Extreme Model Railroad and Contemporary Architecture Museum

The Extreme Model Railroad and Contemporary Architecture Museum is a space dedicated to miniature architecture and model trains displayed across a large gallery. The exhibition shows hundreds of detailed scale building replicas and model trains moving through an intricate track network, with projection screens displaying different landscapes and weather effects.

The museum began development in 2015 under Thomas Krens, director of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. The project emerged from a combination of interest in model railroading and contemporary architectural design.

Frank Gehry, the architect behind Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, leads the design of this 83,000-square-foot museum merging model trains with contemporary architecture.

Visitors receive tablets to interact with exhibits and explore details at their own pace. The visual nature of the display, with moving trains and projection effects, makes it worthwhile to spend time observing the various scenes and activities.

Among the many building models is a 40-foot scale replica of the World Trade Center. This detailed miniature stands out as one of the more notable pieces in the collection.