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Museum receives donation of ‘Weirton Steel’ model train

Craig Howell MUSEUM DONATION - Jeffrey Miller, of Newark, Ohio, opens some of the boxes containing pieces of model train kits he has donated to the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center.

WEIRTON – A portion of a model train collection built up over a Newark, Ohio, man’s 30-year hobby has a new home at a local museum.

Thursday afternoon, Jeffrey Miller made his first visit to the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center, bringing with him almost 20 pieces of O Gauge model train kits. What makes the donation unique is the train cars bearing the logo of Weirton Steel Corp., and Miller’s inspiration for collecting those particular pieces.

Miller explained his maternal grandfather, Burr McKnight, was an engineer at Weirton Steel, and would take him around the rail yard when Miller would visit Weirton in the summers of his youth.

“We would ride in the cab with him,” he said.

Those experiences around trains inspired him to begin collecting model trains as a hobby, and, over the years, he has accumulated more than 50 engines and 600 pieces of rolling stock.

He said much of his collection has been purchased through Pat’s Trains in Wheeling, which he said is the only place he has been able to find the Weirton Steel train pieces. The pieces are accurate to the types of trains which would have been used by Weirton Steel, he said.

Miller has another connection to the community. He is a cousin to Weirton’s current mayor Harold “Bubba” Miller, who was the first to tell him about the museum, encouraging him to consider donating the pieces.

“He showed me a picture one time, and I couldn’t believe it,” the mayor said.

As part of Thursday’s visit to the museum, Miller brought two engines, two cabooses and several other cars, including a crane car and a slag car, as well as a 31-inch by 51-inch oval track. He said he has other pieces currently on order, and plans to add to the museum’s collection, potentially every year.

His hope is to inspire others to get involved in the hobby, and possibly see a club started at the museum.

Paul Zuros, treasurer of the museum’s board of directors, explained the museum had previously discussed purchasing a train set, and would look into the possibility of setting the kits up for viewing at some point.

For now, the pieces are on display in a cabinet on the museum’s main floor.

“We really appreciate this,” Zuros said, noting the familiarity many Weirton residents would have had seeing the real-life versions of the trains. “We’ve been considering one and it’s a welcome addition.”

The Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center is located at 3149 Main St.

(Howell can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com, and followed via Twitter @CHowellWDT)

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