LANSING - The Lansing Model Railroad Club, is a non-profit organization that was established in 1953. The club consists of 50 members, who volunteer their time to help maintain and expand the model railroad layout.

On Sunday, February 9th, the club hosted a winter open house. Throughout the day, many excited families were able to check out several railroad layouts first built in the 1980's. These layouts consisted of model trains, railroad tracks and scenery representing areas of Pontiac, Michigan. Families were also able to watch organizers maintain and manage all the layouts.

Michael Frezell is the Recording Secretary for the Lansing Model Railroad Club. He developed a passion for collecting model trains when he was a kid and got his first model train when he was five from his parents.

He has been involved with the Railroad Club since 1995. At the time, there were only 15 members present. Since then, Frezell and members had the chance to expand upon existing layouts and make them more scenic.

"What that means for the residents is we are a kind of unknown, unheard of event or location for people to see. And so not a lot of people get to come out and see us and it's really exciting for them to see trains running and to see all the work that we put in to model railroads."

"I like seeing all the people that come by. We have a lot of little kids that come through and they get quite excited, to see trains running."

There were around 281 people who showed up at the open house. This was one of the three open houses that the Lansing Model Railroad Club hosts every year including one in June coinciding with Lansing's Be a Tourist In Your Own Town and in September with the Woldumar Nature Center's American Heritage Festival. This November, they will be hosting the largest model train expo at the MSU Pavilion located in East Lansing.

The Lansing Model Railroad Club is also open every Thursday after 7:00 pm.