|
 About Us - Club History
The Elmhurst Model Railroad club
was founded in 1969. That year
there were 15 members in a 1,000
square foot basement with plans
for an HO layout. By the time 5
years has passed, the club had
grown to over 200 members and 3
layouts; HO, HOn3, and N Scale.
In the fall of 1978 the club was
in need of new facilities. We
were occupying 3500 square feet
of basement space and were
planning to expand all three of
the layouts. After a lengthy
search we secured a lease on a
brand new 7500 square foot
industrial building with an
option on another 40,000 square
feet in the town of Bensenville.
The move to the new location was
accomplished over the Memorial
Day weekend in 1979.
Construction then began on a new
HO and HOn3 layout and the
reassembly of the N-Scale layout
which had been moved in sections
to the new location. We changed
the name to the "White Pines
Model Railroad Club" to reflect
the new location.
By Thanksgiving the 10 scale
mile long double track mainline
was completed and scenery
construction was started on the
layout. By the spring of 1986,
however, it became apparent that
we could no longer remain in
Bensenville due to financial
considerations. We searched
again for a new layout location.
In the last half of June 1986 we
moved into the basement location
where we are currently located.
The first 2 years at this
location were devoted to
bringing the basement up to city
codes for occupancy. Layout
construction was started on an
N-scale layout in June 1988 and
the HO layout in August 1988.
The HO layout, which has an 8.4
scale miles long mainline with
passing sidings, was completed
by New Year's Day 1990. The
freight classification yards
were completed by the end of
January 1994 and currently work
is in progress on the wiring and
control panels for the freight
and passenger stations. The
N-scale layout which had a 6.9
double track mainline was
dismantled in the fall of 1993
due to lack of interest. The
space that it occupied is
currently being used for club
activities. Under consideration
for this area is construction of
an Interurban layout using part
of the salvaged bench work from
the N-scale layout.
The new HOn3 layout which is
under construction is an L-shaped
folded dog bone with helixes on
both ends to change elevation.
It can run two trains and has
yard switching.
Across from the narrow-gauge is
a diorama of a 4-track ore dock
and a Great Lakes ore boat. The
dock is over 12 actual feet long
- a scale of 765 feet. Also
being built is a scale model of
the Edmond Fitzgerald Ore Boat.
At the entrance of the club you
can ring an actual steam
locomotive bell from a Santa Fe
prairie-type locomotive (a
2-6-2).
|
