Cornfield is an event each spring and fall (around April and September) in the small town of McLean IL about an hour west of Champaign. McLean is on Route 66 between Lincoln and Bloomington-Normal.
The gym behind Sonshine Daycare, maybe the largest room in town after the elevator, is home to a variety of community events on the weekends. For Cornfield, we fill it with HO scale FreeMo modules, making a single large layout.
The event is organized by Tom Ludlam, owner of the historic McLean Depot, now a model train store, a 10 minute walk from the gym. On the way to the depot is a neat little downtown area with a picnic shelter, grain elevator, 110 mph Amtrak trains, and a retro arcade (packed on Saturdays and empty on Sundays). In the past we've seen a local train work the elevator in the morning.
Approx.
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –
Schedule
5pm
9am-6pm
9am-3pm
Setup
Operations
Operations
A programming track, mainline reversing loops, and car cards / switch lists are available and optional. The event is free. If you're bringing a module RSVP with Tom so he can make a plan a few weeks in advance.
If traveling with IRC, look for our carpool form so we know how many drivers we'll need. We'll stop for lunch and dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
Tom – agent(at)mcleandepot(dot)com
Cornfield Facebook Page
McLean IL Directory