BUCKFIELD — Old Sumner Road off High Street is home to a garden railroad that will be open with trains running on Labor Day.

Ivan Smith and his wife, Gerry, are members of the Maine Garden Railroad Society and have built a railroad village with 700 feet of tracks running through tunnels and over bridges in their garden.

Ivan says he has been retired for about 10 years and has always loved trains. He had an HO-scale train layout in his house, but started the garden railroad about four years ago. He said he wanted something to do that was creative using his trains and garden.

Most of the houses in the tiny villages were built by Ivan as well as the covered bridge, trestle and tunnels.

Ivan said when he ran his train through the tunnel one day a chipmunk came running out ahead of the train. The creature was running about the layout as he told the story.

The villages start at the driveway and continue into the woods where Ivan has built an old coal house.

He says the Maine Railroad Garden Society meets once a month and visits a different home railroad garden each time.

“The Society will have an exhibit at the Maine Mall at Christmas time,” Ivan said.

He will have his G-scale Rio Grande running on Monday from noon until 5 p.m. He says all are welcome to come visit and sit on the deck and watch the trains.

His address is 22 Old Sumner Road, which is just off of High Street at the triangle by the Old Church on the Hill. The house is the second on the left from high street and has a dirt driveway up a slight hill.