All aboard for collectibles at Railroadiana show

When Chicago Railroad Collectibles and Model Train Show vendor Clayton Rattin went with his friends to buy penny candy in Bourbonnais 45 years ago, his life switched direction.

"There was a locomotive, a steam locomotive, that was picking up a car and they had to wait there for something and the engineer said 'You want to look up here, sonny?'" Rattin recalled. "He took me up there and I looked at everything. From that time on I always wanted to be an engineer."

Although Rattin never realized that dream - he became a math teacher instead - he cites that day as the moment he began to collect memorabilia having to do with railroads.

"I've been collecting railroad lanterns, china, stepstools, badges that they wore, suits, playing cards. Just about anything they used on the railroad, I collect," he said.

Rattin will be attending the 24th annual Chicago Railroadiana Railroad Collectibles Show at the Kane County Fairgrounds, mostly selling items he had to purchase as a lot to get a coveted piece of memorabilia.

"I buy and sell. If I don't have something in my collection, I keep it. Sometimes I have to buy whole collections to find what I want and I just sell the rest off at a modest increase," he said. "Just enough to cover my expenses."

According to the show's promoter, Russ Fierce, about 50 vendors will be on hand for collectors to peruse. "A couple hundred people will come through the door," he said. "There are a lot of people who are interested in railroad things but don't want a whole collection."

Neither Rattin nor Fierce are one of those people. Their collections are most likely enviable to people who invest in memories of another era.

"Used to be you could get railroad stuff when it was coming out of service, but now, most of that has been replaced," Fierce said. "There is still a little left that you can sometimes get from the railroads, but mainly you have to get it from collectors.

"(Railroads) are trying to get away from anything mechanical and trying to get everything electrical. It has to do with how often it has to be inspected," Fierce added.

Fierce cites a Lionel Train under the Christmas tree, reinforced by a fascination with a working signal semaphore - a fixed railway signal - that he came across in college, as the genesis of his fascination. His interest in railroads stands out in his Hoffman Estates neighborhood.

"I have an approach signal in my driveway of my house. It's the only one in the neighborhood," he said.

Although Fierce has a few miniature train collectibles, like most attendees of this weekend's show, his focus is on full-sized railroad memorabilia, including the approach signal in his driveway and more memorabilia inside.

"I have a lot of full-sized railroad signals,"Fierce said.

Rattin's collection is also mostly full-sized. "I have a tail end drum sign of the Seminole that ran only thee days a week and it ran from here, all the way down to Florida and then it came back," he said. "A tail end drum sign was on the back of the observation cars. It was made out of glass and they had it lit at night. It would shine out. That's one of my prize collection.

"I have an old lantern off the Illinois Central, it was made around 1885," he continued. "In my family room I have a headlight off of the 2604, and I light that up in my den at night."

Although the focus is on full-sized memorabilia, model train enthusiasts will find some equipment.

"It's primarily real sized, what I call railroad collectibles, which would be locks, lanterns, dining car china, maps, timetables, photographs, DVDs, books, silver, anything a train used. It's about 80 percent collectibles and 20 percent model trains," he said.

The 24th annual outing of the Railroad Collectible Shows will be the last in this calendar year in Illinois, according to Ratin, so railroad collectible buffs should make their way to Kane County this weekend. "You literally can get anything you want," he said.

"Anything your heart desires that has to do with railroads."

If you go

What: 24th annual Chicago Railroadiana Railroad Collectibles and Model Train Show

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18

Where: Kane County Fairgrounds, 525 S. Randall Road, St. Charles

Admission: $5.50 plus St. Charles admission tax; children younger than 12 admitted free

Details: <a href="http://www.rrshows.com">www.rrshows.com</a>