VALPARAISO | Joe Henley has been 'playing' with trains for more than 45 years. But he is hoping to share his love of trains with others.

Henley, owner of the Valparaiso Pet & Hobby, has been collecting trains for a long time and is auctioning off his private train collection this weekend.

Henley, married to Sharon Henley for 45 years, has been a lifetime collector of trains.

His wife remembers him saying how he got his first train from Marshall fields in Chicago.

"My grandparents would get me a traincar every year, one piece and so i would collect them," Henley said. "My grandparents would get me a car from Lowenstines in Valparaiso and I can remember finally having enough to set up the train set on a pingpong table."

Henley didn't do much with trains during high school but then he got married and picked up the hobby again.

Henley has a lot of trains and track and pieces and will be auctioning off more than 1000 pieces. Many are collector items and a few are brands like Lionel, Marx, American Flyer and Lionel HO. He has prewar and postwar trains, as well.

"I collected a lot of trains but didn't run them too much," said Henley. "I think kids like trains because of the chugging noise and they can build their own little world with them.

His collection has pieces from 1926 to 2008 with different trains and different eras.

The reason for the auction is because Henley is basically downsizing his collection.

"The trains take up a lot of space and we need to do something to downsize," he said.

The auction will be at 10 a.m. Nov.22 and at 11 a.m. Nov. 23 at the LaPorte County Fairgrounds. Preview will be two hours before the auction.