It might appear to just be the boiler room insie 28 Marine Avenue in Bay Ridge, but behind a door lies a massive model railroad layout that takes up the whole room. It's the headquarters of the Bay Ridge Model Railroad Club, founded in 1947 after the merger between two groups of model train lovers that dated back to the 1930s.

"By 1949, they had their first open house where people from the neighborhood could come in and watch the trains go around, and just enjoy it," explained Arthur Stensholt, a member of the Bay Ridge Model Railroad Club.

It's a holiday tradition that sadly is coming to an end. The club's landlord told them last month the layout had to be gone by March 31, so work can be done on the building's heat and hot water system - work the landlord says cannot be done with the layout in its current spot.

Now the four remaining members of the club (there used to be more than 30 but most of them moved or passed on) are scrambling to find a way to move or at least preserve this gem. Hand-built with surplus materials from World War II, it works on a signal system designed after the one used by the old New York Central Railroad.

"Right now we are looking for someone who would be glad to take it over and continue it for future generations, so children can enjoy it forever," Stensholt said.

"If somebody were to come by and cut it up appropriately and move it somewhere where they could put it back together. But that takes a lot of money, and most people don't want to do that," said Hank Angermann, a member of the Bay Ridge Model Railroad Club.

The club has started a Go Fund Me page to raise money to help disassemble and store the layout until a new permanent home is found. The Trolley Museum of New York upstate in Kingston has expressed interest in taking it. Club members hope something works out. They don't want more than 70 years of hard work to end up in the trash. 

"To see it go into a dumpster, it would break my heart," Stensholt said.

For more infomation, visit the club's website.