Dover train enthusiast shares his love of the rails

To say that Dover’s Rev. Charles E. Drummer Jr. loves trains is akin to saying he loves breathing. Except for his family and church, railroads and trains are the centerpiece of his life.

On Saturday, Nov. 7, for the 38th year in a row, Drummer, 73, will open for display the “Drummer City Norfolk and Western Model Railroad,” a world in miniature he has painstakingly built in his basement.

It’s something the retired Air Force communications specialist enjoys doing as a favor to fellow railroad enthusiasts and those who are just plain curious about a mode of transportation modern America seems to have passed by.

“It’s something that takes me back to my childhood days,” Drummer said, as he looked over the yards of track that comprise Drummer City. The display is an idealized representation of the small Ohio towns in which Drummer grew up, frozen in time. With the exception of a 1970 Chevelle — production of which actually started in 1969, Drummer says — every vehicle and building represents pre-1970 America.

“This was a transitional period in the life of my family,” Drummer explained. “I picked a period where I could get all the various vehicles and trains I needed.”

Drummer also picked that time because he began the massive train display in 1971 after being assigned to Dover Air Force Base. The collection started out on two plywood sheets he set up straddling the living and dining rooms of the family’s tiny base housing unit.

Once Drummer retired and moved to his current home on Walker Road, the display took on a life of its own.

“All of my life I’ve loved trains,” he said. “I remember we had to cross the railroad tracks when we went to school and church. I remember the coal cars going through town. I remember the troop trains carrying soldiers during World War II. I was fascinated by all of it.”

Everything in Drummer City is built on H0 scale, the most popular railroad scale in the United States. In H0, a 6-foot-tall man would be approximately 21 mm in height.

It is not hard to be taken in by the intricate detail Drummer has put into his little world. His 13 trains travel through mountains, valleys and tunnels, making their way past a carnival with a lighted and moving Ferris wheel and merry-go-round, chugging by a bus station, complete with a vintage Greyhound, and near a well known fast food burger chain restaurant. The downtown area includes a park and neat streets bordered by trees with tiny people going about their every day chores.

The trains are loaded down with passengers and freight, including a flatcar bearing a giant shark.
All of this is set up on platforms Drummer has constructed that cover at least three levels. He has cotton batting standing in for snow on the lower levels and imitating clouds up above.
It incorporates part of the collection once owned by a friend, the late Leroy Johnson of Chester, Pa., who bequeathed it all to Drummer several years ago.

Drummer spends at least one day a week working on the display, either adding parts he builds by hand or from kits he buys in hobby stores. He dusts the displays with a tiny brush and vacuum cleaner.

He also makes periodic repairs, including one necessitated when a certain journalist — no need to be specific here — couldn’t keep control of his camera apparatus.

“Don’t worry about it,” Drummer said as he picked up parts of a flatcar from the floor. “We’ve had some major accidents in here. This was minor, minor.”

Drummer and his wife, Helen, admit those who want to see the trains for free between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. during the one day a year the display is open to the public. They’re not set up for handicapped access, but can make private appointments for those who might have trouble navigating through the tables holding the displays.

He enjoys thinking about past open houses, where hundreds have come by to see his handiwork. One was a 93-year-old woman who would smile broadly every time she made the trip to Drummer City.

“She just got down on her knees, and said it reminded her so much of what it was like when she was a little girl,” Drummer recalled. “It made me feel really special.”