It was the 1950s and two in the morning. The night was dark and still as the dimly lit passenger train came into town with a drawn-out series of low, short whistles. The cars were barely visible, except for the dim lights inside, as the train moved steadily along the track.

“Early in December, 1884, Dr. William A. Hunt invited a number of gentlemen of well-known taste for archaeological matters to meet at his office in Anderson for the purpose of organizing a county historical society. The meeting was held and an organization effected.”

And the railroad had come to Anderson 30 years before. The day had produced quite a celebration. The railroad was finished yet as it had a number of miles to go in the easterly direction, but it made a great impact on the town of Anderson.

On the 20th of December, 1884, articles of association were filed in the Recorder’s office, one of which sets forth that, “The object of this society shall be to discover, procure and preserve, whatever may relate to general history; especially to the archaeological, natural, civil, literary and ecclesiastical history of the State of Indiana, and more particularly of the county of Madison in said State.”

And all that was done by the early Madison County Historical Society has all been lost to history. But the Madison County Historical Society Inc., is now 125 years old, having had many ups and downs over the years. We are now in our own building and are having the third “What’s a Christmas Without Trains” exhibit in the past six years.

Yes, the railroads have changed and we have changed as well, but you can still get a feel for the history of the railroads by visiting our exhibit.

Do you remember when we rode trains? When we received them as gifts for Christmas? What was a Christmas without the train and its track circling the Christmas tree?

There were toy catalogs at hardware stores. And Sears, Penny’s and Montgomery Ward featured Lionel, Marx and American Flyer sets.

You can relive those times, whether you personally remember them or not, with a visit to the History Center, 7 W. 11th St., in downtown Anderson.

Beginning Monday and running through Dec. 30 (except for Dec. 25 and 26), the Madison County Historical Society will hold the exhibit as a Christmas-time theme. The exhibit will display models of Hoosier traction cars, an HO scale yard, a small N scale layout, an operational On30 44-inch by 6-foot layout with an old time town scene, and featuring this year, a 4-foot by 8-foot O gauge layout under construction — you can run it, as it does work.

Photos of rail, traction and station scenes from all over Madison County, Indiana and the eastern portion of the country are presented on the walls. In addition, videos of railroads, past and present, as well as model railroad scenes, will be shown. In the display cars, there will be a number of models of various rail equipment including S scale passenger equipment, HO passenger and circus equipment, O scale traction and HO scale buildings.

A train set will be given away Dec. 21 to one of those who register.