Model Train Enthusiast's Basement Layout Now Larger Than Actual Town It Depicts

Retired postal worker Eugene Boxcar's HO-scale model railroad layout, which depicts the small town of Millbrook, Ohio, has expanded to 3,400 square feet — exceeding the total commercial square footage of the actual Millbrook, which consists of a gas station, a church, and what residents optimistically call 'the downtown area.' 'It started as a simple loop of track in 2004,' Boxcar said, leading a reporter through what was once a basement but is now a subterranean metropolis complete with 4,700 miniature buildings, 23 operating trains, and a population of 12,000 hand-painted figurines. 'Then I added the rail yard. Then the interchange. Then the engine house. Then I knocked out a wall. Then another wall. Then I bought the neighbor's house.' Boxcar's layout, which has been featured in Model Railroader magazine seven times, includes landmarks that Millbrook does not actually possess, including a functioning hospital, a university, an opera house, and a 14-track classification yard served by four Class I railroads. 'Real Millbrook doesn't even have a traffic light,' noted Millbrook mayor (and sole municipal employee) Linda Semaphore. 'Eugene's Millbrook has a light-rail system. I'm not sure if I should be impressed or insulted.' Boxcar's wife, Denise, views the project with what she describes as 'resigned admiration.' 'He's been working on it for 22 years,' she said. 'I lost the living room in 2014. The guest room in 2017. Last year he asked about the kitchen. I said no. He's currently measuring the garage.' The layout operates on a timetable based on the real 1954 Baltimore & Ohio Railroad schedule, which Boxcar considers 'the golden age of American railroading.' Trains run on time in miniature Millbrook. In real Millbrook, the nearest train hasn't stopped since 1971.