Model Railroad Committee of the Friends

Board President, Mike Sweeney explaining how model trains work to five year old Robert Gallipeau.

The Model Railroad Committee was founded in the spring of 2017 by a group of model railroad enthusiasts who are members of the Friends of the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum. They committed to create a museum-quality working model railroad representing the Chesapeake Beach Railway in its heyday of the 1920s. The model, which is located inside the museum, evokes key stops along the line from Washington, D.C. to the Chesapeake Beach resort, including Seat Pleasant, Upper Marlboro, the Lyons Creek Bridge, and of course Chesapeake Beach. The layout is modeled in “O” gauge, which is a 1:48 scale/ratio in which 1 inch on the model is equal to 48 inches in real life. Visitors to the museum are encouraged to be a kid again and operate the model (run the train, ring the bell and blow the whistle) during their visit.

As a member of the Friends of Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum, you are eligible to join the Model Railroad Committee. The group promotes model railroading, preserves and teaches the history of the Chesapeake Beach Railway, and have a great time doing it! Members represent the CBRM and attend and display model trains at other public events. More information can be found on the CBRM Facebook page or the FCBRM Facebook page. Or, you may contact Mike Zitzmann 443-994-4237 or mdzitzmann@comcast.net.