Mike Stawinski was 8 years old when his father, Stanly, brought home a model train he found while working for Harrison in 1965.

Stawinski, now 60, took his father’s find and built it into a lifelong hobby.

A 6-by-12-foot HO-scale model train layout sits in his Natrona basement. The train his father found is still there in a box.

It runs, but a problem with the power source keeps it from being on one of the eight running tracks Stawinski operates daily in the wintertime.

“The train was an American Flyer, and I started putting it under the Christmas tree,’’ Stawinski said. “It just started from there.

“I started collecting the buildings and everything that went with it. When I bought this house with my wife, Pamala, 30 years ago, I put it up in the attic. But it got too hot up there in the summertime, and I moved it downstairs to the basement.’’

His love for railroads doesn’t end with model trains.

“I must have put in 50 applications for Conrail, but I never got hired,’’ said Stawinski, a retired postal carrier. “I tried to get in at Allegheny Ludlum on the shifter, but that didn’t work out either.’’

The display pays homage to his lifelong residency in Natrona.

One of the first things you notice on the layout is a lighted sign reading “Welcome to Natrona.’’

The display includes flags of the United States and Poland. The ethnic makeup of Natrona through the years has a heavily Polish background.

The details in Stawinski’s display are what stand out the most. Miniature figures stand outside the businesses, while Matchbox cars fill the roads and bridges that weave around the tracks. The display includes homemade rock formations and bits and pieces of things Stawinski would find on his mail route.

“You would be surprised what people throw away,’’ he said.

The display features buildings with names familiar to the Natrona neighborhood. Buildings have signs for the PNA Club, PRCU and Natrona Bottling Co. on them.

Stawinski also had other signs made, including the Sisters Hotel and the “Boom Boom Club.’’

“The problem with those is I brought them downstairs with a bunch of others, but I lost them,’’ Stawinski said with a laugh.

Train layouts were once a staple of many homes at Christmastime. Some were positioned under a tree, while others — like Stawinski’s — were a bigger production that required a large table and enough room to show off the trains and HO scale homes and businesses.

“It’s hard to find these kind of buildings and train accessories,’’ Stawinski said. “I bought most of my stuff at American Family Raceway in Natrona Heights. They had everything. They could also order you what you needed.

“Those types of places are gone,” he said. “You have to get most everything online now.’’

Now that he’s retired, Stawinski spends at least 10 minutes running the trains daily in the wintertime. His summers are spent fishing from his pontoon boat.

His daughters, Emily, 26, and Jessica, 23, both still enjoy the trains. Stawinski said they are interested in keeping the tradition going in the future.

“I get the trains running every day during the winter; I have the time,’’ he said. “Now, the nieces and nephews come and run them.’’

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