THE BEGINNING
Steve Wolken, Executive Director, has been an avid train collector since he was a boy. In 1995 he became interested in collecting scale models of tower cranes but was limited to how much he could collect or display. His wife died in 1996 and he took the plunge into building his collection big time.
Steve built a new house in 2000 specifically designed to provide over 2000 square feet of exhibit/display space. He started to acquire show cases and had display tables built.
As a joke he changed his voice mail message on his home phone to “The Northern Ohio Toy Train Museum.” Doing that brought 2 benefits. First, he stopped receiving telemarketing calls because they thought they had called a business. Second, his friends and family liked the idea. Steve felt free to expand the concept.
THE BIG IDEA
Shortly after he moved into his new house, Steve met Chuck Sword of DHS Diecast again. They both had worked in the computer software industry for competitive firms. Steve discovered he had both an excellent source of new models and the ability to help Chuck with new ideas to grow his business.
In 2004 Steve bought one of the largest diecast and brass construction model collections in the world containing over 2000 different models. He did not want to collect “everything” so he had to make a choice regarding what to collect.
Steve already had precision 1:32 & 1:48 scale models of the largest steam locomotives. He acquired in the collection several precision 1:50 scale models of some of the world’s largest cranes, shovels and trucks.
Steve made the decision to focus on “Big Iron” artisan models of the world’s largest machines and to focus on strip mining in particular. Steve had previously visited very large strip mines in Estevan Saskatchewan, Powder River, WY and Hambach Germany. So it only seemed natural to build strip mine dioramas to properly display some of his Big Iron models.
The next step came with very sad news attached. Steve had communicated with Mike Wellman in th UK via e-mail after seeing construction progress photos of his truly unbelievable 1:50 scale model of Big Muskie- the biggest dragline ever built. Steve discovered from one of Mike’s friends that he had died shortly after completing his fully working model. Steve contacted Mike's mother and made arrangements to visit her in England (he was going there for an auction of some of his European models) and “close the sale.” She was happy to hear Steve’s plans for displaying Big Muskie and honoring her son’s memory.
By June 2005 the Big Iron Museum was ready to open
THE GRAND OPENING
On June 2, 3 & 4 2005 a Grand Opening Celebration was held at the museum. Over 100 guests attended and all enjoyed what they saw.
CONTINUING GROWTH
Since 2005 Steve has added many new Big Iron models to the museum’s collection including: a 1:25 scale working model of a Manitowoc 4600 S4 crawler crane, a 1:192 scale model of the nuclear aircraft carrier Enterprise and an Ohio class nuclear submarine, a fully rigged 1:50 scale model of a Manitowoc 18000, several custom repainted and detailed crane models and both 1:32 and 1:48 scale train models.
Steve intends to continue adding Big Iron models to his museum and “refreshing” his collection to keep it interesting.
NATIONAL EXPOSITION OF TRANSPORTATION AND INDUSTRY- A REVOLUTIONARY MUSEUM CONCEPT
Late in 2005 Steve began working with Chuck Sword and a group of interested volunteers about creating a very special and dynamic new museum in Cleveland.
In the next several months Steve will add a link to detailed information about this museum.
STAY TUNED FOR MORE EXCITING NEWS!
