Photos by Richard Schumacher
Members of the Gateway Division NMRA and St. Louis NRHS recently visited the Iron Spike Model Train Museum (1498 High Street, Washington, Missouri 63090, https://www.ironspike.org/). The museum was established in 2016 to honor and preserve the railroad heritage of the Midwest. This dream of a few model train enthusiasts, with the support of dedicated volunteers, donations of private collectors and their families, as well as local businesses, have created a beautiful collection of operating, extremely detailed layouts in multiple gauges. These photos were taken during that visit.
A large HO scale layout fills the center of the museum’s lobby. It is surrounded by small layouts, artwork, display cases, and the ticket office.
The main building features expansive HO and N scale layouts. The walk-in style HO scale layout fills a little over half the space. Much of the layout is scenically complete, with some areas still being finished.
The large N scale layout features scenic vistas, forested hillsides, and industrial areas. Large-scale trains roll by on a level under the N scale layout.
Smaller railroad displays and layouts can be found throughout the museum.
