Railroad enthusiast donates train to library
By Nancy Edwards
Many young boys enjoy watching, collecting or playing with model trains. Nicholas Keeling never imagined that this kind of hobby would turn into an aspiring career for him.
Keeling, 18, a senior at HSEHS, loves trains. He spent nine months of labor and money, mostly from his own pocket, to assemble a train set, “just for fun,” and then donated the model train to the Hamilton East Public Library Fishers Branch.
The engineering hopeful, along with help from friends, Paul Thieme, HSEHS senior; Geoffrey Gwin, HSEHS junior; Carl Martin, Purdue freshman; and Kyle McMillian, Florida Tech freshman, began building the 4 x 8-foot train set last year.
Keeling was willing to donate the train to the children’s area in the library because he had always enjoyed the already train-themed section himself, and he wanted kids to experience the same joy of watching a model train.
“Kids are always in love with the interactive train routes,” Keeling said. “This definitely is a big thing for the kids’ area. I’ve been told by people who run the library that they usually run to the train first.”
Keeling said he and his friends “spent countless hours” on the project, finished their work and delivered their product to the library in September. In addition to his friends, teachers at HSEHS assisted with the project, and donations helped cover expenses.
One of those teachers was Jeffrey Wilkins, coordinator of Project Lead the Way pre-engineering program at HSEHS.
PLTW develops hands-on, project-based science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curricula for use by elementary, middle and high schools. Pathway To Engineering and Biomedical Science is offered for high school students.
The high school Pathway To Engineering sequence includes eight full-year courses: a pair of foundation courses (Introduction to Engineering Design and Principles Of Engineering), several courses on engineering specialties (aerospace, biological and civil engineering; architecture; computer integrated manufacturing and digital electronics), and a capstone course, Engineering Design and Development.
“We are impressed with Nick’s leadership to spearhead this project with other students in our Project Lead the Way (PLTW) pre-engineering program at HSEHS,” Wilkins said.“PLTW has given them the skills to manage and successfully implement a project of this scale and use the design process to continue to make it better. This is just the first step in an engineering career and these students seem to be heading down the right track.”
As a boy raised in Cincinnati until he was 6, Keeling was fascinated with railroads, which led him to start his hobby of collecting wooden trains.
“I grew up with railroads surrounding me everywhere,” he said. I didn’t know it was going to turn into a career.”
Keeling puts his skills to good use as a volunteer for the Indiana Transportation Museum, where he has served for four years. Currently he is a coach attendant, assisting to manage the train and helping customers get on and off the train.
“Ever since I found out the museum existed, I started to volunteer more and more and more – now I volunteer every week on Saturdays,” he said.
Keeling estimates that he has served about 800 hours as a volunteer with the museum, which has greatly advanced not only his technical skills, but his social skills as well.
“I get to talk to adults and find that it’s easier to talk to them than people my own age because of my involvement with the museum and community,” he said. “These skills learned will be a benefit for the rest of my life.”
Keeling is now considering his future. He said he would like to study civil engineering and urban planning, “anything related to improving the infrastructure in a community,” and would like to attend a well-respected college out of state.
“I love seeing different sections of the world,” Keeling said. “I like experiencing different things, from the shipping yards of Sault Ste. Marie (Canada) to the transportation of the materials. And the passengers – I love them.”
Be a volunteer: Keeling encourages students, including those at a young age, to volunteer their time with something they enjoy doing.
“One of my teachers said there is nothing more strong than the heart of a volunteer,” he said. “Find something you like; you can volunteer with art, railroads or Habitat for Humanity. A lot of teenagers should volunteer to improve their outlook on life.” The Indiana Transportation Museum is seeking volunteers from the age of 12 on up. For more information, visit https://itm.org or call 773.6000.
