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All aboard: Roslindale model railroaders resume semi-annual public visits

MBTA commuter-rail train in minature

A commuter-rail train waits for passengers.

People lined up on South Street in Roslindale today for the open house at the Bay State Model Railroad Museum, what will once again be a twice-yearly event where museum members get to show off their O, HO and N-gauge trains and layouts to the public.

Looking at a train layout

The open house did take respiratory viruses into account: It was held before Thanksgiving, and occupancy was limited to 50 at a time, both steps that the museum hopes would reduce the odds of Covid-19 or RSV spreading - especially among all the little kids who came to watch the trains go round.

As a Boston club, of course some of the displays had a Boston feel - such as this scene in front of the old Back Bay station (those green trucks are not Globe delivery trucks, though, but Railway Express Agency vehicles):

Old Back Bay station

One display also pays homage to Roslindale Square, where an old BERy/MTA trolley made a turn:

Old trolley

School bus about to cross the tracks:

Callahan for State Senate sign

There was plenty of old-school loco action:

Steam-powered locomotive

Museum members took position across the displays, dispatching the trains, including one way up on a mountain top:

Train mountain

Along the displays were controls to determine how trains would move through switches, such as this "wye."

Wye control

Some gnomes waited patiently for an MTA trolley:

Gnomes
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Comments

Does that model commuter rail engine break down every 3000 scale miles?

Do you have to wait 3 hours for it to show up on weekends?

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Thank you for all the pictures. As a high-risk person who has to avoid large groups of people, I really appreciate being able to vicariously share some of the fun.

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a visit to the Wenham Museum, which is open all year long. (And yes, it is a short walk from an MBTA commuter train station.)

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Storrowed trucks under the railroad bridges?

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Thanks Adam.

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That old BERy/MTA trolley looks just like the ones that run between Mattapan and Ashmont stations today.

Does this mean South Station won't be getting a model railroad display this year? I used to love checking out those things when I worked in that area.

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