Central Operating Lines Model Railroad Club Marks 50 Years in 2026

A Long Island club that started in a shoe store basement has spent half a century growing into one of the region's most ambitious hi-rail operations, and this year Central Operating Lines, Ltd. is marking that milestone with fresh public attention.

The club opened its warehouse-style clubhouse at 50 Carlough Road in Bohemia, New York to local press on March 19, 2026, a feature visit tied directly to the group's 50th anniversary year. The centerpiece of that visit: a 55-foot by 35-foot operating layout built and maintained by roughly 60 members who describe themselves as hi-rail train collectors, operators, and modelers.

That layout packs serious infrastructure into its footprint. Four mainlines run throughout, supported by a large passenger yard, an engine yard with an operating turntable, and a replica of the Bald Hill Vietnam War Memorial, a detail that gives the pike a distinctly Long Island identity. Members keep the whole thing running through Friday evening work sessions from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., the kind of weekly rhythm that has sustained clubs like this through decades of changes.

The history behind those 50 years is a story of persistence across multiple forced relocations. The club was formed in 1976 by a small group of dedicated train collectors who wanted a bigger and better place to run their trains. In 1977, they set up their first layout in the basement of a shoe store in Amityville, New York, featuring four operating mainlines and a gigantic mountain. Eight years later, the shoe store owner retired and sold the building, pushing the club out. They rebuilt in the basement of an architectural firm in Babylon, New York, this time adding dispatcher panel cab-controlled mainlines, a passenger yard, and a hidden setup yard tucked inside the mountain. That arrangement lasted until 1988, when the architectural firm reclaimed the basement for records storage and the club was on the move again.

The club now holds monthly All Gauge Swap Meets from September through June and annual open houses that bring the layout to the public. The club's trainweb page, authored by club president Michael Heindl with photography credited to Bob Mintz, also notes the club runs swap meets out of a Bingo Hall in Bohemia. Beyond the swap meets and open houses, the club operates an authorized registered MTH repair service center, extending its usefulness to the broader Long Island model railroading community well past its own membership.

At 50 years old, Central Operating Lines has outlasted the shoe store, the architectural firm, and whatever else Long Island has thrown at it since Gerald Ford was president. Current event schedules, layout photos, and additional club information are posted at trainweb.org/centoplines.