Boston Train stuff?

Any good train stuff to see in Boston MA? I don`t mean model railroad stores, I mean layouts or museums, displays, whatever?

In the city, there ain`t much. There`s the Roslindale club (Bay State Society of Model Engineers, featured in MR not that long ago) and Charley Ro`s in Malden. For freight, there is CSX`s Beacon Park yard in Allston/Brighton, along with whatever Guilford has left in Sommerville (like Boston Sand & Gravel). The Boston Museum of Science has a small exhibit of railroading models on display, but it`s not worth a special trip just to go see (MoS is a great place, just not for railroads). There are no train shops in the downtown area anymore (Eric Fuch`s is long gone). Really, the best thing to look at and for is all the rapid transit and heavy rail passenger operations going on. If you go out to Readville from 6 to 10 AM or from 4 to 7 PM, there are an average of 14 trains an hour arriving. This includes 4 commuter lines, Amtrak`s NEC, and whatever action is in the CSX freight yard at the time, all coming at you from all four points of the compass. It`s a neat experience.
Outside of the city, you have a selection of clubs: my club, the South Shore Model Railway Club in Hingham, MA, the North Shore Model Railway Club in Wakefield, MA, plus other clubs in Bolton, Taunton, Worcester, & Providence (RI).
For hobby shops that sell trains (even if you said you didn`t want them, but what the heck...), you have shops in: Scituate, Weymouth, Warren (long drive but worth it, best **** & N train shop in New England, IMHO), Norton (2x), Raynham, Seekonk, Warwick (RI), etc.
For tourist attractions, you have: Lowell`s working trolley and static B&M 0-4-0 display, Fall River`s Museum with a New Haven RDC-1, boxcar, caboose, etc. with displays across the street from the U.S.S. Massachusetts at "Battleship Cove", Cape Cod Central Railroad in Hyannis (trips and dinner train), Edaville 2` gauge, and the Newport Dinner train. Outside of MA, you have a museum in Willimantic, CT, Essex CT, Thomaston, CT, and Danbury, CT, plus the trolley museum (Seashore?). Going north you have the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington (2`), the Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME, the Maine Narrow Gauge Museum, and the Conway Scenic, etc.
For railfanning, I enjoy going to Mansfield and Attleboro to see the 150 mph Acela Express blow through, or I go to Framingham, Palmer, or Springfield to watch the CSX/Amtrak action on the old B&A. Worcester is also a good place to go, as you can catch the Providence & Worcester as well as the MBTA, Amtrak and CSX.
Hope this helps...
Paul A. Cutler III

I had heard there used to be a remarkable (read: technically sophisticated for the era) layout at MIT, but that it was to be demolished and rebuilt. What`s the status on that?

There is a comprehensive site at http://tmrc.mit.edu/ Looks like the MIT layout is alive and well but still under construction.
I was unable to access pictures under the "Progress" link but did find a bunch here: http://tmrc.mit.edu/progress/gallery/gallery.html

for World War II research, was finally torn down, to be replaced with a modern wonder. http://www.eecs.mit.edu/building/20/
The old layout was remarkable in that it had an automatic progressive block control system with cab signals, a central dispatcher, and a system display board, that was run by a system made of telephone office relays. Also one freight yard was run by a PDP-11 system. There are some pictures hiding in the description of the new system.
The MIT Model Railroad Club (TMRC) is now in a new location and is constructing a new layout. The new layout uses a modern custom-built computerized control system with a signalling bus (or two) and a computer dispatch console. It is still a work in progress, but it is operational in it`s current state. An Open House was held May 3rd. They are held twice a year. Visitors are welcome, if someone is there. Wednesday nights and Saturdays are best. Contact in advance to arrange.
For more much info see http://tmrc.mit.edu/
Dave.