SOUTH CHINA -- After almost two decades of switching between pastor and model railway engineer, Jim Ferrone has come to a terminus.

He's chosen to stay on the ministerial track, and now will devote all his professional time to serving the South China Community Church congregation.

It means he's departing from the model-railway business, and wants to sell the rolling stock and accessories of Mainely Trains, his South China business.

"It was a hobby that turned into a business," he said. "Now I want to get the hobby back."

He put the business -- minus the building -- up for sale seriously about a month ago. "I've been talking about it for a while," he said.

In the storefront on Route 3, Ferrone has O-gauge track and myriad engines, cars ... everything needed to set up a home railroad.

"I'm a full-time pastor," he said. "I came up here from New Jersey to start a business. In Maine, you can or you have to do two things at once. Frankly, I enjoy being a pastor more than playing with the trains right now."

Ferrone said some of his business is selling model railway items through the Internet, and he's hoping a new owner will expand that.

He prefers the personal interaction with his customers.

"It's mostly people who like to see and touch things," Ferrone said. "I have a lot of customers who want to deal directly with the owner and not buy sight-unseen. This way they can see it run and learn how to care for it."

There's also a Mainely Trains O Gauge Club, which has a modular layout on display in the store. The club is hoping to move with the store, Ferrone said.

There are a number of model railway clubs, with many of them members of the National Model Railroad Association.

Right now, Ferrone says the most popular item is Lionel's Harry Potter Hogwarts Express Train Set, modeled after the one that carried Harry Potter to the boarding school for young magicians and witches.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com