Will County Model Railroad Association

Contact person is Christian Herzog 

The Romeoville Model Railroad Association was founded in 1979 by Jim Rapinac of Romeoville. The idea to form a model railroad club came about because most homes in Romeoville did not have an extra space to build a layout. Sponsored by Ben Green director of the Romeoville Rec Dept, we were located to what we thought was a perfect location: The "Lake Shirley" Beach house. We were there for 12 years and built an extensive HO layout. Trouble struck when the building that housed RMRA was suddenly condemned and demolished for senior housing that never happened! The members were able to remove their trains and personal effects just before the building was demolished.

We then moved our layout and club materials to one of our member's homes who had an empty airplane hanger and we kept our club there for almost a year. We were able to move here and there for a while; but we were bound and determined not to let the RMRA fail! After some looking around, we moved into the Romeoville Fountaindale Library. Another layout and then...

...once again we were moving; the Village of Romeoville is growing and the rest of the library is needed for "progress".

We were next housed in the Jefferson Square Mall, Joliet IL and we changed our name; we are now known as: "The Will County Model Railroad Association" Formerly RMRA. After a few years at Jefferson Square, they were bought out and scheduled for demolition, so once again we had to move.

This time however we thought we had a location that benefited both us and the community, right next to The Rialto theater in Joliet. But alas, things changed and the city felt we were not part of the changes they wanted. Although most people don't realize it, Model Railroading is an art form ;)

That brings us to the present day - we are actively looking for a "permanent" home and in the interim, we still meet, operate, and have started a modular (Free-Mo) effort.