AUBURN — The Great Falls Model Railroad Club of Auburn and Lewiston is holding its fifth annual Christmas “ExTRAINaganza,” a unique model train event with special activities for children, at 144 Mill St. on Nov. 23, 24, 25, 29 and 30.

The handicapped-accessible clubhouse, across from the Barker Mill, is decorated for Christmas with trains of various sizes running throughout the two-story building.

The days and times of the five-day event correspond with those of the Shriner’s FEZtival of Trees. The ExTRAINaganza begins on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Thanksgiving and ends on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. The times change from day to day.

Model trains will be operating on temporary and permanent layouts that are different each year as club members continue to develop them.

The G-scale layout at the entrance to the club features a new interactive winter scene. Young children enjoy operating trains with Thomas the Tank Engine inside the large G-scale room. Interesting details have been added to the smaller N-scale and Z-scale layouts.

About 20 feet of a temporary layout downstairs in the classroom area represents the narrow gauge railroads of a bygone era. Older children can become guest engineers and run trains on the HO layout, which is also downstairs.

Throughout the year, club members have been working on the HO layout’s electrical system, track improvements, and scenery, including the Lower Lewiston section as it might have looked 60 years ago. A variety of train sets under the Christmas trees and a handmade afghan will be raffled off, with the drawings to be held on Saturday, Nov. 30.

Parents may light refreshments from tables and chairs in the “Dining Car”, while watching the play area with its age-appropriate trains for younger children. Other activities in the same room include making Christmas tree ornaments and decorating cookies.

TRAIN TIME videos, produced by the railroad club and seen on local cable channels, will be shown continuously each day and will be available for sale. Train cars, ExTRAINaganza T-shirts, hand-crafted Christmas ornaments and Christmas cards created from the club’s large collection of train slides are among the other items which may be purchased.

The “FEZtival of Trees” at the Kora Shrine Center in Lewiston takes place on the same days, giving families an opportunity to visit both events on the same day or alternate days: Saturday, Nov. 23, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Monday, Nov. 25, from 4 to 8 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 29, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Saturday, Nov. 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $3 for adults and free for children under 12.

Photos of the ExTRAINaganza in previous years can be found at www.greatfallsmodelrrclub.org.