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1. 1938.  The Redford Model Railroad Club is founded and its first layout was in the attic of an office building on Grand River (Redford Ave.) in what is now Old Redford. The office building is no longer there and the location is now a parking lot for a church. It was here the membership adopted “Sand Hill & Western” as the clubs road name. This name was picked because in 1833 the Village of Redford was known as the community of Sand Hill, it got renamed to the Village of Redford in 1907. The club added “Western” after “Sand Hill” to give it a more prototypical name. HO scale was fairly new during this time and their was a lack of commercial products made in this scale.  Most of the earlier stuff had to be made from scratch.

 

1. 1948. The club merged with an O scale club “The Detroit Model Railroad Club” which was established in 1935. They moved to the New York Central freight house on Jefferson and Third Avenue. At this time members of the Redford Model Railroad Club dropped “Redford” from the name and both clubs as one took the name, “The Detroit Model Railroad Club”.  For the next several years, the club built and operated two layouts simultaneously, one in HO scale and one in O scale. In 1958 the dual operation came to an end when New York Central informed the club that the space it occupied was required for railroad use.  The layouts were dismantled and the O scale members of the club elected to again go their separate ways.  The HO scale group resurrected the “Redford” part of the name and moved to a storefront building on Grand River and Hubble in Detroit until 1961 when they once again moved. The O scale group moved to an old theater they bought in Holly. 

 

1. 1. From 1961 to 1969 the club moved the layout often during this time to various members homes. This were only a short-term homes and members soon found it necessary to move again.

 

1. 1. From 1969 to June of 1972 the club called a storefront at 14537 Grand River in Detroit home. This location was just a few blocks from the original storefront at Grand River and Hubbell.

 

1. 1972. In June of 1972 the club found itself moving once again to 10812 W. Warren Ave in Dearborn. Here the club had 17’ x 55’ layout that took up 935 ft² of space and the members had 9 plus years of construction for their 10 scale miles (600 actual feet) of single track mainline, 10 towns, each with their own switch yard. At this time the club had a lot of future plans for their layout, including completing scenery, adding a permanent dispatch panel with digital readout of cab control, as well as block assignments. They also planned future track-side signaling integrated into the track.  One of their biggest plans was in 1981 when the club decided to start planning for the future by hosting yearly model railroad shows.  With this we were able to start saving money for future endeavors.   By the time the landlord doubled the rent at the W. Warren Avenue location and the constant roof leaks, the club had amassed enough money for a down payment to buy a permanent building.

 

1. 1992. The club bought the current building at 27316 Michigan Ave in Inkster and began making renovations and updates to the building to accommodate the new layout. 

    

   Present Day: After almost 30 years of hard work, we now have a layout and that we can run on consistently. As with all layouts, ours is constantly evolving, adding new features and trackage. From the hardships of having a model railroad club without a layout and few members, to having monthly operating sessions, bi-monthly open houses, and a ever growing roster of members, it is safe to say that we are proudly looking towards the future as both a club and a community.