The ODC Modelers announced that they would be open for extended hours during the holiday season.

“For four big weekends starting Nov. 25 the huge HO model will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays for the viewing pleasure of adults and children,” officials said in a press release. “Many intricate details have been added to the model during the past year, so even if you have seen it before you will notice a lot of amazing new things.”

The release cited that also the model has grown in size.

“A portion representing downtown Richmond is now under construction,” officials said in the release. “The entire model is constructed in HO scale so that a lot of detail is contained in each small area.”

The term HO means, “half O.” Model electric trains of the 1950s were considered “O” gauge. The tracks were an unrealistic 3-rail and put together in short sections with internal pins inserted in the tubular rails.

“Train layouts were often constructed around the family Christmas tree and taken down after the holiday,” officials said in the release. “As the HO gauge became popular in the ‘60s hobbyists saw that they could get twice the detail in the same space.”

The downside was that the layouts had to be made more permanent. Tracks were “T” shaped and were in long lengths soldered together, looking more like real tracks. Also, only two tracks were used along with many ties, just like the real thing.

The model occupies a large room that is the whole front end of the old Hull Street Station. This area of the former Southern Railroad Passenger Station was originally restrooms and waiting rooms. Thirteen major floods over the years ravaged this end of the station. When the Old Dominion Chapter of the NRHS took over the building, extensive repairs had to be made, including new floors and floor joists. Protected now by a flood wall, flooding is hopefully a thing of the past.

The museum is open, free, every weekend.