Before he invites you through a locomotive-shaped gate door, Lanny Seaton suggests you look through it to see the train’s engineer. “Look in this window up here,” Lanny smiles before revealing it’s actually a mirror. “They see themselves!” Although what’s been built in the backyard behind the door is a reflection of Lanny’s life. “It ended up bigger than I thought,” Lanny gestures to a miniature railway track that snakes through a tiny town, around mountains, and across a waterfall. “It brings back memories of when I was a kid.” The model train begins its journey in a recreation of Lanny’s hometown, passing the barber shop where he got his first haircuts, the general store his parents bought their weekly groceries, and the Bob’s Burger drive-in where he went on dates as a teenager with Dianna. “When he looked at me,” recalls Dianna Seaton with a laugh, “he had a twinkle in his eye!” Lanny says the first time he saw her, he was smitten. “She had hair down to her hips,” Lanny smiles. “I thought, ‘Wow! This is cool!’” Lanny and Dianna ended up getting married and starting a family together. When their kids grew up, they helped their parents build the elaborate world around the train track by hand. “It’s been a labour of love for the past five or six years,” Lanny says. They spent countless hours constructing what has also become a journey of love. “Up on the hill up there…” Dianna gestures to the miniature people working in the woods on the hill, before pointing to the others in a mill by the water. It’s part of a tribute to the relatives who lived here before them, who worked hard to make their families’ lives better and their community stronger. “[Back then] people didn’t really have to ask for help,” Dianna says. “Because it was offered.” It is one of the values that inspired Lanny and Dianna to always give back. “That’s the first fire truck I drove,” Lanny says, referring to the recreation of the firehall he volunteered at, before pointing to the municipal hall where he served on council. The train also drives by buildings and people who represent the dozens of community groups Dianna has donated her time to. “It’s a celebration of community pride and spirit,” Dianna smiles. And now, more than 60 years after getting burgers at Bob’s together, Lanny and Dianna sometimes go on dates in their backyard together. “We sit out at night and listen to the trains go by,” Lanny says, before Dianna holds his hand. “It’s fun.” “It just brings back many beautiful, warm memories,” Dianna smiles. Watching the train weave through their past is a reminder of how grateful they are for the journey that’s allowed them to build a life of love and service together.
