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The scene is filled with stunning details carefully crafted by Stephen Lamb Associates, a business that builds model railroads for those with more money than time or expertise.

"It's a good little niche," said Stephen Lamb, the company's founder. "You can't look in the yellow pages for a railroad guy. It's a unique business." The seeds were planted when Lamb was just 4 years old and his grandfather gave him a train set. He was hooked.

As Lamb grew, he learned about electricity as he created more and more complicated layouts for his train. He also learned about working with wood, clay and foam as he crafted detailed, realistic settings. As an adult, he worked at model train stores, where he met people in need of help setting up their own railroads.

It's a limitless hobby enjoyed by those driven to recreate the tiniest details. Some will even drive around the country taking pictures of railroads they want to copy.

When Lamb was out of work a few years ago, his wife, Kimberly, suggested that he pursue his hobby professionally. She now works with him and a handful of others making railroad visions come to life in Bolton.

They can spend hundreds to thousands of hours on a single layout. The longest has taken nearly 12,000 hours. It fills up an attic space that is 18 feet by 32 feet. The cost is typically $30,000 to $140,000, with the most expensive costing nearly $1 million. At the other end of the scale, Lamb can do a basic setup for just a few hundred dollars.

The price tag depends on several factors beginning with the trains, which themselves can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars. The rest depends on how elaborate and detailed the layout is. Many of the pricier scenes involve multiple levels of tracks. Some have water features such as waterfalls, streams or ponds. Many have people and animals.

For those on a tight budget, Lamb uses pre-fab houses and structures. For those spending more, he adds details such as swings on the porches or even scenes inside the homes.

On one layout, he created a castle. On another, he has a ski hill complete with skiers moving up and down and a working gondola.

"I call it three-demensional art because a lot of this stuff is that sophisicated," he said."

Bill Whitehouse wanted a garden railroad, the largest of the model trains, built in the Parlee's Pine Hill Nursery in Chelmsford as a way to attract business. It seams to work.

"The reaction has been excellent, especially from the kids," said Whitehouse, who manages the nursery. The shop plans to have Lamb come back and build another railroad outside in the spring.

Most of Lambs' work, however is for individuals. Sometimes he is hired to set up an entire layout. Other times, he is asked just to do the basics so the owner can fill in the details. Often those people call him back and ask for more, Lamb said.

Trains are more complicated than when Lamb started his hobby. Many today are digitized and can be controlled by wireless remote control. They can even be outfitted for sound.

Most of Lamb's customers are older railroad fans who are creating scenes they could only have dreamed of when they were playing with their trains as kids. A few are looking to set up scenes for their children or grandchildren.

The hobby seams to be holding strong even as use of actual trains tapers off. U.S. railroad model enthusiasts will spend about $500 million this year on their obsession, according to the National Model Railroad Association.

While older people are rediscovering the hobby of their youth, young people are being attracted to it through the popular Thomas & Friends train stories and sets. Regardless of the age of the engineer, Lamb said he and his team can help."