A model train metropolis 40 years in the making

Antoni Gaudi won’t be around to see the completion of his masterwork; the basilica Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is not scheduled for completion until 2026 — 144 years after Gaudi designed it and 100 after his death.

Gustav Mahler took six years to compose his magnificent Symphony No. 2, and Freddie Mercury needed most of a decade to finish “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Some things just can’t be rushed. Some things become obsessions, a quest for perfection.

I spoke recently to the man responsible for an amazing model train layout that tops any I have seen, even in Baltimore, where we have several train gardens during the holidays. What you see in these photos has been 40 years in the making in a large basement in a home in Virginia. It is not available to the public. I only became aware of it recently through a family connection. The senior citizen who built it says his O Guage metropolis is now scheduled for auction, and in a brief phone conversation he sounded both proud and sad. You have to admire his long devotion to the project — and to detail — and marvel at the work of art that resulted. Click here to see a video.