Lionel Railroad Club Draws a Crowd with Polar Express and Thomas the Train
The New Lenox-based Chicagoland Lionel Railroad Club brings generations of train lovers together.
Miniature train collectors and enthusiasts from throughout the Chicago area crowded into the Chicagoland Lionel Railroad Club open house in New Lenox on Saturday. The 5,000-square-foot club facility was decked out for Christmas, with plenty of miniature trains circling Christmas trees and looping their way through a complicated system of modular layouts. The Polar Express huffed its way along tracks right along with Thomas the Train and authentic-looking Santa Fe freight trains, Alco chuggers and passenger trains out of the yards of New York Central and Penn Central stations. Club President Herb Koch said he is as excited today as he was when he first laid eyes on a miniature train. "I got my first train when I was 6 years old," Koch …
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