Cornfield is an event that happens in the spring and fall (usually April and September) in the small town of McLean IL. McLean is on Route 66 between Lincoln and Bloomington-Normal, about an hour west of Champaign.
The gym behind Sonshine Daycare, maybe the largest room in town, is host to a variety of community events on the weekends. For Cornfield, we fill the entire thing with train track – a large individual layout.
The event is organized by Tom Ludlam, owner of the historic McLean Depot, now a model train store, about a 10 minute walk across town by the truck stop. Also within walking distance and on the way to the depot is a neat little downtown area with a picnic area, grain elevator, 110 mph Amtrak trains, 2 mile stack trains, and a retro arcade (which seems to be packed on Saturday and empty on Sunday).
Typical
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –
Schedule
Evening
9am-8pm
9am-3pm
Setup
Operations
Operations
A programming track, mainline reverse loops, and car cards are available if desired. The event is free and open to the public. If you're bringing a module RSVP with Tom as he makes a diagram a few weeks in advance.
If traveling from Champaign with the Illini Railroad Club (IRC), look for our carpool form so we know how many drivers we'll need. We'll get lunch and dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
Tom – agent(at)mcleandepot(dot)com
Cornfield Facebook Page
Free-Mo Groups IO (may have Cornfield dates posted)
McLean IL Directory