Hobby shop makes new home in Star City
By Paula Brewer
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — An Easton business that outgrew its space has ridden the rails to a new home in Presque Isle.
Photo contributed by Lyn Frederick/CACC
NEW BUSINESS — The Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce hosted a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony at Northern Maine Trains and Hobbies on Parsons Street in Presque Isle. Taking part in the festivities, from left, are: CACC member Gail Clukey; owners Kim Bell and Kevin Knox; CACC member Jonathan Isacco; and CACC Executive Director Theresa Fowler.
Northern Maine Trains and Hobbies, under the ownership of Kevin Knox and the marketing expertise of Kim Bell, recently held a ribbon cutting at its expanded quarters at 17 Parsons St., and is open to serve hobby enthusiasts of all ages.
“It started as a hobby for Kevin,” said Bell. “He’s done this all of his life.”
Knox has collected trains, tracks, and everything to create miniature environments, and the couple — of course — have trains around their Easton home.
Knox actually rebuilt a bunkhouse to accommodate the Easton location, but they outgrew that space and opted for the larger Presque Isle site. “I can foresee that we will probably outgrow this building, too,” Bell added.
Featured in the shop are different sizes of train setups, including the well-known Lionel, or O-gauge, and the progressively smaller HO and N-gauges. Although Northern Maine Trains carries mostly O and HO pieces, they can obtain any size customers want, even the very tiny Z-gauge sets.
“One thing I want people to realize,” Bell pointed out, “is even though it’s ‘Northern Maine Trains and Hobbies,’ we don’t just have trains.” She said the shop features all manner of hobby items, including paint-by-number sets, kites, rockets, as well as model kits for adults and children of all ages. For the very young, there are even Chuggington wooden train sets.
The business is a RedCat retailer, carrying remote-controlled cars, boats, airplanes and drones, and some that even run on nitrogen fuel. While there are other manufacturers, Bell commented that RedCat items tend to be reasonably priced. “This is Aroostook County, and we tried to keep our costs down,” she noted.
The venture has been a labor of love for both Knox and Bell, who said she couldn’t help but be enthusiastic about the miniatures. “When everything around you is trains, it kind of rubs off on you,” she said. “The way he [Kevin] feels about trains, he likes to share his passion with other people. It’s all about the love of trains.”
Knox has even helped some customers design and implement train layouts in their homes.
The couple both have full-time jobs, so the hobby shop is their off-time endeavor. Store hours are Monday through Friday, 4-7 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Bell admits she loves the nostalgia the shop inspires. “If I were to have been reincarnated,” she ventured, “I believe I would have lived when trains first came out, because I have a passion for history and things that are vintage.”
For more information, contact Northern Maine Trains and Hobbies at 760-1417 or visit their page on Facebook.
