A World of Miniature Magic at the Western Montana Railroad Historical Association

In the Renaissance and for centuries thereafter, learned men kept their own private museums, collections of art and objects of natural or historical interest that came to be called wunderkammern, or cabinets of curiosities. These collections were more often than not displayed in beautiful cabinets with sundry small drawers and cupboards that, when opened, revealed small and wonderful scenes. For the viewer, the cabinets sparked wonder and encouraged learning. For the learned men who kept them, the wunderkammern symbolized the breadth of their knowledge and erudition.

In Helena, another group of learned men are demonstrating their erudition in the construction of a sort of modern—well, mostly modern—wunderkammern. For in the basement of a building on the Steamboat Block, they labor on a project as heroic as it is quixotic: nothing less than a model of the roads and tracks connecting the heart of Montana's railroad corridor, including Great Falls, Livingston, and Butte, with many smaller towns in between.

Viewers of the model are privileged to enjoy bird's-eye views of scenes of Montana industry, with trains from Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road), Great Northern Railway, Northern Pacific Railway, and Union Pacific Railroad—all the usual suspects. The trains pass through bucolic scenes, mostly from the 1950s and 1960s, of tiny lives playing out, frozen, on a 1/87 scale. Men and women work at their jobs and drive to stores, and children attend school. To many who lived during those days, it will be reminiscent of the Montana of their youth, here miraculously preserved in a lilliputian and sweetly nostalgic monument to a vanished world. You might just want to shrink yourself down and join the tiny figures who live there.

Time moves a little differently in the world of the model. Change doesn't come so fast. In fact, it's mostly frozen, except for the trains making their silent, miniature circuit through Montana's towns. They don't just move through space, but through time, too. Present are iconic railroad buildings of Montana's past no longer standing in our own imperfect world, like the Great Northern Train Depot in Helena.

The world captured so lovingly and with such craftsmanship by the folks who have devoted their time and money to the Western Montana Railroad Historical Association is a lot like ours, if a little smaller, and a little simpler.

The wunderkammern of centuries past eventually gave way to its larger, more mature cousin, the museum. The Western Montana Railroad Historical Association is like one of those, too, managing at once to be an exhibit on history, transportation, economy, culture, and geography. Plus, looking at it, you feel a little like Godzilla.

The Western Montana Railroad Historical Association is located at 619 North Last Chance Gulch in downtown Helena, housed in the basement of the historic Steamboat Block building. The facility is open to the public on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., while members gather for work sessions on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Those interested in visiting or arranging guided tours for schools and groups can contact the organization at [email protected] or follow their progress on Facebook.