Model train doctors treat ailing locomotives

VIRGINIA BEACH

Most of Max Robbins' patients just need a little TLC - some cleaning, a bit of grease, and they're ready to go.

Robbins is a doctor. His patients are about 10 inches long, give or take, and made of plastic and metal. You can visit his office any time of year, but if you want to get checked out for free, go to the annual Model Train Show and Sale at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, where Robbins and partner Shawn Henderson had a booth set up this weekend.

Robbins and Henderson call themselves train doctors, and if you have a locomotive-in-miniature that you never expect to work again, consider dropping by their table before you drop it in the trash.

"You see the dirt there?" Robbins, 64, pointed to a speck on the wheel of a maroon Atlas engine. That little bit of dirt, he said, can block the current that flows from the tracks into the train and makes model railroads run. Dog hair, carpet fibers - common culprits in model train death.

Robbins wipes the speck off with a bit of cleaning solution on a cotton swab, and the previously jerky engine glides along its rails.

Both Robbins and Henderson have been model railroaders for more than 30 years. Robbins' home train layout takes up a space about 13 feet long and 11 feet wide. Henderson's is 16 feet by 12 feet. A t their booth, Robbins' laptop screensaver runs through pictures that look like real trains passing through scenic landscapes, until a mountain shows just a hint of plastic sheen.

"Once you get involved, you get kind of addicted to it," said Henderson, 49.

They became train doctors about five years ago. People kept coming up to both Robbins - a former electrical technician - and Henderson to ask about train repairs at the show. Finally, they decided to make it official - white coats and all.

On Sunday, Robbins was examining a green-and-gray Bachmann locomotive with a Philadelphia Eagles theme that belonged to Charlie Brown, former president of the Tidewater Division of the National Model Railroad Association. Brown wanted to "go digital" with his locomotive: convert it to run on a new track system, Digital Command Control, that allows multiple trains to run at different speeds on a track at once.

The new system is keeping the train doctors busy - it requires adding new wiring to the locomotives, and that can require a little expertise.

"I'm not so good at things like soldering," Brown said, handing over his Eagles engine, a gift from his daughter.

The train doctor gave Brown a bad diagnosis: His locomotive was not set up for easy digital conversion, which meant more soldering. And the soldering tools they had on hand were not delicate enough.

"We'll talk later," Robbins said, then sent Brown a few booths away to look for the kind of conversion equipment he'd need - doctor's orders.

Alicia Wittmeyer, (757) 222-5216, alicia.wittmeyer@pilotonline.com