A. The club was started in 2006. An introductory meeting was held on March 18, 2006 of all people interested in forming a Brainerd Lakes Area Model Railroad Club. Of the 8 people that attended that meeting, four are still active members today. In March of 2006 the club was offered a generous donation of HO scale locomotives, rolling stock, buildings and accessories and also a substantial library of railroad books. In mid-June the club was offered a substantial donation of Lionel O Scale locomotives, rolling stock, buildings and accessories.

In November of 2006, the club found a vacant 3500 square foot building that was perfect for the railroad club. The building is located just south of Crosslake on the Paul Bunyan byway with great road visibility.

Northern Trackers Railroad Club, Inc. (NTRRC) is a non-profit railroad club and museum dedicated to preserving the history of the railroad, logging and mining industries in North Central Minnesota in the early 1900's. Scale model displays, both static and operating, are offered to the public as well as interpretive displays, educational programs and workshops focusing on introducing model railroading and area history to children and adults alike.

Locomotive steams through Walker MN while passenger cars wait on siding.

• Z scale is the smallest and is 1/220 .      (It takes 220 Z scale cars laid end to end to equal 1 full size car).
• N scale is 1/160 ratio of full size car to model.
• HO scale is 1/87 ratio of full size car to model     (87 HO scale cars laid end to end to equal length of one full size car.)
• 027 scale is 1/64 ratio of full size car to model
• O scale is 1/48 ratio of full size car to model
• G scale is 1/24 ratio of full size car to model

NTRRC is a 501 C3 non-profit organization and we do not charge admission fees. Instead we hope that visitors will help feed our donation boxes and maybe even join the club. Many people join just to get a tax deductible donation from the IRS.  We also solicit businesses and local organizations for funding. We are also working on applying for several grants. We try to hold several fund raisers throughout the year. We appreciate your tax deductible donation, as the funds allow us to continue to build and improve our many model train layouts.