Wiregrass Steel Wheels

04/14/2026

Stay tuned!

We want to welcome the Wiregrass Steel Wheels to Landmark Park. Wiregrass Steel Wheels is a model railroad club in Southeast Alabama focused on HO and N scale trains. The club is now located at Landmark Park and will begin installing their train layout for all to enjoy. Wiregrass Steel Wheels will have monthly meetings in the Interpretive Center at 2 pm on the second Saturday of each month. If you are interested in becoming a member of the club, plan to attend their next meeting or call the club President, Joe Chicarello at 334-545-0509 for more information. Keep watching the parks facebook for updates on the train layout and when it will be open for public viewing.

04/14/2026

We're moving!

That's right! We're officially partnered with Landmark Park and are moving to a new more permanent home within their park. Our Hartford location has been our home for the last 2 decades and has served us well, but we as a club feel it's time for a change and we're more than happy to partner with a group as passionate as we are about telling the story of how the wiregrass came to be. We've already started the process of moving and expect to be moved over to Landmark Park fully by mid June. Between then and now we plan to be attending Landmark Park's touch-a-truck event and the farm to table events with our portable display layout as we did for this year's past spring farm day. Interested in becoming a member and helping drive this historic effort for our club? Call 334-545-0509 or email [email protected].

03/27/2026

Meet the members #2, our vice president Joseph Chicarello!

Joseph wears many hats at our club. From wiring to rolling stock repair and even major scenery undertakings. Joseph does it all. Displaying a unwavering dedication to the hobby and the furthering of it. Joseph is unique amongst our members in having always been part of the WSW family. Attending every single one of our shows since the age of 3, joining us in 2021, and becoming vice president during the December of 2025. Joseph primarily models the early Conrail years on his home layout set in Snowshoe, Pennsylvania. In a world of "rivet counters" Joseph, while also being a stickler for realism creates models that bring us back to our roots in the hobby. Those roots are to just have fun! From Penn Central Steam locomotives, railway guns, and flatcar loads of any vehicle you could think of Joseph has done it all. And he shows no signs of stopping either!

03/27/2026

Pennsylvania Railroad K4 #1361 crests the summit of Hartford grade on our club layout while an out of focus CSX freight exits the tunnel and eases down to Dothan yard.

03/22/2026

A fun day was had by all of us here at WSW at our first official event partnered with Landmark Park. We would like to extend a huge thank you to the board and chair people of landmark park for inviting us out, and more importantly thank all you fine people for coming up, asking questions, and simply enjoying the magic of model trains. This was the circle city central's first time out with two full dedicated mainlines, and aside from some technical glitches it did quite well. Joseph Jay Chicarello ran his Penn Central equipment hauling assorted flatcar loads such as Massy-Ferguson Tractors, Ford COE's, and even a Huey Helicopter! Casey Merritt made sure to keep everything local with his mostly Bay Line and Central Of Georgia themed equipment. Porter Brookston brought us a tasteful look at a heartland freight train of the mid 70s with a union pacific freight hauling some tractors to the many farmers across the country that keep our tables loaded with healthy nutritious food. Needless to say we greatly enjoyed spring farm day and we hope to see all of you again very soon!

03/16/2026

Need something to do this weekend? Want to take advantage of the soon-to-be beautiful weather? Then come out and see us at Landmark Park in Dothan, Alabama this weekend on Saturday the 21st! We will be running our modular exhibition layout known as the Circle City Central railroad. Expect to see models of the trains that helped make Dothan what it is today, along with a interactive steam locomotive bell exhibit. Come on and see us!

02/28/2026

Meet The Members #1 The President of WSW Casey Merritt

Casey has been a long time member and contributor to our club for the last 7 years, but above all he has been our friend. Casey models the Clarksville & Southern railroad on his personal layout at his home in Dothan, Alabama. With a focus primarily on transition era Southern Railroad equipment. Out of all of us he is by far the most skilled with running repairs and restorations on locomotives. With the running joke of "He could DCC install a brick". We enjoy Casey's friend and leadership and hope he will continue to lead our club far into the future.

02/28/2026

Meet the brains of the operation! Our 1990s built club layout has seen some extensive quality of life upgrades over the winter months. With the discovery of a first generation DCS-100 in the storage room, investments were made into bringing the railroad into the 21st century. 13amps of power across the entire railroad. All controllable via your phone or other smart device!

02/23/2026

An early Amtrak train comes down the grade past Hartford on it's way to the next station stop in Dothan, Alabama. Casey Merritt 's Atlanta & St Andrews Bay road train passes behind, bound for the freight yard just south of the town of Hilltop

02/23/2026

Porter Brookston 's UP local descends the grade on our club layout after traversing the big tunnel, a Conrail mixed freight heaves up to the summit on the lower level

02/23/2026

Welcome to the Wiregrass Steel Wheels Model Railroad club! Our aim is to bring the hobby of model railroading to the masses in a fun/inviting environment. Our motto is "anything goes" and we hope that our photos reflect that! Our HQ is at the McGregor-Mckinney public library in Hartford, Alabama and we would love to see you at our meetings every first Sunday of the month at 2PM!