| M.K.M.R. is primarily an HO modular club that offers a variety of activities for all railfans in the area. We have a modular HO layout set up in the McPherson Museums old Cedars facility along with an N-scale layout from our friends at KCMR. The layouts are open to the public every Saturday and Sunday from 1 - 5pm. and we also entertain our guests with videos and a train cam as well as information and railroad artifacts from McPherson's history. M.K.M.R is working exclusivly with the McPherson museum to restore the Belli Bros. HO and N scale layouts, one of the largest model railroad displays in Kansasas. Another ongoing project is discovering and researching McPherson's railroad history. MKMR meets weekly with clinics, workshops with ongoing modeling projects and also offers a rail video library and model train magazines for members to enjoy. We welcome you to become a member and join the fun. |
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| Check out the great detail in these large photos of the Belli Bros. HO and N scale layout as it was in 2006. |
| This is a cool video of the MKMR layout as a passenger, (or a Hobo) would see it. Turn up your speakers and hear the clickity-clack of the track as you go. |
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| Welcome to Mid Kansas Model Railroaders. |
| About us |
| M.K.M.R. was formed in 2006 when several things were happening at the same time. It's an interesting story and it all seems like it was meant to happen. We used to be with another club that had both N-scale and HO modular layouts that traveled around to train shows in the tri-state area. We would even sponsor a train show in McPherson every year and had a great time for quite some time. |
| We would meet in the basement of Belli Bros. Music and Trains in McPherson. There was a huge permanent HO and Nscale layout that we help build and run our trains on. There was also a hobby shop upstairs where we could shop for trains and modeling supplies. Times were good. |
| But, Belli Bros. Music and Trains had to close it's doors in 2006 and sell everything...including the layouts. We were sad to see it all go and wasn't even sure what would happen to the layouts, unaware of the great opportunity that was about to happen. |
| Thats when the McPherson Museum and Arts Foundation with the help of the McPherson Convention of Visitors Bereau, decided to buy the layouts. |
| The layouts had been a McPherson attraction for 12 years and the Museum and the CVB wanted to keep this attraction alive. They had the money to buy it, but lacked the manpower and expertise to put it back together. |
| The McPherson Museum is currently raising funds to build a new 30,000 sg. ft. building where M.K.M.R. will rebuild both of the Belli Bros. layouts there in all their glory. |
| That's when the HO group decided to step up and offer the museum and the CVB their services. |
| When the HO group asked the Nscale group if they wanted to help also, they declined. So thats when the HO group decided to break away and start their own club and this was the beginning of M.K.M.R. and a partnership with the McPherson Museum. |
| Our Story |
| In the meantime, during the fundraising process, MKMR is utilizing the Old Cedars facility that was donated to the Museum. When the Museum is ready, they will demolish this building and erect their new building on this site. |
| The CVB also wanted model train layouts to display to the McPherson residents and visitors as they had advertised for the last 12 years. |
| The Museum wanted to rebuild the Belli Bros. layouts and display it in this facility, but the layouts were too big for any of the rooms. So they were placed in storage until the new Museum is built. |
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| So we brought our modular HO layout and set it up in the facility so the CVB could keep the attraction alive and the museum would get public awareness of plans to build a new building with the Belli Bros. Layouts. |
| We also have a club room for meeting and modeling. We have several projects in the making including an expansion of our modular layout that will be finished and on display in the new Museum while the Belli Bros layouts are getting reconstructed. |
| Our friends at Kansas Central Model Railroaders from Hutch, have been kind enough to bring their N scale modular layout and display it as long as we need it. |
| More Train Fun! |
| Ok, so now there are two layouts on display but we wanted to do more to entertain the visitors. We put a camera on a train and set up a tv to watch it on so you would feel the sensation of traveling down the tracks. |
| We also have a theater room with train videos showing and a wooden track layout with battery operated Thomas the Tank engines for kids to play with. |
| We have maps and photos that show the old depots and tracks of the four railroads that help build McPherson. Plus dozens of old railroad artifacs on display. We are still searching for more McPherson rail history. |
| As you can see we have a lot going on and a bright future ahead of us. If you love trains and are in the Mid Kansas area, we would like to invite you to join our group. With your help, we can make this an attraction for McPherson and help gain awareness for the Museum's goals. |
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