival.
“It’s really going to be an excellent show because we have vendors coming from as far away as San Diego and Deshler, Nebraska,” Griffin told the Standard-Examiner. “So, we’re basically the western half of the United States.”
Participating clubs and layout builders include Hostlers Model Railroad Club, South Weber Model Railroad Club, Golden Spike American Flyer Train Club, OT & W Model Railroad Club, Wasatch N-Scale, Utah LEGO Users Group, Northern Utah-LEGO User Group, Utah Train Collectors Association and Utah Garden Railroad Society.
Displays of varying scales will be on hand. Griffin noted that there will be an N-scale layout measuring 90 feet in length at the festival.
On-site food trucks include Nana’s Sonoran Hot Dogs, S’Mothered and ScallyWag Grill.
Griffin says the three-day event serves as an ideal entry point into the model railroading hobby for newbies.
“One advantage for anyone who isn’t into the hobby yet or is interested in getting into it is that you get to see all the different scales,” Griffin said. “So, you can get an idea of what’s involved and all of the clubs are more than happy to talk to you and answer any questions you might have.”
Griffin opined that Ogden’s historic rail hub is an ideal venue for experiencing the model railroad hobby.
“Look at it this way — people that come up here from Salt Lake, they get on a train, they ride the train to a block away from the train station, they walk to the train station, they’re at a train show,” he said. “When they’re done, they’ve bought what they wanted to buy, seen what they wanted to see, talked to whoever they wanted to talk to, they walk a block to a train station, they get on the train, they ride the train home.
“Now, how’s that for a day of trains?”
The festival will kick off at 3 p.m. Friday, with an 8 p.m. closing time. It also will run Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Adult single-day tickets are available for $8, and weekend passes are available at a $12 price point. Children aged 12 and under will be admitted to the festival free of charge. Credit cards will not be accepted at the doors.
For more information on the Hostler Model Railroad Festival, go to https://hostlers.info/.
