A Selection of Model Railroad Sites in the USA

This O scale layout, called the Miniature Railroad and Village, was started in 1920 by a WWI vet named Charles Bowdish. It includes dozens of Western Pennsylvania landmarks, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house, Gobbler’s Knob (where Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog makes his annual spring prediction on February 2), and the Buhl Planetarium, which housed the layout from 1954 until it was moved to its current home at the Carnegie Science Center in 1992. The layout, which sits on a 83 by 30 foot platform, includes many animated features, as well as lighting that transitions the scene from day to night.

This sprawling layout is billed as the world’s largest G scale layout, covering 25,000 square feet with over 2 miles of track. The main layout does not represent a specific place or single time period, but rather represents various historic periods of train development in America. The layout is the main attraction at EnterTrainment Junction, a for-profit attraction owned by businessman and model train enthusiast Don Oeters, which also includes a funhouse and children’s play area, as well as displays from the Cincinnati Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. The layout has mostly been built and maintained by volunteers.

This museum is home to three layouts: the N scale represents railroading in California in the 1950s, including the Southern Pacific line from Sacramento to the Tehachapi Loop, and from Sacramento to Truckee; the HO scale depicts portions of the Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, and Western Pacific railways in the San Francisco East Bay and interior, north to Sacramento, Roseville, and Truckee over the Donner Pass during various periods from the 1930s to present; and the O scale depicts a fictionalized American West landscape during the 1930-50s. All layouts are built and maintained by the East Bay Model Engineers Society.

Kansas City’s Union Station, the second largest of all remaining active railway stations in the US, was renovated in 1999 and reopened with several new amenities and attractions, including the Model Railroad Experience (along with a science museum, movies, shops, and restaurants). The station houses N to G scale freelance layouts spanning 8,000 square feet of track. During the winter season the station presents a festive holiday version of the display.

An HO scale layout depicting the Bowling Green area is on display at the Historic RailPark and Train Museum, housed in the historic L&N train depot. It is a permanent display at the museum, even though it was made by the sHOw Modular Model RR Club of Bowling Green, a club that mostly focuses on modular, temporary HO layouts and train shows.

This $1 million+, 3,500 square foot HO layout, called the Great Train Story, is located in the transportation wing of the Museum of Science and Industry, and is loosely based on the 2,200 miles between Chicago and Seattle. The layout, which was created by museum staff, includes interactive buttons that allow visitors to animate scenes, as well as dramatic lighting that switches to “nighttime mode” every half hour.

With more than 8 miles (about 50,000 feet) of track over 52,000 square feet, Northlandz is the world’s largest model train exhibit, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The vision of Bruce Williams Zaccagnino, Northlandz is an HO fantasy trainscape that started in 1972 in the basement of Zaccagnino’s home. By 1977 the layout had grown to occupy 4 additional levels, and it opened to the public in a large commercial building in 1997. Northlandz has since become a popular tourist attraction, and also includes a doll museum and cafe.

This HO scale layout, called Mainline in Miniature, sits on the second floor of an old train depot, now the local museum and home to the Portage Area Historical Society. The detailed 225 square foot layout depicts the Portage Railroad, including notable railway sites such as the Horseshoe Curve, Gallitzin Tunnels, and Mule Shoe Curve. It was built by local train enthusiast Charles Edwards, along with numerous volunteers, and opened to the public in 2008.

The Oregon California and Eastern HO layout, covering 5,500 square feet, is the main attraction at the Colorado Model Railroad Museum, previously known as the Greeley Freight Station Museum. It is a freelance model, though it is based on the actual OC&E rail line in south, central, and western Oregon, between Klamath Falls and Lakeview, in the autumn of 1975. The single main line is 1,244 feet long, or 20.53 HO scale miles, and there are 15 separate wiring systems. The layout is the vision of David Trussell, who had lived in south-central Oregon and observed the OC&E logging line in action, which in part inspired the layout’s regional focus and logging theme.

This O scale layout, built by local train enthusiasts Milton Brockmeyer and Willie Ryan, is the centerpiece of the Ratcliffe Transportation Museum. Measuring 80 by 26 feet, the layout depicts the town of Pulaski’s booming commercial district in 1955.

This is the only accredited model railroad museum in North America, and one of the largest at 27,000 square feet. It is home to five layouts by four local clubs, which range from detailed miniature versions of local railways, to imaginative fictional trainscapes. The HO Tehachapi Pass Exhibit, a work in progress by the La Mesa Model Railroad Club, is one of the most realistic layouts there is, depicting the Southern Pacific-Santa Fe railroad from Bakersfield to Mojave, including the notable Tehachapi Loop, during the 1950s. The HO San Diego & Arizona Eastern exhibit, by the San Diego Model Railroad Association, models the line connecting San Diego with El Cajon and El Centro.

This N scale layout depicts Colorado scenes, following the Union Pacific Moffat Route through the Rockies. Landmarks featured include the Big Ten Curve and the Moffat Tunnel, the railroad and water tunnel that cuts through the Continental Divide. The layout is a work-in-progress, built and maintained by the Moffat Modelers Railroad Group’s members and volunteers, and is hosted by the Forney Museum of Transportation, located next to the museum’s main building in a large warehouse that is also used as storage for historic vehicles in the museum’s collection. The building also houses several modular layouts built by club members.