The project to remodel a section of the HO Gauge layout at Sun City’s Kishwaukee Valley & Eakin Creek Model Railroad Club began in late fall of 2024.
David Applegate, Club Member and project coordinator, said, “Club President Dale Svoboda, then the vice president, observed that no new buildings had been built in many years and that visitors would ask from time to time if any part of the layout represented a real town.” The layout’s architecture and businesses were purposefully made to evoke 1950s America. This era represented a unique transition where steam locomotives remained in service alongside emerging diesels, allowing members to operate both with historical accuracy.
Applegate said, “Dale and other members noticed that a certain section of the layout could be modified to represent the Huntley Village Square and surrounding buildings. Dale asked some other members and me what we thought of the idea, and club member Dick Kallstrom, a retired commercial artist, prepared some initial concept sketches. At that point, several of us formed a committee, began taking photographs of Dhamer Square and environs, and took measurements of the proposed site on the layout.” Using a combination of Kallstrom’s original sketches and Google Earth satellite imagery, Applegate developed scale drawings of the town square and the surrounding blocks between Main and Coral Streets.
Applegate said, “However, translating the real world into a miniature layout required some creative selective compression; we had to strategically trim or omit parts of certain buildings to fit them perfectly within our available space.”
The search for building methods — ranging from kit-bashing to scratch-building — hit a snag when 3D printing at the local library proved too technical. The Sun City Board had approved a partnership with Huntley High School (HHS). With help from Dolores Fisher, a Sun City resident, and Nick Wedoff, School District Career and Technical Education Department Chair, the project was taken on by five students in William Deuerling’s Computer-Aided Design (CAD) class.
Deuerling said, “Four of the students were selected since they have three plus years of CAD experience and are in the independent study CAD class. The fifth student volunteered. I accepted since Conner is a responsible senior in my Advanced CAD class, and he has a distinct interest in Architectural design.”
The team of five local students, Noah Golebiewski, Pawel Krystopa, Conner Moore, Jakub Bujak, and Viggo Rzewucki, took on a challenging design project.
The students identified several major hurdles during the process, such as mathematical precision, minor details, and identifying the best starting point.
Applegate said, “The most practical way to do that was to produce scaled-down drawings, then show up in downtown Huntley with a tape measure and begin taking measurements.”
What began as a remodeling project has evolved into a hands-on technical partnership, proving that building a miniature version of Huntley Square requires the shared abilities of both its past and future generations.
