Big Bend Railroad Club

10/21/2026

To answer a couple questions we sometimes receive about what kind of support we receive from the community, it is not as great as we wish it could be, but the majority of our visitors and Facebook followers are from Webster Groves and the immediate surrounding communities. On the rare times when we needed extra help to clean the outside of the building to get ready for a major convention, or the nearby yard got out of hand with what resembled an overgrown prairie, many volunteers stepped up. Several years back we received a special recognition award from the City, thanking us for our work and efforts to save and preserve our depot, and when the City created the Crossroads Special Business District, one of the pre-approved projects the district they put in the City's code was to help us rehabilitate the building. A few years ago we received an offer from what looked like the owner of a very popular restaurant in Old Webster, offering to have a dine and donate night, but we learned that it was someone's joke and they knew nothing of this offer. It is unfortunate that something like this sometimes happen. With our major restoration work currently going on that will be followed by building our new layout, we have had to put up with nearly no donations coming in to help us pay our bills. This December we will have a temporary and much smaller layout in place so that we can fulfill our ten-day holiday schedule that will begin with the Holiday House Tour on the 6th. As a 501(c)(3) all donations to us are tax-deductible. The donate button on Facebook is easy to use, you can find us on Venmo, and I can provide a secure address to mail to.

10/09/2026

The St. Louis Railroad Enthusiasts meeting in our depot tonight was one of the best this year. The feature was a DVD with color films taken by Joe Collias. This was followed by other entertaining video from popular engines and special trips. The RRE members were also surprised with how our train room looks with no layout and the exposed tin ceiling. The last time they met was in September and so much happened in just one month. We were also entertained by a live, twelve inch to the foot show just outside. We can confirm that the no train horn zones in the county are back. A reminder that the Railroad Enthusiasts is the oldest railway-related group in our area, having formed in 1932, and responsible for forming and chartering the National Museum of Transportation. They meet on the second Thursday of the month at 7:00 PM and their current location is in our depot. Former members and visitors are welcome.

09/30/2026

Now this makes more sense as to why St. Louis County municipalities are being bothered with train horns. Hopefully the railroads will stop hitting the horn. Now I wish the unincorporated areas of the county could one day be no horn areas too.

Webster Groves was "inadvertently" included in the order to lift a train horn quiet zone when the federal government removed the designation from St. Louis.

A spokesperson for the Federal Railroad Administration said St. Louis had failed to submit required paperwork for 217 months, and when the railroad administration finally took action, Webster Groves was accidentally looped in.

🔗 Full story at the link in comments and STLtoday.com.
📰 Seth Nelson, Post-Dispatch

09/26/2026

Things are changing fast.

09/26/2026

The suspended ceiling 'Ts" have been removed and some of the layout still remains to be dismantled (sounds like a better description of what is happening). The big mine structure can still be seen in the corner. There is a short trestle bridge that runs from the building to the mine on the right side. It is a plan to cut the whole scene with the building in one piece. Fingers crossed. We are sure the temporary layout will be ready for our very busy December open house schedule

09/24/2026

Work continues on the demo of our layout and after this weekend, nearly all if not all of it will be reduced to smaller pieces. Today we discovered something that we believe we can restore the original look to our main room. Nearly all of the tin ceiling panels are still in place. As you can see in this picture, when tin ceilings tarnish, they get painted, but if the panels are not treated properly and the right kind of paint is used..... We think we lucked out. We should know for sure later.

09/18/2026

We are hearing from different sources of a false statement that we sold our depot. This is a FALSE STATEMENT! The St. Louis Lionel Club lost their latest home and the only recourse they had to have a chance to have a place where they could build a layout they can run on and have a home for many years is for their members join our club and help to rebuild our layout to handle both two and three-rail track. All of their members gave their okay for the merge and the St. Louis Lionel Club is no more. Please help to correct anyone you hear telling the wrong information.

09/16/2026

Demolition on the second layout our club has had in our depot is well underway. This what the far west end of the layout looks like as of late this morning. Nearly all of the bridges are off and in storage and the two extensive mines will take some time to remove from the layout. Being a wood, kit-built structures and integrated into the scenery, it may not be an easy task to dismantle.

09/02/2026

We had a great turnout Tuesday night. While the minor issues did not cause problems we could not handle, we are happy to see everyone. It was actually a little hard to figure out the new members from the visitors. Thankfully most of the food was consumed so cleanup was easy. In a few weeks meetings will begin on the various steps facing us for replacing the layout and making upgrades and a few repairs. Keep checking in for updates.

08/21/2026

Here is an upcoming event you may want to attend.

Opaque Collective presents two exhibitions: Steel Wheels in the gallery space and United Freights of America in the shop space. Together, they trace the living histories of more than 350 graffiti writers and the vehicle that connects them: the freight train. Both exhibitions will open Friday, Au