I think I’ve recovered from the 2024 RPM Naperville/Chicagoland event. It was a whirlwind of activity filled with people, models, and presentations held at the Northern Illinois University conference center in Naperville, Illinois.

From the Thursday evening start to the Saturday evening wrap up, all the rooms were busy. The final attendance numbers came in at about 360 people. The vendor room was humming with sales and browsing each time I wandered through. I noticed many modelers gathered in small groups to catch up on friendships, discuss projects, or map out the presentations to attend.

The core of this prototype modeler meet were the presentations. We had 36 presentations filling 69 time slots at the 2024 Railroad Prototype Modeler (RPM) Naperville conference. Many of the presentations were repeated so modelers could plan their schedules.

Documents from the 2024 RPM Naperville have been uploaded to the completed program page. Several PDF files of presentation data are available along with the event schedule and more.

Steve Hile displayed a tribute to Martin Lofton, the RPM Naperville founder. It was 30 years ago when Martin hosted the first RPM events in conjunction with his Sunshine Models resin kit line. The idea has come a long way since that 1994 event. We tip our hat to Martin for starting up and rolling with these events for several years.

There are now twenty different prototype modeler meets held annually, across North America. The RPM Calendar is a handy resource to find an event near you.

I lost count of the models on display. There were at least 500 spread out on tables in a couple of rooms. HO scale models were the most numerous, but there were quite a few fine N scale models along with more O and S scale models than what I’ve seen at recent RPM events. I snapped many photos and uploaded them to the 2024 RPM Naperville/Chicagoland gallery.

I didn’t get to capture everyone’s models. Heck, I displayed nine models and didn’t even snap a photo of those! Did I mention it was a whirlwind of activity?

The Mod-U-Trak group displayed large HO and N scale sectional layouts featuring amazing modeling. People were buzzing around these all through the event. The number of models on both layouts could easily push the overall total above 1,000 models displayed.

With the dust settled, the RCW minions have a couple months to catch their breath before planning the 2025 event. Bonnie and Frank Hodina, Steve Hile, Jerry Hamsmith, Mike Skibbe, Eric Hansmann, Bob Kosic and the entire Mod-U-Trak crew thank you for attending.

Mark your calendars for October 16-18, 2025, for the next RPM Naperville at the NIU conference center!

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