Model train club to host holiday open houses

The club behind Bohemia’s model train city, Central Operating Lines, will be hosting multiple free holiday open house events over the next month, with special visitors and a toy drive for local families in December.

From 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Nov. 14-15, and Dec. 5, 6, 19 and 20, Central Operating Lines, a model train club that runs miniature locomotives on tracks spanning across recreations of New York City and rural countryside, will be hosting its annual Holiday Open House Train Shows at their Bohemia warehouse at 50A Carlough Road.

On Dec. 19-20, Santa will be making a special visit, and attendees are asked to bring an unwrapped toy for donation during each of their December shows.

Central Operating Lines has grown in size since its humble beginnings in a commercial Amityville basement 50 years ago. After several moves across Suffolk County, including in Holbrook and Ronkonkoma, the “O” Gauge model railroad club relocated to its current, and largest, location in Bohemia.

The roughly 40-by-40-square-foot space features multiple tracks running along an inverted G-shape, where members and visitors can walk through to view each intricately placed piece, from a gas station in a more rural section, to a miniature subway station below Grand Central Terminal in a space inspired by Midtown Manhattan.

Each display area is curated and hand placed by Central Operating Lines volunteers. New additions to the space include the Twin Towers along the back wall, past model train Brooklyn Navy Yard area, an oil field featuring miniature drills that bubble like vintage Christmas tree lights, and a fire house and helicopter rescue station located atop a ski hill across the room.

The members are also adding more texture and color to the train room’s desert areas, with 3D-printed landscaping materials meticulously painted and placed.

Central Operating Lines also hosts monthly swap-meets, where collectors and other model train enthusiasts can sell and purchase items. The group’s next swap meet is Sunday, Nov. 22 from 8am-noon at AMVETS Post 18 at 141 Carleton Avenue in East Islip.

To learn more about Central Operating Lines, visit coltrains.com.