C&R Railroad invites you to a quaint community tucked inside a 57-foot mountain range in the McDill "Huck" Boyd Center where intrigued visitors can watch animated O-scale trains chug through the village, and arrive at Union Station. A freight yard includes a turntable and roundhouse.
The dream of trains began when Bill Clarke was a child. As soon as he heard the nearby whistle or horn from the incoming train, he'd jump on his bike and speed off to meet it at the station. He began buying toy trains in 1966, and his collection has grown steadily. Three decades later, 94 engines, 170 cars, 34 cabooses and 137 railroad lanterns are housed in a room featuring special lighting with day and nighttime effects. More than 1,200 feet of track wind through Clarke's C&R Railroad.
"C" stands for Clarke. Bill owns one of the six best trains in the United States, which he donated to the Huck Boyd Center and the Phillipsburg community for all to see. The "R" comes from his late wife's maiden name, Reiss. Jim Talbott, a model railroad builder and Montana man, took charge of designing a multilevel landscape for the large model railroad. After nearly three months of labor Talbott's largest privately funded project welcomed the whistles of locomotives.