The HO Model Engineers Society Inc.

HOMES has moved!

The layout pictured on this page no longer exists, but we're recreating many of these scenes of 1950s railroading in Hamilton and area on our latest layout.

In late 2007 we moved to the Eva Rothwell Centre in the former Robert Land School, at 460 Wentworth St North, surrounded by railway tracks in the heart of industrial North Hamilton (the TH&B Belt Line was just steps away, and the CNR belt and mainline are still within a block). A new layout - our sixth since 1948 - has been under construction since then. It’s a cliche that model railways are never complete, but this one is operational and many scenes are complete(ish). You'll find the track plan and more info under "New Layout", construction photos here, and the latest photos here.

HOMES is a model railway club in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1948, HOMES is dedicated to prototype modelling of the Hamilton railway scene as it was a half century ago.

At the western end of Lake Ontario (see map below), Hamilton is Canada's Steel City, home of the Steel Company of Canada (Stelco, now US Steel Canada) and Dominion Foundries and Steel (Dofasco, now Arcelor-Mittal), as well as many other manufacturing and steel-related businesses. Not surprisingly, this industrial city was an important railway centre, served by the Canadian National, New York Central, Canadian Pacific, and the hometown Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo. Bayview Junction, the entrance to Hamilton, is the perhaps most famous railfan location in Canada.

Our mission statement and club philosophy are here.