Grant Funk Railroad opens this weekend for Halloween fun

SEE IT FOR YOURSELF – If you want to check out the grand station yourself, follow along with Grant Funk Railroad on Facebook for all the details.  It will be open Friday Oct. 25 from 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday Oct. 26 from 4 to 8 p.m. and Sunday Oct. 27 – 3 to 7 p.m. They will also be open Halloween night. This is a free attraction, though donations are appreciated. Handicap parking is only in the driveway. Others can park along the curb, but please be respectful of the neighbors. They are located in a subdivision with an HOA and they want to keep them happy. The Grant Funk Railroad is located at 4502 Clyde Circle, Owens Crossroads, AL 35763.

How one couple’s backyard model railroad creates fun for all ages

Grant and Jenny Sweer’s backyard looks like something out of a fairy tale.

Immediately after walking past the open gate, a wide expanse of model railroad tracks and miniature figurines and buildings meet the eye. Vibrant flowers and greenery weave throughout. The sound of a small waterfall trickling into a koi pond and the distinctive choo-choo of trains looping around the tracks greet the ear. On an especially beautiful late summer afternoon with clear, blue skies and a light breeze, the scene is even more magical.

Adults and children alike mill around ooh-ing and aah-ing at the impressively designed garden railway. They take in the unique combination of more classic looking buildings and figurines alongside more modern characters, such as Disney princesses and minions.

Children race around, following one train as it completes its steady loop, then changing directions and following a different train as it passes by the first. Butterflies dance from flower to flower. A hot air balloon windcatcher gently sways in the breeze. Delighted laughter fills the air.

Sitting on a swing next to each other, slowly rocking back and forth, Grant and Jenny Sweer greet people and field questions about their creation.

They call it the Grant Funk Railroad, a nod to the band Grand Funk Railroad.

They open up their backyard for the public to come visit the railroad multiple times a year, especially around Halloween and Christmas time when they set up extra holiday-related decorations. The lights, in particular, are one of Jenny’s favorite features.

Grant’s grandfather also enjoyed model trains, which first piqued his interest. At first, Grant would set up a train to loop around the Christmas tree. This soon expanded to cover more of their living room. This was all on a smaller scale than what he has set up today, though.

Model train hobbyists operate on different scales, which represent how large the model trains are in comparison to their full-sized counterparts. The most popular indoor models are often HO-scale, which has a ratio of 1:87. The Grant Funk Railroad is G-scale, or the garden railway class, which can vary in ratio, but is generally between 1:19 to 1:29. The trains are more than three times the size of what people usually picture for the typical indoor model train.

This makes the Sweer’s display all the more impressive to people who come to see it.

Grant first got into garden railway about 18 years ago. At first, his outdoor track covered an area of 20-by-40 feet, just enough to go around their swimming pool. Over time, he became more invested.

His first garden railway setup pales in comparison to the size of the Grant Funk Railroad, which covers an area of roughly 100-by-100 feet.

When the couple first moved to this area, they took the size and set-up of a house’s backyard into consideration as they searched for a home. Even before moving in, they were already planning the garden railway that they would build.

The railway’s construction took three years from breaking ground to being ready to share with others. Grant casually references a master plan — a direct reflection of the mechanical mind required to pull off a project of this scale.

To start, the Sweers knew the diameter they wanted for their garden railway. This served as the foundation of their design. Everything else slowly, through a lot of work, fell into place from there.

Grant needed to first survey the land and set up the design. He then needed approval from their neighborhood HOA and a permit from the city. They hired out some of the work, such as the cinderblock wall that surrounds the track and the water feature, but the couple also learned new skills as they completed the project.

With a “why not learn how to do it myself” attitude, Grant even learned how to operate a mini excavator to move dirt around.

In 2021, after years of planning and constructing and setting everything up, the Grant Funk Railroad was ready just in time for the National Garden Railway Convention, which was hosted in Nashville that year. People attending the convention traveled to different areas over the course of a week to see different garden railway systems.

“The day before, we got the last track up and running,” Grant says. “It was kind of like the mission was from God’s stage, where we just did very little but that.”

Rainy weather wiped out some other railroads that year. Grant shares that because he had designed the track for all kinds of weather, they were one of the few in northern Alabama that were still able to open their backyard for the convention.

From that point on, they decided to invite people to see the Grant Funk Railroad as often as they could.

“I think that we’re somewhat unique in that not a lot of people that do this open it to the public,” Jenny says. “Part of it was just being exposed to it through going to the convention, so always having other people there. Being open that first time, we had people come. Then it was like, ‘Well, if we’re going to set it up, we might as well have people come.’”

The model railroad hobby has always been a social event for the couple.

Prior to moving to Alabama, the Sweers lived in Santa Clarita, California, where Grant was the president of a garden railroad club. They would frequently host events for club members to come together as a community.

“We would basically put together a train play day,” Grant says. “We invited everybody to come out and bring their trains. We would just have a lot of fun with it.”

Although the hobby is not as popular in Alabama as it is in California, where the weather is perfectly suited for leaving displays up year-round, the Sweers have immersed themselves in the garden railway community here.

Even now, as they chat with visitors, they are accompanied by friends they have made by opening up their backyard to the public.

One such friend is 13-year-old train enthusiast Matthew Anderson, who first met the Sweers about two years ago. He’s joined by his grandmother, Alice Voyles. Matthew received his first G-scale train as a gift when he was six years old.

“My reaction was blown away, screaming with joy, and I just loved it,” Matthew says.

He described meeting Grant and Jenny as a moment of “immediate friendship.” Alice shared that the two of them come to visit as often as they can.

The couple affectionately refers to Matthew as the future of the hobby because the people who are into models are predominantly on the older side.

But looking around their backyard, it is clear that it can bring everyone joy.

“Once you build something this nice, it’s always fun to share it with other people,” Grant says. “Two reasons: one is to give them something nice to come and see. And the other one is to try to inspire people. You never know, maybe one or two of them want to pick up on the hobby.”

As the afternoon wears on, a diverse collection of people walk in and marvel at the Grant Funk Railroad.

Grant and Jenny are frequently greeted and bidded farewell with comments such as, “Really neat set up!” and “This is great. I love this kind of stuff!” All are met with Grant’s hearty chuckle and Jenny’s kind smile.

Some people heard about it from family and friends, and some stumbled upon the Grant Funk Railroad Facebook. Although many people are from the area, the couple occasionally sees people who have traveled from farther away just to see the railroad.

One weekend, a couple came all the way from Birmingham. This particular Saturday in September, though, it seems that the farthest someone traveled was Jane Bryan from Tullahoma, Tennessee, which is about an hour and a half away. Her daughter lives in the area and has come with her son, Jane’s grandson, multiple times.

“My dad was a retired engineer,” Jane says. “He would have loved this.”

This remark reflects a common effect the railroad has on people: They instantly think of others who would also appreciate it. They often also start to plan their next visit.

Jenny chats with Jane as more people filter into the backyard. Grant speaks with another visitor.

“All the detail and everything, I’m sure it’s a labor of love,” Jane says.

“You have to come back multiple times just because you’ll miss things,” Jenny says. “There’s a lot of detail.”

People do often return. “Frequent railroaders” Jenny calls them.

Over time, people have shared stories with the Sweers about how much their children love coming to see the garden railway. Families that live in the neighborhood will drive down Grant and Jenny’s street, and the kids will beg to pull in to visit.

The Grant Funk Railroad has afforded Grant and Jenny a sort of small-scale, local celebrity status.

Grant fondly reminisces on a time that they were at the gas station, and he was recognized.

“I’m pumping gas, and the kid in the car behind us cries ‘That’s the train guy!’” he says with a belly laugh.

As they reflect on some of their favorite memories, Jenny remembers a little boy from about a year ago. As he walked around, soaking in the whole display, complete with Disney characters, it reminded him of Disney World’s Germany Pavilion model train display at Epcot.

“He said, ‘This is so much better than Disney World because I can get right up and see it all here!’ That was my favorite comment,” Jenny says.

She shares that excited children are one of the best parts of the railroad. She used to work with children with disabilities, and she has a clear maternal care and patience that shine through as she interacts with the young kids. At one point in the afternoon, a few gather around the koi pond, and she hands them all fish food to toss into the water.

She now works part-time as a plant technician for Foliage Down South, a job she is equally well-suited for. Her green thumb is evident by the plethora of flowers and plants thriving in the garden railway. In one corner of the yard, tall zinnias crane their necks ever higher to soak up the sunlight. Next to them, delicate petunias continue to thrive even as it creeps closer to the end of their growing season.

Grant’s occupation also aligns incredibly well with the hobby; he’s a mechanical engineer. His ability to take a lot of separate parts and make it all work together is evident throughout the railroad, but especially in the conductor’s building, from which run all the wires that power all the tracks.

The Grant Funk Railroad is the culmination of a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of love, and a whole lot of Grant and Jenny.

Click here for Grant Funk’s Facebook page.