About the Lincoln Area Railway Historical Society
Founded in the mid 1970s as the Lincoln Model Railroad Club, we started by meeting at member’s home layouts and progressed toward having our main layout in the Industrial Arts Building at the former Nebraska State Fair Park. When the State Fair moved to Grand Island in 2009, the club lost its home.
While model railroading is a major part of our club, we are also hoping to have a permanent museum someday. Along with the items we already had had in our state fair location, we have been acquiring full scale items (BN Caboose, Roca Depot) for restoration and for display. Our “ultimate goal” is to have a museum which features full scale railroad equipment and items as well as model railroad layouts of various scales. In 2010 we changed our name to the Lincoln Area Railway Historical Society (LARHS) to better reflect the goals of the club. A major portion of what we had in the Industrial arts building is still in our possession in storage, waiting for its home. The Lincoln Area Railway Historical Society is a 501c3 corporation and donations to the club are tax deductible.
As a multi-scale club we attend various train shows & events with N & HO scale traveling layouts, as well as a G scale display that is occasionally setup.
Locations:
Lincoln Air Park – Our new home, albeit, possibly temporary, is at Lincoln Air Park. We moved here in October 2024. This location will have a small collection from the museum, as well as layouts in Z, N, HO, and O scale. This location will only be open to the public on select days for “open houses”, to be posted on this website.
Sandhills Global Event Center (Formerly the Lancaster Event Center) – Our BN Caboose and Depot are located on the SW corner of the Event Center. These are currently only open on select days during the summer, and open days will be posted on this website.