The oldest Lionel Railroad Club in the world is tucked inside a suburban commercial building in New Berlin, outside Milwaukee. The club started out in the founder’s basement and — 76 years later — features three multilevel layouts running 17 trains at a time. For visitors, it’s a fantasyland of miniature railyards, depots, stables and circus rides.
With more than 250 members, the Milwaukee Lionel Railroad Club celebrates the history of toy trains, repairs old engines and shares family traditions stretching back generations. Their displays include train sets from the early 1900s to the present day with a range of sizes and gauges.
Visitors gather around a wide curve during the Lionel Railroad Club’s open house. (Photo by Jane Hampden)
Interactive exhibits encourage visiting children to load logs onto cars and fuel up rockets. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Lionel Trains capitalized on interest in the space race to produce accessories including rocket launchers, missile cars and helicopters.
“They were trying to pull interest from things they were seeing in real life, and pull them into model trains,” said club member David Rohr. “Lionel was always part of the touch and the feel and the smell, to add action and make the trains do something.”
A diorama featuring a Schlitz cabin and farm animals is one of the many elements that makes up the Lionel Railroad Club’s mini world. (Photo by Jane Hampden.)
The club bought the New Berlin building 20 years ago so they could set up permanent layouts for members and visitors in the 3000-square-foot facility. Their operating expenses are covered by dues and donations. Club members take portable train layouts on the road to libraries and schools, attend train shows, sponsor sales and offer a Boy Scout merit badge. The headquarters is open at least one day a week throughout the year and hosts weekend open houses in November and April.
Club President Steve Smiley grew up with Lionel trains running through his bedroom; his father started collecting in the 1920s. Smiley said the club is fueled by members’ decades of experience.
Lionel Railroad Club President Steve smiley and shows trains to the Wu siblings of New Berlin, Wisconsin. (Photo by Jane Hampden)
“We also need mentors,” Smiley said, “People who know trains and can show people how to fix things. Every time we run the layout for 12 hours, we’ve got to spend an hour or two fixing something that broke while we did it, but it’s all repairable.”
“It’s not like once it breaks you throw it away,” he said. “These things you can get parts for, you can fix them, and you can repair them and make them run great.”
Club member Ralph Krawczyk recalls his family setting up their train set after Thanksgiving and leaving it up through spring break. At the New Berlin headquarters, he stood at an overlook that houses a control panel for the upper level.
“We have three loops that we can run trains on,” Krawczyk said. “They go all the way around the room, including a great big replica of the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City. It’s sort of an iconic bridge for the Lionel Corporation.”
The Lionel Railroad Club operates in a 3000 square foot facility in New Berlin, Wisconsin. The setup includes a replica of New York’s red Hell Gate Bridge. (Photo by Jane Hampden)
Lionel made replicas of the bridge that are also on display at the club.
Walls are lined with the club’s oldest collection, a set of standard-gauge trains dating to the early 1900s, donated by a local aficionado who wanted the public to enjoy his trains.
Club member Bob Blomberg of Kenosha caught the bug from his father, a teacher who set up train sets during summer. Blomberg collects items related to his hometown of Rock Island, Ill.
“I can run a lot bigger trains here at the club than I can at home,” he said, “and it’s fun to come here and see the people see the trains.”
Kids play with a wooden train set at the Lionel Railroad Club’s open house. (Photo by Jane Hampden)
Ian Rogers attended the April open house with his children, Ilahn and Jabril, whose grandfather recently died.
“He was a lover of trains, and so he actually built them down in the basement, built them from scratch,” said Rogers.
Ilahn and Jabril played at the kids’ table featuring wooden Brio trains including Thomas and the Polar Express. They joined dozens of wide-eyed girls and boys darting from display to display.
“You can press a direction button, a whistle button and a bell button,” said 9-year-old Eliot Wu of New Berlin, who came to the open house with his family.
Lionel Railroad Club president Steve Smiley demonstrates the train setup for a family from New Berlin. (Photo by Jane Hampden)
Josh Albers of Waukesha grew up with trains and still has sets at home. He’s hoping to pass along his beloved hobby to grandson, Elijah.
“We’re building a layout at his dad’s place as well, something for him to start out, and eventually he’ll have my trains,” Albers said.
Smiley said older club members often bring in their children and grandchildren; he estimates the club added 70 members in the last year. The sophisticated layout can now be controlled with a phone.
“We say we’re the fastest thing on three rails,” Smiley laughed.
A model of a Milwaukee train station at the Lionel Railroad Club. (Photo by Jane Hampden)
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MUSIC: “Mystery Train (live)” by The Band and Paul Butterfield
