The Northwestern Illinois Model Railroad Club opens its doors in Chadwick for a weekend of HO scale trains running on two layouts, with the busy BNSF line right across the street.
The Northwestern Illinois Model Railroad Club welcomes the public to its fall open house on Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. Trains will be running on two HO scale layouts, one in the basement and one upstairs. The upstairs layout began as a hobby shop that supplied the basement build, and after the store closed it was rebuilt in HO scale. It is still a work in progress.
The club started in January 2003 with an empty basement and 16 members, and today has 29 members from Illinois and Iowa. Its basement layout, first run in 2004, fills the entire 30 by 60 foot basement on three levels, with about 1,554 feet of track and two mainlines that each run 15 scale miles. HO scale is 1:87, about half the size of Lionel's O gauge, and it is by far the most popular scale in the hobby.
Bring your camera, sign the guest book just inside the front door, and ask any member about joining. The busy BNSF Railroad runs right across the street, so you may catch a full size train too. For more information, email nwilmrr@gmail.com or call Duane Imel at (815) 238-0245.
