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Last modified: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 4:19 PM CST
Train display a holiday treat
by Erin C. Hevern • Daily News
Dr. Andrew Stasko is known well for his handiwork inside the operating room as a general surgeon at MeritCare in Wahpeton, but this holiday season people can become acquainted with his skill outside the operating room.
Currently in the lobby of MeritCare sits a model train table display, which travels around Christmas scenery such as snow covered trees, lit up store fronts and miniature shoppers. The train table is Stasko's creation, a hobby he took up after he and his family moved to Wahpeton in 2007. A friend of his, he said, got him back into the hobby.
"We were just excited and grateful that he was willing to do this for our patients," said MeritCare Clinic Manager Nancy Demarais. "He just did this out of his love for trains and wanting to share it with others."
The train display in the lobby of MeritCare took Stasko a month and half of steady work to complete. The process typically begins with developing a track plan, gathering lumber to build the tracks and perfect the scenery as a Christmas theme.
With this particular train table, Stasko said he picked a relatively simple design.
"What's nice is I picked up cars with a Christmas theme," he said. One car is a train car identical to ones that run on the Great Northern Railway, which often runs through the state of North Dakota.
Stasko said there always seems to be an association with model trains and the Christmas season, so the time spent building and setting up the train seems worth it.
"It's fun to see people excited and happy to see the train. Young and old," Demarais said.
"I think it's been worthwhile, especially seeing the kids light up when they come in," Stasko said.
The hobby of building model train tables for Stasko is special, and tends to be addictive. He says he has approximately 20 locomotives waiting to used, including one of his grandfather's from 1937 that still runs.
With a variety of model trains to begin yet another table, Stasko hopes his Christmas themed display can become tradition at MeritCare.
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| This is the model train display put up by Dr. Andrew Stasko at the MeritCare Clinic in Wahpeton. A friend of his got him back into model trains. Stasko said the display is worth it when he sees children’s faces light up. Photo by Erin Hevern |
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