Skip to content
Author
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:

There’s an alternate universe tucked inside the garage of Gary Weaver’s suburban home.

In the 1950’s cityscape, Indiana Jones runs past a building terrorized by King Kong. Elvis performs to a dancing crowd at an outdoor concert. Hogwarts overlooks the Eiffel Tower. Superman flies from the top of the Daily Planet. And trains chug in and around it all.

Welcome to the whimsical world of “Weaversburg.”

“This is built just to light up children’s eyes,” Weaver said. “And that’s the only reason I do it.”

Weaver will open his garage, as he has for several years, at the Weaversburg Model Railroad Christmas Display on Dec. 12. Guests need only bring a sense of wonder — and a food donation, which Weaver will deliver to FISH.

Weaver built his first model train platform with his father in 1962, a memory preserved in a black and white photo hanging in the garage.

He’s collected all his life, including throughout 22 years of active duty in the Air Force.

After retiring in 2001, Weaver thought: “What am I going to do with all this?”

So he began to build.

What started as a 4-by-8-foot platform in 2002 now fills Weaver’s entire garage with 15 trains, four trolleys and countless miniature figures and buildings.

“It teaches patience, and it teaches discipline,” Weaver said. “But if it wasn’t fun, I wouldn’t be doing it.”

He usually spends Saturday afternoons in his attic workshop, painting figures while watching sports. Weaversburg’s elements are either built from scratch or “kitbashed,” innovating with pieces from existing kits.

“I see things differently than most people,” he said.

Weaver’s ingenuity surfaces in the details. The screen of the drive-in theater actually plays a movie – it’s a DVD player in disguise. Figures skate around an ice rink, with use of magnets. The moon over Weaversburg was originally a night light.

“I collect or build something just because it tickles my fancy,” Weaver said.

Still, there’s purpose to the whimsy.

He polled neighborhood kids to see what Weaversburg needed. They demanded Hogwarts. It took Weaver six months to build the Hogwarts castle from scratch. “I had to search the whole world for these figures,” he said, referring to Harry, Hermione ands Ron.

Weaver likes to challenge kids to find all the characters, from Batman to the cast of “Frozen.”

And people of all ages enjoy spotting the jokes and pop culture references dotting Weaversburg. You’ll find penguins hijacking an ice truck, near a recreated scene from the movie “Plan 9 from Outer Space.”

That sense of humor comes from Weaver’s personality. Over 13 years, he’s woven bits of himself into the display.

Weaver pointed to his parents’ house, circa 1959, with the family car in the driveway. He’s dedicated pieces of Weaversburg to his wife, three kids and two grandchildren — Weaver even recreated his daughter’s black belt ceremony.

A B-17 flying over the town is a tribute to Weaver’s mentor in the Air Force.

“There’s a story everywhere,” Weaver said.

Sometimes he steps back, and thinks, “Did I do all this in 10 years?”

But Weaver said the work hasn’t been consuming. “If that was true, I wouldn’t have so many rounds of golf under my belt,” he said, joking.

Bridges can be reached by phone at 757-275-4934.

Want to go?

When: 3-7 p.m., Dec. 12

Where: 135 Elizabeth Harrison Lane, Williamsburg

Weaver asks guests bring one non-perishable food item per family, minimum. Suggestions available on FISH’s website: williamsburgfish.weebly.com/donate.