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It's full steam ahead for the Fairfax Station Railroad Museum's 20th anniversary, although organizers say they wish more Fairfax County residents knew the museum existed.

"Even folks from the local area are sometimes surprised to learn that we are here," said Joan Rogers, president of Friends of Fairfax Station, the nonprofit group that keeps the museum chugging along.

Nonetheless, on Dec. 5 and 6, the museum will conduct its 20th annual Model Train Display, which brings enthusiasts from far and wide.

Jeff Mitulla, 51, of Burke has been a fan of model trains since he was 6 years old. "I never really grew out of it," he said.

Mitulla's trains, however, have grown.

Today he primarily collects "garden train" cars that can measure up to 33 inches each in length. Garden trains are big, weather-resistant model trains that can be run outdoors.

For the museum's annual event, Mitulla sets up between 300 and 500 feet of track around the outside of the museum. "We run about two to three garden trains simultaneously on the track, each with about six to 10 cars each," he said.

Mitulla says children love to follow his trains. "Parents love me," he says, laughing. "Because at the end of the event, the kids are worn out and dead tired."

The show also will include indoor displays of HO and N scale model trains, Lego trains, and an Amtrak display, Rogers said.

Much like Fairfax Station itself, the museum is steeped in Civil War, local and railroad history.

Housed in the original circa 1850's Fairfax Station railroad depot, which was relocated and partially rebuilt, the museum officially opened its doors to the public in December 1989.

Today it is listed as an official marked stop in the Virginia Civil War Trails program.

The Civil War Trails marker at the entrance to the museum commemorates Red Cross founder Clara Barton's efforts in Fairfax Station during August and September 1862.

During the second Battle of Manassas on August 28-31, and the Battle of Ox Hill on September 1, more than 3,000 wounded Union soldiers were brought from those battlefields to the train station to await rail shipment to hospitals in Alexandria and Washington, D.C.

According to Rogers, loading all of the wounded onto trains took several days. Barton earned the moniker "The Angel of the Battlefield" for her work to see that all the wounded were safely removed. "It was here that she was inspired to create the Red Cross," Rogers said.

Of course, the museum also is replete with train history.

"One day last November, I noticed an older gentleman coming up to the museum and was later shocked to find out that he was the Fairfax Station operator in 1952," Rogers said.

"I now live in Georgia but I was up here visiting the war memorials in Washington and I just stopped by," said Richard Helsley, 82, in a phone interview. "The museum was closed but Joan was there and graciously asked me if I'd care to see a piece of history ... I told her that I was the history."

Helsley worked for Southern Railway for 31 years and was the Fairfax Station agent-operator from 1952 until 1959.

"I was surprised to see how accurately the depot is portrayed in the museum," he said. "It's a lot cleaner today, since it used to be heated by a potbellied coal stove that generated a lot of ashes."

During his 1950s tenure, Springfield was under massive development and trains used to bring in construction materials daily, Helsley said.

He also remembers that a lot of steel rails had to be replaced by "gandy dancers," the men who went up and down the line replacing train tracks. "Right here at Fairfax Station -- heading north toward Washington -- the grade got steep and a lot of sand was put on the tracks for traction," he said. "That sand took its toll on the tracks and they had to be replaced often."

Helsley said he is impressed by the museum and is glad that a part of railway history has been preserved just as he remembers it. "When you get to be my age, you aren't always sure that what you remember is accurate," he said. "Of course, the other side of that coin is that there is no one around to prove you wrong. In this case, I am grateful that the museum proved me right."

The Fairfax Station Railroad Museum is located at 11200 Fairfax Station Road in Fairfax Station. It is open to the public every Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.