Daniel’s donation came from the fruits of his labors. He is a member of Scout Pack 53 out of the Butlerville Methodist Church near Cincinnati. As a Scout project, Daniel collected aluminum cans and crushed them. His efforts yielded 78 pounds of crushed cans that he took to a metal recycling center and earned $46. He put $6 into his college savings account and brought the remaining $40 with him over the weekend as he came into town to spend time with his grandfather, Tim Dove.
It is not the first time the young Daniel has contributed to the museum. He has been crushing cans and giving part of the profit to the museum for over a year. He decided to give the recent profits towards the railroads to help finish them.
“I like the trains,” he said. “I wanted to help finish them.”
The museum has four layouts, each with a different theme. A large O scale layout represents American Railroads of World War II. A smaller HO scale layout was actually built by veteran Manson Brooks and had been operated all six days of the Canfield Fair in 2006, then was brought to the museum to be the featured piece in the Veterans Hobby Room.
The third HO scale layout features technology of the Civil War and the importance of the railroads of the 1860s. The final HO scale layout features Horseshoe Curve, Pa., which was built prior to the Civil War and still serves military transportation efforts.
The Horseshoe Curve layout is presently being forested and over $400 worth of scale trees have been placed, but another couple hundred are needed to complete it. When Daniel found out, he decided to do what he could to make it happen.
Museum President Lew Speece said Daniel has become a good friend to the museum.
“He’s my little buddy,” Speece said. “He is a little guy with a big heart.”
Article Photos
Photo special to the Town Crier
Daniel Davenport makes a big donation to the War Veteran Museum model railroad project over the weekend.