v a passion for trains has some local hobbyists, climbing aboard and enjoying the ride.

For some, it's a way to unwind.

For others, it's a passion that has grown into miles of track, lifelong friendships, and a hobby that keeps them full steam ahead.

Producer John Branscum has the story.

(upbeat music) - [John] Have you ever heard the term piddling?

(upbeat music) It pretty much means tinkering, puttering, working on a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

For Neal Anderson, it's a pretty good way to spend retirement.

Some days it's out here in the garage and other days, well.

- [Neal] It covers 1,500 square feet of my basement.

There's always improvements.

It's never done.

- [John] Neal's love for all things trains goes back decades.

- From 10 years old, I mean, that's 60 years ago, and I've been messing with trains.

- [John] But to borrow a phrase from those late night infomercials, but wait, there's more.

- Well, to go around in circles in the room and get tired out watching a train constantly, changing over to the big ones where you can go someplace and ride acres and acres and acres of land and go all over the place is just amazing.

It just blows me away.

- [John] Yep, you heard that correctly.

These are model trains you can ride.

Welcome to the Southern Piedmont Live Steamers Club and their home track on about eight acres of Stanly County farmland just outside of Oakboro.

- [Neal] We got about 3,400 feet of track on the ground here.

- [John] With two connected loops, sightings, and plenty of room to roam, for club members like Trip Smith, the appeal is pretty simple.

- [Trip] It's relaxing.

I could sit here and ride trains all day long.

- [John] And these days, you pretty much can.

- I am retired.

I've been retired since 2011, so I can pretty much spend as much time out here as I like.

- [John] Like Neal, Trip's railroading routes run deep.

- Back when I was a little kid, my mom took me to amusement park and we rode a train around, and from then on, I've been hooked.

- [John] All these years later, with a train of his very own and time to enjoy it, Trip gets to share that feeling with some special passengers.

- [Trip] I've had my granddaughters out here and they seem to absolutely love it.

- [John] For members of the club, that ride doesn't always stay in Oakboro.

Across the country, hundreds of clubs and private tracks keep this hobby moving.

- We just got back from Canton, Georgia.

It's a mountain railroad and it spirals around a mountain and they've got tunnels and trestles and it's just a lot of fun.

Riding on them and going to different clubs like we do, you get a different experience everywhere you go.

- [John] By now you figured out this takes a bit of time.

- I've got about 450 hours in building this engine.

It's quite a challenge, but I think it's well worth it.

(bright music) - [John] If you don't want to build your own, Mike Robson might just be able to hook you up.

He's the owner of Mike's Rail Cars, but if you ask him for his official title.

- What will my title be?

Grunt.

- [John] In his home workshop, Mike and his helper, Bubba, build ready to run electric engines he calls SuperRoos.

- It's an entry level machine.

It's affordable, I guess.

People buy them, so it must be.

- [John] A brand new SuperRoo with all the bells and whistles will set you back about $4,700.

Mike's built over 140 of them for customers across the country.

- Yeah, I have one as far away as the San Juans up in Washington.

So down in Florida, up the coast, you know, all over.

Yeah, they are all over.

This one's going to go to Texas.

- [John] The little engines are so popular, he started Roo Fest, an annual gathering that just celebrated its fifth anniversary.

- And we had 30 engines show up.

It was quite fun and I look at all that stuff and I go, "Geez, I made all this stuff."

And everybody's happy.

I mean, that's the really thing is that people really, really like their engine.

(laughs) I just come out here and do it, you know?

And the money's not bad, and I'm not doing it for the money necessarily.

I'm doing it because I need something to do.

And so that's what I do.

I come out here and I do something because if I don't, then I'm just sitting in there being a vegetable.

I mean, I can do that, believe me.

I can be a vegetable, but, you know, I have to do something, at least something every day, a little bit of something.

- [John] After a long day in the shop building SuperRoos, this 85-year-old still finds his peace in the same place out here on the rails.

- It's like therapy, you know?

I'm just looking at the forest and all that kind of stuff, not thinking about what I should be doing, you know, and just having fun.

I mean, you can see how comfortable I am.

Sometimes I fall asleep, they say.

- [John] It may start with a little piddling, a bit of tinkering, and plenty of puttering, but for the Southern Piedmont Live Streamers Club, it all adds up to friendship, purpose, and one more reason to keep moving.

For Carolina Impact, I'm John Branscum.