Local train display is a big holiday attraction

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“It started about in 1952 when my father gave me my first train set — I was 6-years-old, now I’m 73,” Long Beach firefighter Robert Del Prete said. “I just always loved trains and I just kept going.”

Del Prete, who is known as “Petey” in the Fire Department, has had a passion for trains since he was a kid and he has continued the tradition that his father started by building and displaying miniature train sets on a grand scale in his living room every Christmas.

He said the train sets get bigger each year and this year it expanded to eight-feet-wide and 15-feet-long. He added that it takes him and his wife, Angela, about two weeks to complete and costs nearly $3,500 to put together.

The most complex part of the ensemble is laying down the tracks and then everything else just falls into place, Del Prete said. He added that he has about 130 houses to choose from and this year his 10-year-old granddaughter, Jenna, wanted to include a Spongebob and Jurassic Park element to the set. Every year he has a train set up before Nov. 1 and it attracts hundreds of visitors to his East Atlantic Beach home, with some coming as far as the Bronx. The train set usually remains up until mid-January.

“It’s a family thing and it’s tradition, I’ll do it as long as I can,” Del Prete said. “People look forward to it and I meet people from all over.”

Del Prete observed the model Lionel Berkshire 736 steam engine train that his father gave him as a kid, which still sits on the mantel at his home.

“My father did it for me as a kid in East Harlem … and he ran the trains,” Del Prete said. “Some things stick with you and I try to keep it going.”

Del Prete has continued the tradition with his children Lisa, Robert Jr. and Angelo, who coincidentally works for the Long Island Rail Road. He said that his daughter, a teacher, brings her students from the Lawrence Woodmere Academy to see the trains.

He added that the local firefighters and their children are scheduled to visit his home on Friday to see the display and receive gifts from Santa. However, he said many of the firefighters don’t visit his house for the train set, but rather for the meatball heroes he makes for them, since he is also an avid cook at the firehouse.

“When they come here I give them at least 30 meatball heroes, they put them in a big box and they take them on the truck,” Del Prete. “Last year I ran out and this year I’ll probably make more.”