O Gauge Hi-Rail Model Railroading

Akin to Chicago circa 1920’s, the Speakeasy Limited is a mythical metropolis where Al Capone rules with illegal booze, unbridled gambling and loose dames.  Look closely and you’ll see a Cadillac V-16 Imperial Sedan, bulletproof of course, traveling down Chicago’s 22nd street about to cross Wabash Avenue.  There’s a black sedan following, filled with extra body guards to protect the gang’s most prized asset, Al Capone.

 

The Four Deuces Hotel is nearby, the model was built with artists’ discretion but that’s part of the fun of hi-rail modeling.  The North Shore Line Greenliner, nonetheless, sure looks respectable traveling through this south side neighborhood.

 

The Speakeasy Limited is an O gauge hi-rail train layout, 38 by 18 feet, including a 1920’s Chicago Loop where a mural features such buildings as the Wrigley, Tribune, Board of Trade, Drake Hotel, Palmolive, LaSalle Street Station, Union Station, Cook County Courthouse, and Lexington Hotel.  You remember the Lexington, where Geraldo Rivera went looking for big Al’s vault.  Seventy of the estimated one hundred brick and mortar structures have been constructed since the layout’s inception in 2006; the completion date is estimated to be sometime around 2023.