Mich. man's model train project wows

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich., Nov. 28 (UPI) -- A massive Michigan model train exhibit, expected to draw thousands of fans, has opened to the public for the fifth season, its owner says.

The O-scale model railroad Paul Gribbell, 68, of West Bloomfield sets up every year in a vacant grocery store usually draws 4,000 to 5,000 fans, and this year's edition will likely be no different, the Detroit Free Press reported Saturday.

"I admit it, I'm kind of nuts," Gribbell said of his more than 7,000 feet of model train track, which winds through lovingly created murals of downtown Chicago and the California desert and includes scale versions of the Windy City's most famous trains of the 1950s and 1960s -- the bright yellow Super Chief that ran to Los Angeles and the two-tone gray 20th Century Limited that left daily to New York.

The Free Press said Gribbell, a former Ford Motor Co. manager, won't reveal how much he's spent to build and maintain the project (although he admits it's a lot), Gribbell told the newspaper the looks of joy and excitement he sees on his visitors' faces make it all worthwhile.