Train enthusiast builds scale Via coach car in basement

Riding on the rails of nostalgia, a Toronto-area train enthusiast has reconstructed a precise model of a 1970s-era Via passenger coach in his home basement.

Jason Shron, a train devotee in Vaughan, Ont., has taken his passion to a whole new scale, spending four years on building a replica of Via car 5647 from scrap parts taken from a 50-year-old decommissioned Via train.

"I'm completely, madly obsessed," Shron tells CBC's Ron Charles, showing off the historically accurate Via ticket holders, napkins and even garbage bags he had printed up, and displaying interior details such as the original 1970s wood panelling, seats, "smoking permitted" signs and radiator covers.

"Everybody has their happiness. They have a special place they love to feel most comfortable with, and for me it's the train," Shron says.