A Chicago family replaced a tiny patch of backyard grass with model railway tracks in the late 1990s; more than 20 years later, the miniature village fills the entire yard and can run seven trains at once

• What started as a small family hobby has gradually turned an ordinary Chicago backyard into a miniature railway town.
• The Rustemeyer family in Norwood Park has spent more than two decades building an elaborate garden railroad, transforming a modest patch of grass into a landscape filled with train tracks, tiny buildings, flowers and carefully arranged details.
• According to Block Club Chicago and WBBM Newsradio, which visited the family home in October 2026, the railway now covers virtually the entire backyard and can accommodate seven trains running at the same time.