I bet you didn’t know November is National Model Railroad Month. Well, last month I just happened to visit the Garfield-Clarendon Model Railroad Club in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. Chicago is or was the railroad capital of the world so it seems appropriate the city is home to one of the nation’s largest model railroads. The club was originally founded in 1947 in the Garfield Park Fieldhouse, located on the West Side, before moving on up to the North Side, specifically Clarendon Park, in 1963. So that explains the club’s name. The fifth and current layout of the railroad began in 1974 and has been growing ever since. The organization meets regularly in the fieldhouse’s basement to build and operate their railroad. Highlights of the design include approximately 1,400 feet of hand-laid track and a state-of-the-art signaling system. The railroad travels through the fictional towns of Summit, Georgetown, Bridgeport, and Williamsport, all set in the Appalachian Mountains, which of course is nowhere near Chicago.
Garfield-Clarendon Model Railroad Club in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood
