It’s a small world, after all

By Carly B. Dykes

Tim Jordan thinks small, but on a large scale. Or gauge, if you prefer. He’s a train aficionado whose long-time model-train hobby has earned acclaim from local train buffs and featured on numerous local TV stations.

Yes, there are trains. But there’s much more to see with Jordan’s most impressive build, aptly named “Tribute to Seattle.” The table-sized model railroad the Bothell resident has spent 23 years building sports the iconic Space Needle, of course. The Fremont Troll looms, and a piece of rubble from the demolished Kingdome adds real-life drama.

There’s more. Kenmore Air seaplanes on Puget Sound. The Pink Elephant car wash joins the city’s familiar landmarks. The red “R” on the old Rainier beer building. And an advertisement for Jordan’s business, Sheds Plus, slips a little personal history into the scenery.

Look closer, and the layout becomes more than a collection of recognizable buildings. It is a portrait of the native New Yorker’s adopted home, assembled through years of intricate work, chance encounters, and contributions from people who wanted a place in his miniature world.

The trains brought him back to a childhood passion. Everything around the tracks tells the story of what happened next.

Finding his Seattle

Jordan was 6 when he and his brother discovered a model train layout and figured out how to assemble and run it. His brother wasn’t especially impressed. But Jordan was captivated. “I was in love with it, and I don’t know why,” he said. He pored over train magazines as a boy, but the hobby eventually went on hold. His path from New York to the Pacific Northwest included a high school job at a car wash in the Hamptons, military service, and a career as a jet mechanic.

Jordan moved to the PNW in 2000. Working at Boeing Field, he watched trains pass each day – an everyday sight that would help inspire the railroad he eventually built. He returned to model trains at 30, after the birth of his first child. Expecting to spend more time at home, he wanted a project he could work on there. So he started a layout downstairs.

That project became “Tribute to Seattle.” And as his connection to the region deepened, the landscape around his trains continued to change.

More than scenery

Recreating a city requires a mix of resourcefulness and patience. Many of Jordan’s buildings are 3-D printed or adapted from model railroad kits. Others give him a reason to work by hand. For a recent addition, the Mukilteo Lighthouse, he chose an old-school approach: building the replica from scrap parts.

First came a visit to the real lighthouse. Jordan took his son to the top and collected measurements. Using a scale ruler, he laid out the individual pieces, scored them with a blade, folded them into shape, and carefully fitted them onto the model. The result brought another Northwest landmark into his expanding version of Seattle. But not every piece of the layout began with measurements and a workbench. Some arrived through coincidence, like the Kingdome. Jordan watched the infamous ballpark’s demolition live on television. Afterward, the public was invited to collect rubble before it was all hauled away. But his own acquisition came years later, thanks to a hoodie bearing the stadium’s logo.

A waitress noticed it and told him she had pieces of the Kingdome. He told her about his model railroad and showed her the layout. The conversation led to an invitation to her home on Whidbey Island. Jordan boarded the ferry prepared to bring back a souvenir. “I took a hammer, a bag, and my camera.” Her piece of rubble was marked with the date she collected it. A fragment eventually found its way into his layout, giving the miniature city a tangible connection to the one that inspired it.

Other people have contributed their own interpretations of Seattle. The team behind the “Rainier: A Beer Odyssey” indie documentary brought five custom figures dressed as Rainier beer bottles. Snohomish artist Carrie Milburn shared digital images of her Seattle-themed artwork, including depictions of Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix.

A friend who paints graffiti on rail cars contributed a boxcar mural and a hand-painted sign combining local landmarks with a Sounder train, a Ride the Ducks vehicle, and Boeing airplanes. Those additions have helped make the railroad something Jordan could not have built entirely on his own: a collection of other people’s creativity as well as his.

Passing it along

The contributions aren’t limited to scenery. Over the years, fellow hobbyists and community members have entrusted Jordan with trains they no longer have room for or know someone else will enjoy. Recently, a Kirkland man gave him an entire collection. The two had met years earlier when Jordan displayed his layout at a museum in Snohomish; the man needed space and remembered their conversation.

Jordan’s work has now appeared in the kind of magazines he once read as a child, along with local television news coverage. Still, he credits much of the interest to word of mouth. People tell him about trains available to buy or give away. Familiar faces return to train shows looking for his booth.

That steady flow of equipment allows him to do more than add to his own collection. He assembles donated trains and materials into layouts for children, giving them a starting point much like the one he stumbled upon at 6.

“I get the stuff for free, so I’ll put something together for them to play with,” he said.

Jordan worries model railroading could become a lost art. Putting a working layout into a child’s hands is his way of helping it endure.

That interest in the next generation also connects with his involvement in the United Northwest Model Railroad Club. The club holds an annual February show at the Evergreen Fairgrounds in Monroe, benefiting a local 4-H club. Jordan has sponsored the show for several years and brings his Seattle layout to display. Last year’s event set records for attendance and donations.

While he helps other people get started, his own railroad remains a work in progress.

Next comes a more detailed interior for Smith Tower, including a fully decorated penthouse. He also plans to build the houseboat from “Sleepless in Seattle,” a project that will require remodeling part of his miniature waterfront.

Twenty-three years after starting a project to keep himself occupied at home, Jordan is still making room for another piece of Seattle.