Train museum helps raise funds for pancreatic cancer Network

On what would've been her husband's 75th birthday, Peggy Keyes opened the doors for all to share in a passion he enjoyed so much.

The Right Track To A Cure for Pancreatic Cancer, a toy train museum in Lake Lure, is now in its fourth year of operation. The non-profit museum (100 percent of proceeds made from admission and sales goes to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network) has been a labor of love for Keyes.

"Larry was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2007, and died three months later," Keyes said of her late husband. "He had complained of not feeling well, and would just rub his stomach and say 'I just don't feel right.'

Following his death, Keyes was left with boxes and boxes of her husband's toy train collection - so many boxes that it took three years of sorting and categorizing before she even thought about opening the museum.

Keyes said her husband's love of trains developed after his mother, a United Nations employee, bought him a train set. From there his collection grew.

"I knew he had a lot, but I didn't know the extent of what he had until he died," she said.

The idea of opening a train museum was sparked after Keyes saw a piece on television where a man had built a building to house his wife's nutcrackers. I can do that, she thought, and so began the search for a building and help in setting up the museum.

Trains, she added, are often nostalgic for people. Adults and children alike enjoy coming into the museum and running the trains along the tracks.

"Larry had so many trains that he didn't have room for a layout for them," she said. "It was something he said he'd get around to, and of course he didn't."

With the help of local train experts, Keyes set up a layout that allows visitors to push buttons to see the trains run and light up buildings and other aspects of the imaginary town. There's also a room for the youngest conductors - complete with Thomas the Tank Engine and other children's train toys. Before the end of the year Keyes plans to open a retail space dedicated to all things train.

The Right Track To A Cure for Pancreatic Cancer, located at 2414 Memorial Highway, Lake Lure, is open Wednesday-Saturday from 1-5pm and Sundays from 2-5pm. Follow them on Facebook for upcoming events.