Christmas train display at Porterville Museum open for holiday season

PORTERVILLE, Calif. (KFSN) -- The 31st annual Christmas Train and Toy Display at the Porterville Museum is now open for the holidays. It was started by a group in the 1980s. On Friday, a group of younger conductors took over.

Kendall Collins says he was four when he first became interested in model trains.

"I don't know many young people that actually do this kind of work," Collins said.

Collins first began working with the Porterville Museum in high school. Porterville Unified School District has a work program that matches special-needs students with work opportunity. Collins, who has autism, began working at the museum. He's no longer paid, but he's passionate about the trains so he keeps coming back to help each year.

"Some toys you can't keep forever, model trains you can," Collins said.

Collins also sketches trains, then adds color using Photoshop. He gives the money from each picture back to the museum.

The Porterville Museum operates heavily on donations and volunteers. The Christmas Display can be seen Monday through Thursday when the Museum is open. It costs $5 for adults, $1 for students and kids 6 and under are free.

The trains will be up until January 3 with a special visit from Santa Claus on December 13.

For more information on the museum, including how to volunteer, visit their website at www.portervillemuseum.org.