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What started out as special gifts to his great-grandsons close to 15 years ago branched out into a labor of love for youngsters at Matt Keith’s church.

Keith, 82, a resident of Sterling House, Maryville, had constructed 218 train sets at last count, most of which he gave away to children who attend his home church in Corinth, Miss.

“Woodworking has always been something I enjoyed doing,” Keith said. “I didn’t have much equipment at first. I built a workshop in about 1975 and started building some furniture.”

He said he constructed the first of his Shaker-style furniture in about 1955, including tables, chairs and a poster bed. Some of it fills his room at Sterling House.

A retired air traffic controller, Keith worked at Memphis airport for 21 years, retiring in 1972. When his first great-grandson, Dargan Southard, was born, Keith wanted to make him something special.

“He was into road equipment so I made a set of road equipment for him,” Keith said.

Southard still owns the set, a cement mixer, tractor-trailer truck, bulldozer and farm tractor, constructed out of wood. The toys feature moving parts to add a realistic aspect. He vaguely remembers playing with the vehicles, and recently got them out so his little brother can play with them.

“I’ve never seen anything like them,” this Maryville resident said. “To have the set of them are very special and are one-of-a-kind, to say the least. You can’t buy these at Wal-mart.”

When the second great-grandson, Dylan Smith, was born two years later, Keith constructed a set of the toys for him.

Training ground

Later, Keith learned that Smith, now 13, had a fascination for trains. Though he had never made a train before, Keith said he pondered this fact for several weeks before “fooling around in the workshop,” experimenting with wood and designs. Even now, he doesn’t know the exact measurements. Smith currently lives in Houston, Texas.

“It was challenging because I didn’t even have a picture to go by,” Keith said. “I experimented with different ways of making trains.”

He settled on using walnut and poplar, partly because he said he had connections with a sawmill in Pickwick Dam, where he located his workshop. The owner of the sawmill, Keith said, would rough-cut the lumber. Then, Keith planed the wood down to the thickness he wanted it, using a power planer. Keith generally built two trains at a time. Using wood glue, he’d put the poplar and walnut pieces together, then clamp them until the glue dried. Smoke stacks and bells for the engine required another technique.

“I cut a block that size and put it in a turning lathe and turned it down,” Keith said.

To sand the piece, he put a piece of sandpaper on the turning lathe and let it do the work. Using the light color of the poplar and dark of the walnut, Keith created stripes and patterns that worked together to construct one-of-a-kind train cars, seven in each set. He said he works on two trains at a time estimates it takes him approximately 40 hours to complete them.

“I’ll go glue a little, then do something else,” he said. “I don’t count coffee breaks or getting lumber.”

The list grows

It wasn’t long until Keith realized a lot of people like trains, especially little boys. On Christmas 1997, Keith said he gave a train to a child at his church, First Baptist of Corinth, Miss., where he’s been a member since 1991. To date he’s made 218 sets, and Keith keeps a list of each child receiving them. For example, Benjie Pierce received Train #212. The train cars fit conveniently in a paper grocery bag. Keith put the little boy’s name on the outside of the bag and often delivered it in person to the child’s home. Other times, he said he delivered them at church.

“They weren’t expected, for the most part,” Keith said of the children he presented with train sets. “It’s just a thrill for me to see them open it, unexpected. To me, it’s one of the best thrills you can have.”

Keith said he tries not to show any partiality in giving the trains. And, he said he’s trying to make every little boy in the church a train set. Now that he’s constructed so many, instead of parents asking if he’s making a train for their sons, Keith said he now hears, “When is Johnny going to get his train?”

This generous woodworker made the last two trains in March 2008. Since then, he suffered an illness and had to have surgery. In November, he moved to Sterling House. His daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Bob Naylor, granddaughter Tracy Southard, and grandson Dargan Southard, all live nearby.

“These trains are made to be played with,” Keith said. “I have a guarantee I give with the train set that is a lifetime warranty, the lifetime of the builder.”

The warranty, Keith said, guarantees against damage done to the train by abuse or neglect. A train set displayed around the Christmas tree at Sterling House had to be repaired, and was sent back to him. Keith said the roof of the engine needed to be replaced, and another car looked as if it had been left in the rain. It also certifies the train is a genuine Pickwick Puffer from the shop of Matthew Keith, Pickwick Dam, Tenn.

“The warranty becomes void,” Keith said, smiling, “if this train is ever put on a shelf out of reach of the owner.”