Rails on Wheels
525 E. Michigan Ave #151
Saline, MI 48176-1588
Founded 1988
Our upcoming activities are
08-JAN-2026
Monthly Business Meeting - Zoom
22-JAN-2026
Monthly Social Meeting, location TBA
rails on
wheels Washtenaw County, Michigan's first HO modular model railroad club.
Updated: 01-JAN-2026
About Rails on Wheels
Rails on Wheels was formed in 1988 by a group of model railroaders interested
in constructing, displaying and operating a high-performance HO scale model
railroad. At the time, only one of the members had the space available for
a permanent layout, so we each began to build small, portable sections that
could be joined together, incorporating the specifications that would eventually
become the Rails on Wheels Module
Standards. This layout is stored dismantled between public showings.
To promote our goals of educating our members and the public about railroading
and the hobby of model railroading, our activities have included monthly
meetings and workshops, layout setups at over 100 train shows and
the NMRA National Conventions in 1992, 1997 and 2007, private event layout
setups, railfanning outings and trips to train shows and swap meets.
In 1998, several Rails on Wheels members who had developed an interest
in prototypical operation branched out and developed the Operations
Road Show. These members constructed a second dedicated layout which
resides in a member's basement and is used to hold operating sessions
using timetable and train order operating rules. This layout was publicly
unveiled at the Maple Leaf 2003 NMRA National Convention in Toronto, where
135 attendees participated in operating sessions. Our success in
Toronto was repeated at the 2005 (Cincinnati), 2007 (Detroit), 2009 (Hartford),
2012 (Grand Rapids), 2014 (Cleveland), 2016 (Indianapolis) and 2018 (Kansas
City) NMRA National Conventions. We took this layout out for public operations
demonstrations far less frequently than we showed the display layout,
as the design of this layout does not lend itself to easy viewing by large
numbers of people. Following the Kansas City Convention, we no longer
take it on the road, and it is currently in operation at its home base,
where it continues to serve its teaching role.
Rails on Wheels provides a forum through which members can learn techniques
and get help from persons experienced in layout design, benchwork, scenery,
electronics and wiring, rolling stock construction and structure building.
We have developed new approaches and techniques to meet our specific construction
needs, techniques which we feel have in some small way contributed to
the advancement of the hobby.
We have built new modules to replace the HO scale modular display layout
that was stolen in 2009, and welcome new members, regardless of their
level of experience. Our members range from beginners to people with over
40 years' experience in the hobby.
Anyone interested in HO model railroading, from beginners to experienced
craftsmen, is welcome to join. Rails on Wheels is an independent club not
formally affiliated with any other organization. Membership is always open.
You need not own or build a module to participate.
Club Activities
Our next activities will be:
11-JAN-2026
Monthly Business Meeting - Zoom
In the past we have held our in-person meetings at the Saline Historical
Society's ex-NYC depot at Ann Arbor and Bennett Streets in Saline.
2025 Southeast Michigan Model Train Show and Sale
The 2025 Southeast Michigan Model Train Show and Sale was held on Sunday, November 23. This was a new weekend for us (the weekend before Thanksgiving), a new location, the Wayne Community College
campus on Haggerty Road in Belleville, and for the first time we partnered with Division 6 of the NMRA, which provided an array of clinic sessions on getting into model railroading.
Despiite our working later than usual in the year to acquire the site, and our pre-show advertising not being up to our usual standard, we still managed to bring in as large a crowd as
we had managed in a previous years. With greater advance notice, we feel we would do better in that location. This was also the first time that site had been host of a train show and
sale, and the good people of the Wayne County Community College did not know what to expect. We hope that we impressed them favorably!
Upcoming Events
We will be holding or participating in the following public events:
