/ heftmedia@gmail.com /
610 349 5370
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact:
Todd Heft, Heft Media
Event:
Merchants Square Model Train Exhibit
Location:
inside Merchants Square Mall, 1901 South 12th
St, Allentown, PA 18103
Website:
“
The world's most amazing model train extravaganza
”* is now open in the Merchants Square
Mall, Allentown, PA.
The Merchants Square Model Train Exhibit was built by Joe Kean, who previously built model
train displays at Pocono Museums Unlimited in Lehighton, PA and Hooven Mercantile
Company Museum in Jim Thorpe, PA.
Kean and his small volunteer crew of dedicated model train enthusiasts spent more than two
years building what Mr Kean calls his masterpiece.
“I have saved the greatest train exhibit I've
ever built for the last”,
he said.
“Merchants Square Mall has given me enough space to build
my entire collection and it will be a permanent fixture of Merchants Square and that makes me
very happy. This will be one of the largest model train exhibits in the country and certainly the
only model train exhibit with a thunder and lightning storm with rain.”
The Merchants Square Model Train Exhibit contains more than 1,000 structures, some
handmade from scratch; 30,000 lights illuminating the stars, sky, moon, and buildings; and
more than forty model trains rolling continuously on 18,000 feet of track.
The dazzling miniature views include the historic Ebbets Field in Brooklyn; skiers racing down
a mountain among twenty operating ski rides, skate ponds and a chalet; a drive-in theater
which shows a real movie; a farm complete with outbuildings; a 60-piece operating amusement
park with a roller coaster; a railroad yard complete with roundhouse and turntable; and a huge
24' x 16' lake with real water, over which storm clouds gather, bringing thunder, lightning and
rain!
For model train afficiandos, the exhibit includes “O” gauge scale, “O” gauge semi-scale, and
HO scale trains; four underground subways; five elevated trains; four pantograph electric
trains; and steam and diesel trains. Train logos include Lehigh Valley, Jersey Central, Reading,
Lehigh and New England, New York Central, Pennsylvania Railroad, New Haven Railroad,
Amtrack, and SEPTA.
Mike Roche, owner of Merchants Square Mall, is delighted with what Joe Kean and his crew
have built:
“To watch Joe and his volunteers over the past two years has been amazing. Every
building, street light and fire engine is to perfect scale. These guys are true artists. The exhibit
is incredibly detailed and every time I look at it I see something new. I think it's safe to say that
Joe Kean has outdone himself this time!”
The Merchants Square Model Train Exhibit is open to the public. Exhibit hours are Fridays, 12-
9, Saturdays 10-7, and Sundays 10-5. Admission is $7.00 for adults, $5.00 for seniors and $2.00
for kids ages 5-12. Kids under 5 are free.
For more information and admission discount coupon, please visit
**********
More on Merchants Square Mall:
Long known for its diverse selection of items that can't be found anywhere else, the climate controlled
Merchants Square Mall features over 100,000 square feet of specialty shoppes, antiques and
collectibles, and lots of parking space. Merchants Square Mall also features an in-house auction room,
special events showroom, and a full service restaurant.
More on Joe Kean:
In previous years, Joe Kean has created model train displays at Pocono Museums Unlimited in
Lehighton, PA and Hooven Mercantile Co. Museums in Jim Thorpe, PA. He has been a lifelong
collector of trains for his 73 years.
***quote from Paul Carpenter, Morning Call newspaper, Allentown, PA, 2011
Terminolgy: “O” gauge is the letter O, not zero
