With a history dating back to 1955, Penn State’s Model Railroad Club is the second oldest active club on campus. 

The club meets twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays, and members craft realistic railroad modules using raw materials. Each module starts as a simple piece of wood and is transformed into a lifelike landscape connected by train tracks.

“It’s a hands-on experience,” one member said. “It’s a lot of small-scale wiring and programming.”

The club’s members are working on its sixth layout, the first to be entirely modular. It features a mountain landscape, an industrial plant, a train station, and several other terrains.

“It’s a story as old as time, where we move into a place and we make it our home,” club president Christopher Coholich said.

The club hosted its annual open house this past weekend, welcoming over 300 visitors. Throughout its history, the club has been relocated several times. Its most recent move was from Pinchot Hall, where it had spent the past 20 years, to Research Module A in 2022.

“It’s really interesting to take on the more nomadic role because we were in Pinchot for 20 years, so I’ve tried to instill it into the club that we could leave this space on any day of the week,” Coholich said.

The club’s current layout features several Penn State ties, with a creamery tank car and a University Park and east locomotive. 

“I’ve always been interested in trains. I think there are a lot of people here who can say they’ve always been interested in trains. I think it’s comforting to find a group of people who have the same interests as you,” Coholich said.

Members of the club use many different skills to assemble their layouts, including wiring, soldering, and painting. The process starts with raw materials, and the final result resembles the real world.

“This is really a club for everybody. It’s really fun. And like the slogan says, ‘it’s more than just trains,’” Coholich said.

All are welcome to join the Model Railroad Club and are encouraged to learn new skills. If you have a passion for engineering, photography, or even just an interest in trains, this club is the perfect fit.

The club’s members share a strong camaraderie, whether sharing stories about locomotives, working on the modules, or trying to spot the hidden “Where’s Waldo” figure in the layout. There’s a place for everyone in the Model Railroad Club.

“We take everybody who has zero minutes of experience. And by the end of it, we kind of know a little bit about a lot,” Coholich said.

Looking ahead, Penn State’s Model Railroad Club hopes to continue building and working on its current layout. However, there’s always the potential of starting from scratch. For more information on the Model Railroad Club, you can visit their website and Instagram.