Interested in model railroad operations? The people of BadgerRail invite you to join us, whether you are an expert at making trains run in a realistic manner, or a rank beginner. This “round-robin” group focuses on Model Railroading Operations in the Madison and South/Central Wisconsin areas. Our emphasis is on comradery, sharing our experiences with other regional operations groups, mutual help planning, work session building, and operating railroads large and small. 

We run often, and the sessions often fill up, but most layout owners will welcome a guest or two who wants to explore the fun of low-stress operations. Not sure? We routinely pair experienced crew members with new operators to smooth the learning curve.

Our work sessions are informal and lively. We encourage our layout owners to make all positions available to operators. We do recognize that some layout owners are more comfortable assigning high-demand positions to seasoned operators who have a lot of experience in those high demand positions. We get that! We do want to mentor and develop experience in all positions if possible. When we do offer various positions, they are typically given through a numbered selection process, whereby individuals choose from the available list of roles as their number is called. New or less experienced operators are always given the choice of choosing fewer challenging assignments or working as a two-person crew with a more experienced member. 

A key feature of BadgerRail that we encourage is the occasional group meal as this invite’s comradery, lively conversation, friendly banter and the exchange of ideas. Most sessions (but not all…) are either three or four hours long. Depending on the layout owner who sets up the session, the meal may occur with a break in the middle, before or afterwards too. Sometimes it is home-cooked, delivered and sometimes it is a gathering at a nearby pub, but it is always an opportunity to talk railroading with like-minded folks.

We use this website for signups. Before you are allowed to sign up for any operation sessions on the site, we need to register you and your email. This is to minimize spam and hacking. Please contact us to start the process, or to ask any questions you might have.

We are a welcoming group, always looking for more model railroaders who are interested in the enjoyment of operations. Check out the list below to see where you might run soon.

Work and/or Operating Sessions

Our organization conducts operating sessions across multiple-scale railroads, with more projects currently under development. We hold regular work and operating sessions throughout the month and welcome new operators to take part in Model Railroad Operations. Check the list below for our next sessions.

Under Construction! Please note that we are working to build out more information.