Needham man’s 20-year project brings smiles to faces at holiday exhibit

By Janice Elizabeth Berte, Contributing Writer

WELLESLEY – What has five trains, 300 lamp posts, takes four months to assemble and includes thousands of other elaborate pieces? It is the amazing snow village and train display that Bill Meagher has constructed over the past 20 years. 

Meagher, a resident of Needham, used to watch his uncle build these little wooden houses which always intrigued him as a youngster. Once he got older, he was fascinated with re-creating similar houses with model train sets that not only brought him joy but evoked a simpler and gentler time in history.

Year by year, Meagher designed structures, which became more and more intricate and lifelike, where you would feel that you are at these iconic places in the world. The sparkle of the lights exuding from each display, along with the exact detail of the buildings became so real, that adding his train sets only enhanced each section to a higher level. 

“My first train set was the Lionel New York Central, and it ran in the display for over 30,000 miles before it gave out,” said Meagher.

In 1999, when Meagher’s wife got cancer, he spent most of his evenings alone building his village and train sets while his wife slept. With his intense love for Christmas and being retired, he knew that this display would bring him joy. But he wanted to share this happiness with other people as well. While his children enjoyed the village, they did not have the enthusiasm that he had for this magical wonderland.

After Meagher’s wife passed away in 2002, he continued to design his snow village in his barn until a year ago. His second wife, an avid gardener, suggested that Meagher donate the village and train set to the nearby Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley’s annual holiday Festival of Trees event. This would allow many more people to enjoy this display. With 6,000 people expected to walk through the doors for the event, which also includes dozens of decorated Christmas trees, Meagher knew he made the right decision. “The joy on peoples’ faces is priceless and adults love the memories it creates for them from Christmases past. And the children just love the trains,” Meagher explained.

There are so many small pieces to Meagher’s display, that many people miss a lot of the details and intricacies when visiting the first time around. For example, one of the pieces in the large store at the beginning of the display is an actual escalator, and if you look hard enough, you will see little people moving up the escalator. “Some of the hardest parts in setting up the train set are the wiring of the structures, adjusting the street lights so the wires do not show, plus running the sets for ten hours. Then, cleaning of the tracks is an important necessity in keeping this display running efficiently,” said Meagher. 

The detail and mastery is breathtaking, expensive and time consuming. Buying the parts and train sets has been a labor of love and cost, and this display, Meagher, estimated, has cost him around $100,000. Each section of his display shows different scenes from Fenway Park, Beacon Hill, and Santa’s Village to the iconic Big Ben clock in London. In addition to those scenes, there are many more points of interest to dazzle one’s mind. 

Now in his early eighties, Meagher still attends one train show per year, and does not travel via train a lot, but enjoys going to New York City using that method of transportation. If you would like to see this marvel of craftsmanship, don’t the Festival of Trees event, which runs this year until Sunday, December 19.

For more information: https://masshort.org/festival-of-trees.

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