Willow Creek Railroad Museum (WCRR)
Willow Creek Railroad (WCRR) operates a 1/8th scale railroad at Powerland Heritage Park. WCRR Museum began as an added attraction to Antique Powerland in 1975. Just two individuals initiated it and started with 600-foot loop of track in a farm field with no trees, green grass or buildings. In 1993 WCRR became an official organization of Powerland Heritage Park. Since our start in 1975, more people have become interested in the live steam modeling hobby and as this interest grew, so did the membership and the layout. By the mid 1990’s there were about 30 members running on a layout of approximately 2,500 feet of track which included a small carbarn, roundhouse, bridges and a creek with green grass and landscaping. In 1998 the members started the planning stages of a completely new layout which would more than double our trackage. In 2001 we completed the track portion of our new plan to enlarge our track to over 5,500 feet, which allowed us to handle larger live steam locomotives and provide more of a feeling of a prototypical railroad. This first phase of the project took almost five years to complete - although no layout is ever complete. Since the main track was installed, we have continued to upgrade and expand our railroad. The upgrades have included more storage for trains with additional sidings, carbarns, new roundhouse and a period station cover. We have also been upgrading and adding to our block signal system which includes signal bridges to illustrate how trains safely follow each other. We provide a historical account of what early steam and diesel railroading was like – the smells, sights and sounds – on a model railroad – as such, we are not an amusement park ride. Our steam and diesel-powered trains are 1:8 scale replicas and run on 7 ½” gauge track - large enough for the whole family to ride!
Mission
To provide a historical account of what early steam and diesel railroading was like – the smells, sights and sounds – but only on a smaller scale.