History

A Tribute To Ben
Founder of the Smoky Mountain Railroad

Benjamin Sanders

Spencer Iowa -- Benjamin Sanders, the man who owned KICD-AM radio in Spencer for about 37 years died Friday July 5, 2002 from complications of a stroke. He was 90.

Sanders took ownership of KICD-AM in 1945.

Over the years, he marked many firsts. In 1957, he got the first small market weather radar license in the United States. In 1965, he signed on KICD-FM, the first 100,000 watt FM station west of the Mississippi River.

Sanders sold the station to his son in 1982.

Sanders, a member of the Iowa Broadcasters Hall of Fame, had been president of the Iowa Broadcasters Association and served eight years on the board of directors of the National Association of Broadcasters.

He is survived by his wife Elizabeth, and three children: William Sanders of Arnolds Park, Iowa, Chuck Sanders of Sarasota, Florida, and Louise Russell-Tutty of Sarasota, Florida.

Ben's Building of a Railroad

Fair time 1947 The KICD Little Theatre building on the southeast side of the Clay County Fairgrounds was originally designed for chickens and roosters. It was decided to use the building for radio and television stations as well. The first day of the fair in 1947 the booth next to Mr. Ben Sanders was empty. The station that had rented it did not show up for the fair. The second day of the fair, Mr. Sanders brought some of his train layout from home. He placed the train set on a sheet of plywood in the empty booth next to his. The wind would occasionally blow the train cars off the track. The chicken display next to the trains had the same problem. The chickens were wingless and the wind would also blow them over. Mr. Sanders was constantly putting cars back on the track as well as standing up chickens. The train display was an instant hit and surpassed the exhibit of the wingless chickens on display from Iowa State University.
		Ben's Bell
The following year the train display took over the entire east side of the building. Six tons of plaster, mixed in buckets and applied by volunteers, created the mountains. The trestle came into being a bit later. And then came the next challenge. The board of directors tried to "inspect" the railroad during the fair, and couldn't get in because of the crowd. Board President Leon Witter was not to be outdone. He laid down the dare…if he knocked out the east wall and ran it out another fourteen feet, would Sanders agree to put "another side" to the railroad? He did, and the volunteers went back to work.
Fair time 1963 From year to year, the Smoky Mountain Central Railroad grew. Then, about 1963 or so, the railroad was taken over by a railroad club. When that arrangement fell through, Sanders was beckoned out of retirement and ran the Smoky Mountain railroad until his retirement. At that time his son took over ownership of radio station KICD and the trains.
When it first started there was a romance about railroading, even though it was starting to decline. Steam was still around, and it brought back memories when the older "kids" watched the little trains running around the exhibit. Then came the diesel, and steam became a thing of the past.
Much of the exhibit now takes on the chore of history teacher, showing some of the things that made our country great. For youngsters it's a learning lesson: for those a bit older a trip into the past. For all it's a very pleasant journey.
1999 In June of 1999 the KICD Little Theatre building was torn down and the model train display was dismantled. The small structures, figures, trees, train engines and RR cars were salvaged before the building was bulldozed down.
A new building was constructed from funds donated by Mr. And Mrs. Ben Sanders, the former owner of radio station KICD. His son, Mr. William Sanders, who now owned the radio station, finished construction of the interior of this building. There are offices for the radio station in the east end of the building.
The interior train display area of the building is 100 feet by 36 feet in size with this area being enclosed with sliding glass windows. There is also a full basement under the train display. The building was constructed with poured concrete walls with a vinyl covering.
By Clay Country Fair time in September of 1999 there were 17 operating rail lines in the new building but very little scenery and bare unpainted mountains. About the only scenery in the display was a replica of the Clay County Fair Grounds in the SE corner an iron ore mine in the NE corner and a depot and tower in the SW corner. There was still a lot of empty space in the display.
After the fair was over in 1999 several volunteers started working on displays. Some of the previously installed tracks were modified and additional track was installed.
By fair time 2000, a replica of the Goodale farm as it appeared in the early 1950's was installed complete with the ‘Go Kart’ track. Mr. Goodale, was a model railroader and a friend of Ben Sanders. His farm site is located about 1/2 mile NW of the train building. A sawmill area was added near the control panel. Epoxy was poured to make all the water areas. The water areas are used as walkways for workers to gain access to the different areas of the display. The SW corner area with the tall tower and revolving café was modified. A small city was added with many local area entries displayed in it. An oil field with motor driven oil wells, plus a refinery next to them was built. A beautiful circus with many animals was added to the NW corner of the display. A replica of Mt. Rushmore was added in the mountain area and a moving helicopter was also installed in that area. The helicopter was later changed to a hot air balloon. Wind generators were install, but later moved to a different location for the next year's display.
Fair time 2001 Many additional features have been added to the display. A new city was started in the NW section of the display. A steel mill area was added along with changes in the oil fields and oil refinery. The rail yard was redesigned with an airport added along side it. The airport has rotating radar and a revolving beacon light. A moving ski lift was added to the west mountain.
After the fair was over in 2001 the fair board wanted a Christmas open house in the trains building on several weekends in December. Work started immediately on this project. The West Mountain was repainted from the top of the mountain to the north windows of the display. This was the beginning of the winter scene. Several different types of artificial snow were used before the project was done. Buildings were built to add to the city and colorful Christmas lights were added to many buildings, houses, and trees in this area. The new city was transformed into a winter scene with snow on rooftops, trees, and streets. Santa and his reindeer are flying over this city.
What started out to be a small change in the display turned out to be a major change. This area of the display will now be a permanent addition to the train display as it would be too difficult to remove the artificial snow from the buildings and streets.		Old Coupler
On June 26. 2001 William R. Sanders and Rebecca R. Sanders donated the Smoky Mountain Central Railroad and the entire inventory to the Clay County Fair Charitable Trust. Ben and Betty Sanders had already donated the building to the charitable trust in October 1998.		Jim Keeps Things Organized
What started out to be a small display to fill a vacant booth in 1947 has turned out to be one of the feature attractions of the Clay County Fair and will be for many years to come.
At this time the train display has 21 operating rail lines. There are also 6 display cases mounted on the wall outside the display area that show engines and train cars of different eras. The Smoky Mountain Central Railroad is a HO gauge railroad but in the display cases are other gauge models. Several companies and individuals have made donations to the display and we appreciate their involvement in the attraction. The following companies have donated train sets: NAPA, INTERNATIONAL/CASE, JOHN DEERE and OPERATION LIFESAVER.

Thank you for visiting our site and if you are ever in the Spencer area at fair
time come visit us in the DEPOT building of the Clay County Fair.