Approximately 50 of his family, friends, colleagues and fellow model railroad enthusiasts are gathering at the Boothbay Railway Village to witness the dedication of the building in which the late Ron Spinney devoted many hours in creating what is regarded by many as “one of the best model railroads” in New England. The ceremony will be held Thursday, July 18 at 5:30 p.m.

Unknown to many, Ronald Edwin Spinney, who died in 2014, was the Village’s first paid employee, a young 15-year-old train conductor with a passion for trains that lasted his lifetime.

Among the expected guests are many Florida friends who are flying up to Maine for the occasion, joining Nancy Spinney, Ron’s wife. Except for the time away to attend college, he lived his entire life on Southport. Upon graduation from college, he married the former Nancy Bell of Wiscasset and together they built a home and life on land formerly owned by his grandparents.

Earning his master electrician's license while still in college, he turned away offers to use the business degree out of the region, to form a local electrical firm. As that business grew and electronic technology evolved, his professional interest focused on security systems, and on his personal interests, always, on trains, then model trains.

As the board of directors noted in voting to dedicate the building in his name, “In truth, it has always been the ‘Ronald Edwin Spinney Building’ and this simply makes it official.”