Did you know that Oak Park has its own model railroad club in the basement of Dole Center and, in fact, the Park District of Oak Park helped with the founding of said club in 1964 and is one of the club’s biggest boosters?
The Oak Park Society of Model Engineers d/b/a as Oak Park’s Model Railroad Club continues to have a three level 500-foot mainline DCC HO model railroad layout in Studio C in the lower level of the Dole Center, sharing space with the Park District, Oak Park-River Forest Senior Citizens Center, and the Dole Branch Library. The center features a community meeting room and classrooms, a ceramics studio and a lot more, a real resource for recreation, education, and self-actualization.
The model railroad is open for visitors Monday evening as posted on the door, Wednesday 7 to 9 p.m., Friday 1 to 3 p.m., and special Family Days every Sunday 1 to 3 p.m. (except for holidays when the building is closed).
Oak Park’s Model Railroad Club doesn’t just have a big layout, but also a small one for “small ones.” The club welcomes all from ages 0 to 99. We are a club for “Everyone who likes trains.” Come on any club night and you will see adults and teens running trains; in fact you will see grandparents, parents, aunts/uncles running trains with their special child, sharing the love of trains from one generation to the next (in fact we have families of three generations running trains together. And we have an extensive model railroad and prototype railroad library, too. And of course the basis of every great model railroad club is great model railroad club membership who enjoy sharing their hobby, sharing model railroad and prototype information, knowledge, and ideas.
Where do you find all of this fun? Our Open House, Nov. 1, 12:01 to 5 p.m. Free admission! Dole Center Lower Level, 255 Augusta Blvd., Oak Park to celebrate National Model Railroad Club Month, www.opsme.org.
Frank Vozak
President, Oak Park Society
of Model Engineers
