Day Trippin’ to The Toy Train Barn -

Green County WI - Many people dream of turning a passion or hobby into a full blown career, but Buck and Jan Guthrie actually did it. And while the results have been beyond their wildest dreams, they have also been a boon to train enthusiasts, children, families, and anyone who likes to see creativity and ingenuity at work. With gasoline prices soaring, and parents yearning for some good old fashioned fun for their families, the Toy Train Barn, just outside Monroe, Wisc., offers a great destination for a fascinating day trip.

The Toy Train Barn came into being when a couple things collided in Buck Guthrie’s life. He had grown up on the 20 acre farm 10 miles north and west of Monroe, Wisc., on the south side of Highway 81. Like most boys growing up on a farm, he rode a tractor, played with his trains and let his imagination roam. After he grew up, the parcel left the family. Buck worked for the railroad, but stayed in Argyle. His mother lived near the farm, and Buck says it was too painful to even look at the family’s former property when he passed it on his way to visit his mom.

Buck married, had a family, continued on as a railroad engineer, and kept going with his train collection. Then, one day, in 2000, Buck stopped by his family’s former farm and talked to the farmer and the deal was struck or Buck to buy back the farm. “It was in shambles,” Buck says describing, how he had to kick a family of raccoons out and complete some major renovations.

The cows stayed in the dairy barn for a year, leaving in July 2001. Parts of the barn are 100 years old, and while Buck realized there weren’t many barns that old around, he also understood the amount of time and effort it would take to shore it up and restore it. After a particularly strong storm in August, the barn nearly collapsed and Buck was forced to make a decision: he decided to fix it.

“I can do a lot without spending money,“ Buck said, and so with the help of friends and family, they began on the renovation with their biggest asset: sweat equity. He still didn’t have a purpose for the renovation; he just loved the old barn and thought it would be shame to let it go.

During the renovation, the idea dawned on him to use this barn to house his train collection. His friends Tom Moore and John Wire, who were there with Buck and Jan from the beginning and “though thick and thin” thought it was a great idea as well and set to making the dream a reality.

While renovating the barn, the terrorist attacks of September 11th happened and, as a result, Buck lost his job with the railroad.

They had started on the transformation, but losing his job put the project in peril. After much soul searching, by the end of September, Buck had decided to continue with the challenge and set the date of December 15, 2001 to open the Toy Train Barn.

There have been bumps along the way, but it has been clicking along the tracks since then, all year round. Buck, Jan and their friends are continually changing the layouts and displays in what has become for them a true labor of love.

The Lionel train display takes up most of the south side of the air conditioned barn with its seven foot high mountains. At any given time, there are about 25 different displays featuring all different scales of trains from the tiny “Z” scale up to the large “G” scale. Within these sizes, Buck has a wide range of trains from those dating back from the Civil war to modern day.

By design, the displays engage the visitors. They are set up to encourage interaction, allowing for the people to flip switches and get “up close and personal,” as Buck describes it. This is not some sealed in plastic wrap, detached and dry tour of a train collection; that is not the idea here at all.

Moreover, a more recent addition has been a 12 inch gauge train outside for people to ride in. Buck graded and designed the tracks, which cover about a mile outside the barn.

Buck demurs when asked about some of his more valuable collectibles and tells a s tory about a 10 year old girl who visited the barn instead. Buck relates how the girl told him she would have a smile on her face all day long after visiting his magical barn. He doesn’t say it explicitly, but it is as if he is saying it would be about as hard to put a price tag on that girl’s smile as it would be to determine an individual train’s value. And, about as useful.

The word is getting out about this local gem. This past June, The Toy Train Barn was profiled as part of Public Broadcasting Service’s “Tracks Ahead ” series set to air in January 2009. And, Buck says that he has had visitors from as far as Canada, France and Japan.

More recently, the Toy Train Barn has been a meeting place for family reunions and other group outings. Since the barn is open all year around, Jan decorates the displays with accents according to the season. And there is just that inexplicable something about trains and Christmas that generates traffic at the Barn during that time of year.