Trevor Lenzi, 12, and his brother Chad Lenzi, 13, study the model railroad exhibit at the fair. (Allen Eyestone / Palm Beach Post)

It’s a gruesome scene.

The locomotive has ground to a halt. Ahead of it, police lights are flashing. Behind, an ambulance has wheeled out a gurney. And on the tracks, a body bag lays next to the grisly remains of two other people who were walking where they shouldn’t have, through the train yard.

Rubberneckers slow to point and observe, because there is a lesson there. Just not the kind of lesson you expect to find at the South Florida Fair.

But Bob Metel believes there are big life lessons to be taken from microcosms, even ones played out in plastic and metal. And that’s why the Palm Beach Model Railroaders decided to include that little scene in their expansive display at the fair, a permanent fixture at the South Florida Fairgrounds for the past 35 years.

"That was a suggestion by someone from your side," said Metel, 75, meaning there are definitely different perspectives on either side of the low, Plexiglass wall that divides the doers and the dreamers.

The 25 men in the club come from all backgrounds – doctors, lawyers, firefighters, actual former railroad workers – and they meet every Tuesday night at 7 to work on the model and welcome any new members. Most are retired and their oldest member is in his 90s.

Showing off their year’s worth of work on this approximately 20-by-30-foot scene at the fair is their Super Bowl.

While these model trains are born of the dreams of boys, these fathers and grandfathers are dedicated to depicting real-world scenes. This isn’t the kind of train set you put around the tree at Christmas time.

Walk beyond the accident scene into a quaint little town. But what’s that building on the end? Is that a naked woman? Yes, they’ve built in a house of ill-repute. On the roof, a wife who has caught her husband in the act is threatening to push him off.

"It gets a little competition from the burlesque show over here," said Vinnie Cuomo, pointing past a depiction of the fair itself, including a Ferris wheel with 300 lights, "and the biker bar down there."

There’s an actual Tri-Rail train coming and going from one small town to another. An exact replica of Royal Concrete Concepts’ newest plant in Okeechobee, built from photographs. Beachgoers wading on the shores of South Beach. And even the old pig races at the center of the miniature fair, complete with oinking sound effects.

And true to form, all is not nirvana in their little world. A couple of the former New York residents are pushing to add a subway to the model, causing some friction with the locals.

"That’s these guys from New York," Metel mutters. "There are no subways in Florida."

But who knows? After all, there is room for whimsy here, to be sure. Keep an eye out for the mermaid by the boatyard.

"We caught her by the Jupiter Inlet," jokes Cuomo, a former New York railway maintenance worker, whose two sons still work for the railroad.

Thousands of fairgoers pass through Heritage Hall at the fairgrounds and even people who see the display annually walk away amazed – at the models and their builders.

"We come through here every year, and there’s always something new to see," said Barry Wilson of Wellington. "Trains are something kids love and they never outgrow it – as you can see."