In 1958 he "began bringing his dream railroad to life, building everything himself, from the houses and landscaping to the line's two steam locomotives and one electric engine.

The petting zoo includes many animals, some of whom are rescues, such as goats, chickens, ducks, llamas, sheep, and bunnies.

Called "an endearing and surprising modern tribute to trains", TrainTown is "an obsessively accurate model railroad".

[3] It operates in "a wooded 10-acre park on a 20-minute ride past waterfalls and beautifully detailed houses, over a trestle and through several tunnels, all precisely one-quarter the size of the real thing."

A travel writer said that "the whole layout is so cleverly crafted that it's a marvel of dedication to the art of the train buff".