Our Annual Open House
The 2025 annual open house of the Milwaukee & Northern Railway Historical Society, a.k.a. the Neenah-Menasha Model Railroad Club, will be held the first weekend of December.
We look forward to welcoming you into our home at 323 W. Forest Ave., Neenah, WI, on Saturday, 6 December, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, 7 December, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Admission is free.
Monetary donations will be graciously accepted and immensely appreciated.
(As a recognized 501(c)(3) charitable organization, your donation may be tax-deductible (consult your tax advisor to be certain). Let us know if you desire a written acknowledgment of your contribution.)
We look forward to meeting new visitors and welcoming back repeat visitors.
This December will be the 143rd birthday for our historic railroad depot.
Unfortunately, our 143-year-old depot does not have a functional toilet. Please plan accordingly for your visit.
We will be conducting a raffle during this year’s open house. One lucky visitor will win a Bachmann HO-scale train set, two packages of straight track, two extra freight cars, a freight house kit, a re-railer, and a track cleaning eraser.
Raffle tickets will be sold for $2 each, or 3 tickets for $5. The drawing will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, 7 December. You do not need to be present at the drawing to win.
At least once per year we enjoy welcoming the public into our depot, so that everyone can see what the Milwaukee & Northern Railway Historical Society (MNRHS), also-known-as the Neenah-Menasha Model Railroad Club (NMMRRC), is all about.
You can visit our historic, rare 1882 M&N depot.
You can learn what the hobby of model railroading has to offer.
You can discover some of the history of our prototype railroad.
Maybe you will consider joining our Society, or supporting our cause in some other way.
Here are a few scenes from last year’s open house.
Our first open house was held in 1982.
A 9 December 1982 Janesville Gazette article about our first open house in 1982.
This newspaper article announced the open house which we had hosted on 8 December 1982. This was the first time that the general public was invited to come in and discover what we are about. Previous open houses were hosted exclusively for members of other model railroad clubs. Larry Easton, far right, was a co-founder of the MNRHS.
In April of 2020 Wally, our current president, reminisced about that 1982 open house: “Yeah, I remember that. It was the first time the club opened the doors to the general public. Larry had researched and found that our building was reaching its 100th birthday and we decided to celebrate that with the open house. It was on a regular meeting night and I didn’t know about all the publicity that we had received on it. I drove down to the club with my toolbox in the truck, figuring I could work on whatever project and maybe there would be a few extra folks visiting to see what we were all about. I had to park about a block and a half away, left my tool box in the truck, and when I reached the depot, there was a line of people waiting to get inside! The place was packed. This was before we had built the part of the pike that now fills the middle of the baggage room, so that area was filled with attendees as well.”
Wally added: “We have had many open house events since then, usually on a weekend over two full days, which spreads the crowd out so that we are more able to greet and talk with the people. Over the years we have seen many old friends returning to check on our progress as well as lots of new faces seeing our railroad for the first time. One of my favorite parts is witnessing the wonder in a child’s eyes when he or she sees our miniature world. Or when an older kid exclaims “Gramma, Grampa, the trains run RIGHT through the BATHROOM!!”
Wally operates a train on our model railroad circa 4 November 1989. This may have been a publicity photograph for our open house that year. Photograph courtesy of the Neenah Historical Society.
Here are a few scenes from earlier open houses.
A scene from our open house on 4 Dec. ’22. In the background to the right, Wally Rogers is interviewed by a multimedia reporter from Green Bay’s WFRV, Channel 5. Photograph by Tom Bruss.
Warren Lutz stands next to the beautifully decorated custom-made case housing his father’s O-scale Lutz Bros. Circus Train during our open house on 3 December 2022. Photograph by Tom Bruss.
A scene from our annual open house on 4 December 2021. Wally Rogers, our current president, is the guy in the background wearing the blue hat with white polka dots. Photograph by Tom Bruss.
A scene from our annual open house on 5 December 2021. Two of these guests are visiting from the Paper Valley Model Railroad Club. Wally Rogers, our current president, is the guy in the background wearing the blue hat with white polka dots. Photograph by Tom Bruss.
We hosted an open house on 2 October 2021 for attendees of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) Winnebagoland Division Fall Meet. Here Wally, our president, explains some features of our model railroad to our guests. Photograph by Tom Bruss.
A scene from an earlier open house on 15 December 2019. Photograph by Tom Bruss.