2024 Meets and Events

About Our Meets and Events

The San Diego Division holds monthly meetings and events (12 times per year), every second Saturday of the month, held at various times. For your information, instead of naming our meetings, "Meetings", we call them "Meets".

• Our Meets and Events include private model railroad layout tours, Quarterly Meets (Held February, May, August, November and can include Silent Auctions, Hobo Auctions, Clinics, Show & Tell, contests, swap meets, Bingo for Trains, raffles, door prizes and food) and other events.
• To learn more about the San Diego Division, please feel free to attend one of our Meets or Events as a guest by contacting Rudy Spano, Membership Services, at (858) 761-1424, or email Rudy at membership.
  • Please provide Rudy with your first name, last name and your phone number to be a guest at one of our events. Or to join the San Diego Division, please call Rudy by phone or by email and he will assist you.
• You may also join the National Model Railroad Association on your own and the San Diego Division will be notified of your new membership status. The National Model Railroad Association has an introductory membership offer good for nine months, for $19.95 and it is called the Rail Pass.
• We welcome all National Model Railroad Association members from the Pacific Southwest Region or any other region in the world to attend any of our Meets or Events.

2024 Meets and Events

November 9, 2024, Saturday - Fall Meet at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum.

Fall Meet: The Fall Meet will take place at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum.

• Date: Saturday, November 9, 2024
  
• Time: 9:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m.
  
• Location: San Diego Model Railroad Museum, 1649 El Prado, San Diego, California 92101, in Balboa Park.
  
• Parking: There is free parking in the rear of the museum.
  
• Accessible: Yes, the San Diego Model Railroad Museum is accessible.
• Masks: Not required.
• Fall Meet Schedule:
  • 8:00 a.m. Set up.
  • 9:00 a.m. Fall Meet welcome and announcements.
  • 9:15 a.m. Clinic #1. Paul is working on finalizing the both clinics. Thank you Paul for all your generous help with setting up clinics.
    
  • 10:30 a.m. Clinic #2.
  • 11:30 a.m. Lunch. Lunch will be catered with a $10.00 donation. RSVP is required to Tim Foote at .
    • Lunch will include a sandwich, chips, water and cookie.
  • Noon: Show & Tell. Show and Tell will take place after lunch. We would like volunteers to present any type of modeling, a project they have made or are working on, for a 3-5 minute presentation. Any topic about model railroading or prototype railroading is welcome.
    • Here are some ideas for a Show & Tell presentation: You can share a new piece of rolling stock you've purchased and show its features. Or you can show and talk about a building you are working on or have completed. You can discuss how you make your scenery and the types of vendors you use. Any discussion of track, ballast, book(s), movies, electronics, lighting, DCC/Sound, DeadRail or rail fanning is always welcome.
    • When talking about the real railroad, you can talk about something concerning any real railroad whether it is historical information or present day information. In the past, our members have discuss their journeys when visiting historical railroads and museums in the United States and from around the world.
      
    • Show & Tell has an almost a limitless number of subjects that you can talk about.
    • It is recommended you take pictures of your work and put these in a file folder to use for your presentation or use Microsoft PowerPoint for your presentation. 
    • Please contact Ryan by email and let him know you'd like to participate in Show & Tell.
  • 12:30 p.m. Bingo For Trains. Bingo For Trains will take place after lunch.
    • Bingo For Trains is always a fun time and there will be great prizes.
    • Don't forget to bring cash so you can purchase one or more $5.00 bingo cards.
    • For $5.00, you get 10 bingo sheets and each sheet has 6 bingo cards per game sheet.
    • You can buy more than one packet of bingo sheets.
  • 2:00 p.m. Door Prizes: There will be Door Prizes.
  • 2:30 p.m. Museum self-guided tour. San Diego Division members are welcome to tour the San Diego Model Railroad Museum at your leisure. The museum closes at 4:00 p.m.
    
    • Club Layout Tours: The model railroad layout tours will take place around 2:30 p.m.
      • There will be guided layout tours of the San Diego Model Railroad Association's O scale 2-rail layout.
      • The La Mesa Model Railroad Club will also be hosting a tour of the club's HO scale two-story mountain model railroad layout.
• Carpooling: Help take the sting out of high gas prices and carpool with a friend.

December 14, 2024, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour,

Dinner and Holiday Party.

Model Railroad Layout Tour and the Dinner and Holiday Party.

• Date: Saturday, December 14, 2024
  

Model Railroad Layout Tour

• Model Railroad Layout Tour Time: 2:00 p.m. to 5 p.m. with Wayne Pierce.
  
• Model Railroad Layout Tour Location: The location of Wayne's On30 scale model railroad layout will be provided in our email for San Diego Division members.
• Parking: There is street parking at Wayne's house.
  
• Accessible: Unfortunately, the model railroad layout is not accessible. Apologies to everyone about this, in advance.
  
• About On30 scale: What is On30 scale model railroading? On30 scale is modeling a narrow gauge railroad in O scale (1:48) and the narrow gauge track is HO (1:87) scale track.
  • On Wayne's On30 model railroad, all the buildings, vehicles, people, scenery and roads are O scale. The track is HO (1:87) scale track.
  • However, the size of most of the rolling stock on the railroad is On3 narrow gauge with On3 couplers, and all the rolling stock have On30 trucks and wheelsets.
• About Wayne's Model Railroad Layout & Tour: Wayne's layout is a fictional On30 model railroad in the era of the 1950s to the 1970s, named the Minieton Railroad & Lumber Co.
  • The Name Of The Railroad: In 1978, the name of the railroad was originally going to be named the Mini Town Mine Railroad. But when Wayne was painting a sign for the railroad, he misspelled the railroad name and the new spelling became Minieton. Wayne liked the new name and decided to name his railroad the Minieton Railroad & Lumber Co.
    • The railroad is based on the fictional Minieton Railroad & Lumber Co. purchasing a defunct section of one of the railroad lines, in 1952, from the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (1870-1992) and then the Minieton Railroad continued railroad operations on this line into the 1970s.
  • Steam Locomotives: You'll find that all of the locomotives on the layout are steam locomotives.
    • Wayne has a variety of steam locomotive models.
    • Can you determine how many different steam locomotives are on the layout?
    • Can you name each of the locomotive models? If not, ask Wayne.
    • For your information, it seems that trying to find new On30 steam locomotives is a difficult thing to do today.
  • Details: Many things on Wayne's layout are custom made, so please remember to look for the small details such as newspapers, trash, boxes, garbage cans, pizza boxes, doughnut boxes, Amazon packages and there is much, much more.
    • Remember to look at the power lines on the telephone poles. Ask Wayne to show you the power lines and ask him the name of the power line brand.
  • Modeling: Wayne's layout has a small town, industries, railroad yards, an engine house, a turntable, tunnels, trestles, sidings, industry spurs and more.
    • Make sure to look at the weathering on trains, buildings, vehicles and roads.The buildings are either kits or are built board by board.
  • Scenes: In addition, be sure to look for small scenes that he's made on the layout, such as men working at re-roof a building. Can you find this building? How many scenes can you find on his layout? There is road construction scenes, home scenes and a photographer scene. How many scenes can you find?
  • DCC & Sound: Wayne uses DCC/Sound and NCE Power Cabs to control the locomotives. DCC means Digital Command Control and the Digital Command Control Wikipedia web page is located here online.
    • According to the DCC Wikipedia web page, "Digital Command Control (DCC) is a standard for a system for the digital operation of model railways that permits locomotives on the same electrical section of track to be independently controlled." What this means is that each locomotive (and sometimes rail cars) have computers (called decoders) inside of them to control the locomotives.
    • Having computers inside the locomotives allows very realistic slow and incremental movement of the locomotives.
    • When speakers are added to a locomotive, the sound typically is very realistic and makes model railroading even more fun. In addition, a rail car such as an air conditioned refrigerator rail car or passenger car might have a computer and speakers inside to make realistic sounds of that car.
      
  • Operation Sessions: The railroad was also originally designed as a modeling layout only, with one or two continuous loops. After talking with several model railroad friends, Wayne changed his layout to be designed for Operations Sessions.
    • Operation Sessions is when a model railroad is run like the real railroad.
    • Be sure to ask Wayne what type of system he uses for his Operation Sessions.

Dinner and Holiday Party

• Dinner Time: 5:00–9:00 p.m.
• Restaurant & Location: Jimmy's Restaurant, 9635 Mission Gorge Road, Santee, California 92071
  
• Parking: There is free parking at the restaurant.
  
• Accessible: Yes, the restaurant is accessible.
  
• Masks: Masks are not required.
• Dinner at Jimmy's Restaurant: The menu for Jimmy's Restaurant is here online. The menu has a wide variety of food.
  
  • Since 1977, Jimmy's Restaurant has been a Santee neighborhood restaurant and gathering place. The restaurant serves homemade classic American comfort dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
  • The restaurant has been recently renovated and has a very pleasant and relaxed atmosphere.
  • Breakfast includes eggs any style, Steak & Eggs, Corned Beef Hash & Eggs, Polish Sausage & Eggs, Pork Chops & Eggs, Texas Scramble, Biscuits & Gravy, waffles, pancakes, Breakfast Skillets, omelettes, sides and much more.
    • Breakfast is served all day long.
  • The lunch menu includes soup, salad, chili, burgers, Chicken & Waffles, Half Pound Signature Sandwiches, sides and more.
    • Lunch is served all day.
  • The dinner menu includes soup, salads, Prime Rib Dinner, Beef Stroganoff, Homemade Meatloaf, Country Fried Steak, Angus Rib-Eye Steak, Turkey, Lemon Chicken, Angus Sirloin, Pork Chops, Salmon, Grilled Cod, Broasted Chicken, Fish & Chips, sides and more.
  • Beverages include fountain drinks, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, milkshakes and juice. Liquor is also served at the restaurant.
• Holiday Party: There will be an Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest, Reindeer Games and a gift exchange at Jimmy's Restaurant. The dinner and the holiday games make for a very festive time for everyone.  
  • Ugly Sweater Contest: To be part of this contest, please wear your ugliest Christmas sweater – there will be a prize for the ugliest sweater!
    • In the past, there have been some very creative sweaters.
    • Some of the sweaters are store bought, some are custom made and some have been a little bit of both!
  • Reindeer Games: There will be several games.
    • One game is a fun trivia game that everyone participates in. The trivia questions will be about the December holidays, model railroading and prototype railroads.
    • Another game is a stocking guessing game. That is, try to figure out what is inside the stocking without looking inside.
      
    • Be sure to bring your thinking cap to the Holiday Party because you might win a contest prize!
  • Gift Exchange:
    • Model Railroaders: Please bring a wrapped, non-scale specific railroad item ($20 limit) for gift exchange.
    • Partners: Please bring a wrapped non-rail gift ($20 limit) for gift exchange. If you are both model railroaders, then both may bring a wrapped, non-scale specific railroad item.
• Carpooling: Help take the sting out of high gas prices and carpool with a friend.

Meets and Events for 2025

January 11, 2025, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: The new year will be kicked off with Dick Trotter's HO scale model railroad layout. This is a fantastic layout. If you've never seen Dick's model railroad layout tour or haven't seen it in a while, it will be worth every minute of time while visiting his model railroad.

• Date: Saturday, January 11, 2025.
  
• Time: Noon-3 p.m.
  
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Parking: There is on street parking and you'll enter the property through the driveway.
• Accessible: Unfortunately, the model railroad layout is not accessible.
• Masks: Not required.

February 8, 2025, Saturday - Winter Meet.

Winter Meet: Details for the Winter Meet to be determined.

• Date: Saturday, February 8, 2025.
  
• Time: To be determined.
  
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Parking: There is free parking.
  
• Lunch: Lunch will be provided or it will be a pot luck.
• Activities: Show & Tell, clinics, door prizes and more.
• Accessible: Yes, the facility is accessible.
• Masks: Not required.

March 8, 2025, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Winter Meet: The HO scale model railroad layout tour will be hosted by Tim Foote.

• Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025.
  
• Time: Noon-3 p.m.
  
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Lunch: Tim will be providing hot dogs and drinks.
• Parking: There is on street parking and you'll enter the property through the driveway.
• Accessible: Unfortunately, the model railroad layout is not accessible.
  
• Masks: Not required.

April 12, 2025, Saturday - Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: This Z scale (1:220) model railroad module layout tour will be hosted by David Lancaster. This will be the first time David has provided a model railroad layout tour for the San Diego Division. We are looking forward to his model railroad layout tour.

• Date: Saturday, April 12, 2025.
  
• Time: Noon-3 p.m. (This time to be finalized at a later date.)
  
• Location: San Diego County
• Parking: There is on street parking and you'll enter the property through the driveway.
• Accessible: To be determined.
  
• Masks: Not required.

May 10, 2025, Saturday - Spring Meet.

Spring Meet: Details of the Meet will be finalized later in 2025.

• Date: Saturday, May 10, 2025.
  
• Time: To be determined.
  
• Location: North County Model Railroad Society in Oceanside.
  
• Parking: There is free parking.
• Lunch: Lunch will be provided or it will be a pot luck.
• Activities: Show & Tell, clinics, door prizes and more.
• Accessible: Yes, the facility is accessible.
• Masks: Not required.

June 14, 2025, Saturday - Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: The model railroad layout tour will be hosted by Justin Rasas with multiple modules and scales. His one module is an On30 Foam Only Module Approach, also known as FOMA. This will be a very interesting model railroad layout tour.

• Date: Saturday, June 14, 2025.
  
• Time: Noon-3 p.m. (This time to be finalized at a later date.)
  
• Location: San Diego County.
• Parking: There is on street parking and you'll enter the property through the driveway.
• Accessible: To be determined.
  
• Masks: Not required.

July 12, 2025, Saturday - Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: This HO scale model railroad layout tour is almost confirmed.

• Date: Saturday, July 12, 2025.
  
• Time: Noon-3 p.m. (This time to be finalized at a later date.)
  
• Location: San Diego County.
• Parking: There is on street parking and you'll enter the property through the driveway.
• Accessible: To be determined.
  
• Masks: Not required.

August 9, 2025, Saturday - Summer Meet.

Summer Meet: Details of the Summer Meet will be determined at a later date.

• Date: Saturday, August 9, 2025.
  
• Time: To be determined.
  
• Location: Linda Vista.
  
• Parking: There is free parking in the church's parking lot
  
• Lunch: Lunch will be provided or it will be a pot luck.
• Activities: Show & Tell, clinics, door prizes and more.
• Accessible: Yes, the facility is accessible.
• Masks: Not required.

September 2025, Saturday - PSR Cajon Convention

PSR Convention: This is the Pacific Southwest Region (PSR) Cajon National Model Railroad Convention. Details will be determined at a later date.

• Date: September 2025.
  
• Time: To be determined.
  
• Location: Orange County
  
• Parking: To be determined
• Activities: Clinics, model railroad layout tours, prototype tours, contests and more.
• Accessible: Yes, the facility is accessible.
• Masks: Not required.

October 11, 2025, Saturday - Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: This HO scale model railroad layout tour will be hosted by Gene Forbes. This will be the first time that Gene has provided a model railroad layout tour for the San Diego Division. We are looking forward to his model railroad layout tour.

• Date: Saturday, October 11, 2025.
  
• Time: Noon-3 p.m. (This time to be finalized at a later date.)
  
• Location: San Diego County.
• Parking: There is on street parking and you'll enter the property through the driveway.
• Accessible: To be determined.
  
• Masks: Not required.

November 8, 2025, Saturday - Fall Meet.

Fall Meet: Details of the Fall Meet will be determined at a later date.

• Date: Saturday, November 8, 2025.
  
• Time: To be determined.
  
• Location: San Diego Model Railroad Museum.
  
• Parking: There is free parking behind the museum.
  
• Lunch: Lunch will be provided or it will be a pot luck.
• Activities: Show & Tell, clinics, door prizes and more.
• Accessible: Yes, the facility is accessible.
• Masks: Not required.

December 13, 2025, Saturday - Model Railroad Layout Tour, Dinner and Holiday Party.

Model Railroad Layout Tour, Dinner and Holiday Party: Details of the Model Railroad Layout Tour, Dinner and the Holiday Party to be determined at a later date.

• Date: Saturday, December 13, 2025.
  
• Time: To be determined.
  
• Location: El Cajon and Santee
  
• Parking: There is free parking on street parking for the layout tour and free parking in the restaurant's parking lot.
  
• Accessible: No and yes. The model railroad layout is not accessible. I apologize in advance. Yes, the restaurant is accessible.
• Masks: Not required.

Meets and Events for 2026

Note:

We have already begun scheduling model railroad layout tours for 2026. If you have a model railroad that you'd like to provide a tour for the San Diego Division in 2026, please let the webmaster know. We have months and days of March 14, June 13, July 11 and October 10, 2026 open for model railroad layout tours. Thank you.

January 11, 2026, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: The new year will be kicked off with Duncan McRee's HO scale dead rail model railroad layout. This will be a fascinating and unique layout tour due to the dead rail component (and some other unique details) of the layout.

• Date: Saturday, January 11, 2026.
  
• Time: Noon-3 p.m.
  
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Parking: There is on street parking and you'll enter the property through the driveway.
• Accessible: Yes, the model railroad layout is accessible.
• Masks: Not required.

April 11, 2026, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: Joel Shank will be hosting two model railroad layout tours for April 2026. Joel has two model railroad layouts. One railroad is the Rio Grande Southern Railroad narrow gauge Sn3 scale 32' X33' museum quality layout which is located in a 1,500 square foot air conditioned building. The other model railroad layout is HO scale and is located in an air conditioned intermodal container. This will be a very fun-filled and exciting model railroad hobby day. It will be worth it to plan now for this model railroad tour in advance, so you don't miss it.

• Date: Saturday, April 11, 2026.
  
• Time: 11 a.m. -3 p.m. (or later).
  
• Location: Imperial County.
  
• Lunch: 11:00 a.m. We will meet for lunch at a local Brawley diner at 11:00 a.m. and then proceed to the model railroad layouts. The tour is set up to have lunch first, allowing everyone to stretch their legs after the long drive from San Diego to Brawley, have a bite to eat and then use the facilities before moving on to the layout tours.
• Rail fanning: You can rail fan before and/or after the layout tours. There are several areas to rail fan. There is standard gauge and narrow gauge rail fanning available to you.
• Parking: There is on street parking and you'll enter the property through the driveway.
• Accessible: To be determined.
  
• Masks: Not required.

Past Meets and Events of 2024

January 13, 2024, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: The new year will be kicked off with a very nice prototypical HO scale model railroad layout tour provided by Jay and it is located in Fallbrook. The model railroad is called the Friant Branch. The city of Friant is located north of Fresno, California, USA. The era of the layout is 1953.

Jay hasn't had a model railroad layout tour at his house for many years. We are very privileged to be invited to his home to view his highly detailed and beautiful model railroad layout. The location of Jay's house will be sent to San Diego Division members several days prior to the layout tour.

• Date: Saturday, January 13, 2024
  
• Time: Noon-3 p.m.
  
• Location: San Diego County
  
• Parking: There is on street parking and you'll enter the property through the driveway.
• Accessible: Unfortunately, the model railroad layout is not accessible.
• Masks: Not required.
• More about Jay and the Friant Branch. Jay started model railroading from around age 8 to 10. He started with Lionel trains and then eventually moved to HO scale model railroading.
  
  • An Avid Model Railroader: Jay who is an avid model railroader who kit bashes rail cars, kit bashes structures, scratch builds structures, builds resin kit rail cars and more.
    
  • The Railroad: The Friant Branch was started in 2003 and is the third model railroad layout designed and built by Jay. All locomotives on the railroad layout are Southern Pacific. There is about 120 feet of main track, plus the sidings, storage tracks, a railroad yard and staging tracks. The layout is 90% complete.
  • Point To Point Railroad: The Friant Branch is a point-to-point model railroad that begins at Fresno, the next station is Las Palmas, then to Clovis, to Rockfield and ending at Friant.
  • Era of the Railroad: The era of the railroad is 1953.
  • Details: When visiting the layout, please be sure to notice the train depots, oil dealers, a farm, stock pens, an orchard, wineries, an all metal gravel loader, two turntables, an ice company with an adjacent ice deck, a cotton company, a junk yard, a fruit packing company, a lumber company, warehouses, a gas station, a dried fruit company, a restaurant, an iron works company, an automobile repair station, homes and more. Be sure to take notice of the many long roads modeled on the layout. Modeling long roads is something that can be easily overlooked by a model railroader. Another important point is to notice the many vehicles on the layout. Many vehicles are from Classic Model Works or Oxford.
  • Controlling The Locomotives: The locomotives are is controlled by Digital Command Control (DCC) and Sound using NCE Power Cabs for the throttles.
  • Operation Sessions: The model railroad layout has been made for Operation Sessions and can take from two to three hours for an Operations Session event to take place. Waybills are used for the Operation Sessions.
• Carpooling: Help take the sting out of high gas prices and carpool with a friend.
• Follow-up: 22 people attended!! The new year certainly started out strong with Jay's model railroad layout tour. Everyone stated it was certainly a nice drive to the layout with the day being sunny with very little clouds. Members of the San Diego Division and Cajon Division enjoyed talking with Jay and about model railroading.
  • The model railroad layout was new to many of our members but there were also some members who had seen Jay's model railroad layout years ago when the layout had just been started and were very happy to see the railroad layout almost completed. New friendships were made and old friendships were rekindled. Lots of model railroading was discussed with Jay.
  • In addition to the model railroad layout discussions, there were other discussions taking place between members including talking to railroad engineers about the real railroad, talking about new HO model trains just purchased, to different scales that people model, to joking around, to rolling stock standards and more.

February 10, 2024, Saturday - Winter Meet.

Winter Meet: Get ready for the Winter Meet! Please remember to mark the date on your calendars. The Winter Meet for 2024 will have a Silent Auction, Show and Tell, two clinics, Achievement Program evaluations and door prizes.

• Date: Saturday, February 10, 2024
  
• Time: 9 a.m.–noon
  
• Location: San Diego S-Gaugers Club at the Grossmont Center Mall, Suite 304, 5500 Grossmont Center Drive, La Mesa, California, USA.
  
• Parking: Parking is free.
• Lunch: No lunch will be provided. What some members do, is after the Meet, they will enjoy a lunch at one of the many restaurants at the mall.
• Accessible: Yes, the building is accessible. 
• Masks: Optional.
  
• Layout Tour: Self-guided layout tour of the S-Gaugers model railroad layout. Be sure to ask the S-Gaugers any questions you have about their model railroad and club.
  
• Silent Auction: There will be a Silent Auction where every Division member can bring an unlimited number of items to sell. Note: The Division will be assessing a 10% fee off the grand total of what you make at the auction.
  • Please remember that all items you have for the auction must be related to model railroading and/or the real railroad. You can bring things such as rolling stock kits, used rolling stock, new rolling stock, books, railroad memorabilia, posters, pins and anything else you would like to sell.
  • Every item at the Silent Auction will have a bidding card. The person selling the item will list the starting price of the item. Then anyone can bid on that item by writing their name and bid amount. Whoever has the highest bid amount at the end of the auction, wins the item.
• Show & Tell: This is a time to bring a project or model and show off your model railroading work or discuss any topic about model railroading. You can also talk about something concerning any real railroad, either historical or present day information. Most people keep their presentation to about five minutes. We would like several people to participate in the Show & Tell portion of the Spring Meet. Please contact Ryan and let him know you'd like to participate in Show & Tell.
• Clinic 1: BlueRail Trains. David Rees, founder of BlueRail Trains (developers of the SoundTraxx Blunami and the Bachmann EZ App), will give insight into the development, capabilities and future of direct wireless train control and how it may apply to today's hobbyist.
• Clinic 2: A DCC Steam Throttle. Kyle Jensen is a member of the La Mesa Model Railroad Club and runs his steam locomotives on the club's two-story mountain model railroad layout. The La Mesa Model Railroad Club is located inside the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, located in San Diego's famous Balboa Park.
  • Kyle controls his steam locomotives using his custom built DCC & Sound Steam Throttle. The throttle is built to physically resemble an actual steam locomotive cab, including gauges, a throttle lever, a rope to ring the bell and more.
  • Kyle will be discussing the process and problems of building the throttle. This includes 3D printing the parts, code changes and small modifications to the model that Kyle made. He describes himself as a complete amateur and is very satisfied with his throttle's operation and fun factor, including the satisfaction of building it.
    
• AP Evaluations: Please contact Rodger for Achievement Program information. Rodger will brings forms to the Winter Meet and you can bring your models for evaluation.
  
• Door Prizes: There will be Door Prizes!!
• About the San Diego S-Gaugers model train club: The S scale (1:64 scale) San Diego S-Gaugers is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit model train club that welcomes new members of all ages and skill levels. If you want to get started in model trains, this is a good club to join.
  
  • The club has a space that is 41 feet X 22 feet. The main model train layout has 24 modules, each module built by club members.
  • The club also welcomes the public to bring in their trains in storage, to see if they still run.
  • The club has a several test tracks for HO, S scale, Sn3 and O scale trains, to test your model train locomotives.
  • Members own a variety of trains from vintage toy trains to those who use the latest technology in trains.
  • The club also sells trains and accessories that are donated to the club and 100% of the selling prices goes directly back to the club to support the S scale club.
  • The club is a National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) 100% club. This means that all its members are National Model Railroad Association members.
  • Here is a big congratulations that the San Diego S-Gaugers is a NMRA 100% Club.
  • When the club is closed, the trains still run. Just push the button outside the window and the trains on all three window layouts will run for about a minute.
  • As of 2020, the club has been busy upgrading existing layout features.
    • Some of the additions include adding a sky board and building flats to the left side of the layout.
    • A Ghostbusters scene was added, Plasticville buildings added, new business section added, barber shop added, auto dealer added, the lake has upgraded and the mountain has been upgraded.
    • The Westside Lumber Sn3 layout has been upgraded and partially operational.
    • The museum walls have been decorated with new items and a painting by one of the members.
    • A farmers co-op display has been added, a Jurassic Park scene has been added, the interior of the train station has been upgraded, a super hero area has been added, a snack bar has been added and a Crispy Creme trailer has been added.
• About Grossmont Center (mall):
  • The Grossmont Center opened in 1961.
  • The mall occupies 100 acres of land.
  • It cost over $20 million USD to build the mall.
  • At the time, Grossmont Center was the largest development project in the City of La Mesa.
  • As of January 2024, the mall has a total of almost 100 stores and restaurants, 10 movie screens and more.
  • The largest stores in the mall are Macy's, Target, Walmart, CVS Pharmacy, Cost Plus World Market and RH Outlet.
  • The mall is also home to Barnes and Noble, Bath & Body Works, Hallmark, Dollar Tree, Brands Overstock, Jewelry Loft, Empire Beauty Supply, Famous Footwear and more. There is also an watch repair, phone repair, engraving service and shoe repair store.
  • The mall has 13 sit-down restaurants and cafes, has nine fast food restaurants in their food court, has 11 spa, salons and beauty stores, and there is much more.
• Shopping: Attending the layout tour is a great way to make your time count as you can also do shopping, watch a movie and/or eat out for lunch at the mall.
• Carpooling: Help take the sting out of high gas prices and carpool with a friend.
• Follow-up: Over 40 people attended the Winter Meet and the meeting had a jammed packed agenda.
  • In fact, there were so many people, they ran out of seats! There were plenty of donuts and bottled water to start out the morning.
  • The Silent Auction was a success.
  • Several people won Achievement Program awards.
  • Several people had informative Show & Tell presentations and both clinics were very well received by the club members. Here is a big thank you to David Rees for his clinic on "BlueRail Trains". And here's a big thank you to Kyle Jensen for his detailed clinic on how to make handheld "A DCC Steam Throttle" using 3D printing. His throttle looks like the engineer's controls that you would find on a steam locomotive but in miniature.
    
  • Many of us went to several different restaurants to have lunch. For the Spring Meet, we will make sure there is enough seating for everyone.

March 9, 2024, Saturday - The model railroad layout tour was cancelled.

Layout Tour: The model railroad layout tour is CANCELLED for Saturday, March 9, 2024 due to unforeseen circumstances.

• Date: Saturday, March 9, 2024
  
• Time: CANCELLED

April 13, 2024, Saturday - Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: Wayne Pierce will be providing a model railroad layout tour of his On30 museum quality model railroad layout. The layout is still under construction and lots of additions have taken place since his last layout tour in April 2022. The location of Wayne's house will be emailed to San Diego Division members several days before the event.

• Date: Saturday, April 13, 2024
  
• Time: 11 a.m.–3 p.m.
  
• Rain or Shine: The model railroad layout tour will take place rain or shine!!
• Pets: No dogs or pets of any kind are allowed. Thank you.
• Lunch: Wayne will be providing lunch during the model railroad tour for all San Diego Division members! There will be drinks, chili and possibly more!
• Parking: There is on-street parking and you'll enter through the driveway gate.
  
• Accessible: Unfortunately, the model railroad layout is not accessible.
• Masks: Not required.
• More About Wayne's Layout & Tour: Wayne's layout is a fictional On30 scale model railroad in the era of the 1950s to the 1970s, named the Minieton Railroad & Lumber Co. The railroad is based on the fictional story that the Minieton Railroad & Lumber Co. in 1952, purchased a defunct section of one of the railroad lines from the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (1870-1992) and then the Minieton Railroad continued railroad operations on this line into the 1970s.
  • What is On30 scale model railroading? On30 scale is modeling a narrow gauge railroad in O scale (1:48) and the narrow gauge track is HO (1:87) scale track.
  • On Wayne's On30 model railroad, all the buildings, vehicles, people, scenery and roads are O scale. The track is On30 gauged track. However, the size of most of the rolling stock on the railroad is On3 narrow gauge with On3 couplers and all the rolling stock have On30 trucks and wheelsets.
    
  • In 1978, the name of the railroad was originally going to be named the Mini Town Mine Railroad. But when Wayne was painting a sign for the railroad, he misspelled the railroad name and the new spelling became Minieton. Wayne liked the new name and decided to name his railroad the Minieton Railroad & Lumber Co.
  • The railroad was also originally designed as a modeling layout only, with one or two continuous loops. After talking to several model railroad friends, Wayne changed his layout so that it could be used for Operations Sessions. Be sure to ask Wayne how he runs his Operation Sessions.
    
  • The railroad was originally made with HOn3 narrow gauge scale in 1978 but was changed to On30 track in 2009. What is HOn3 scale? HOn3 narrow gauge scale means the rolling stock is HO scale but the width of the wheelsets and track are a narrow gauge, a smaller gauge than HO scale.
  • In 1989, the layout was put on hold.
  • During 2009 through 2010, Wayne moved his layout from his house to a free standing building in his backyard, resumed working on his layout and changed the scale from HOn3 to On30 narrow gauge.
    
  • You'll find that all of the locomotives on the layout are steam locomotives and Wayne has a variety of steam locomotive models. Can you determine how many different steam locomotives are on the layout? Can you name each of the locomotive models? If not, ask Wayne. For your information, it seems that trying to find new On30 steam locomotives is a difficult thing to do today.
    
  • Wayne's layout has a small town, industries, railroad yards, a turntable, engine house, tunnels, trestles, sidings, industry spurs and more.
  • Many things on Wayne's layout is custom made so remember to look for the small details such as newspapers, trash, boxes, garbage cans and there is much, much more. The buildings are all wood kits which are built board by board. Remember to look at the power lines on the telephone poles. Ask Wayne to show you the power lines and ask him the name of the power line brand. In addition, be sure to look for small scenes that he's made on the layout, such as men working to re-roof a building. Can you find the building being re-roofed on your own? How many scenes can you find on his layout? Make sure to look at the weathering on trains, buildings, vehicles and roads.
    
  • Wayne uses DCC/Sound and NCE Power Cabs to control the locomotives.
• Carpooling: Help take the sting out of high gas prices and carpool with a friend.
• Update: 32 people attended Wayne's model railroad layout tour.
  • Wayne included souvenir tickets for everyone who attended.
  • Wayne had a nice spread of food. In fact, there was plenty of food for everyone, including delicious chili, grated cheese for the chili, chips, cheese sauce for the chips, potato salad, drinks and cookies.
  • Everyone enjoyed the layout tour and many people commented on how Wayne's model railroad layout has incredible detail.
  • In addition, many people stayed and relaxed in Wayne's backyard and talked with each other.
    
  • One of our newer members at the Division brought used model railroad cars and layout material and gave it away for free. There was HO scale trains and N scale trains that he gave away to Division members. Here's a big thank you for this, Robert.
  • Before people left, Wayne also gave away Minieton Railroad & Lumber Co. souvenir coffee mugs.
  • If you missed Wayne's model railroad layout tour this year, be sure to stay tuned. Wayne might host another model railroad layout tour next year or the year after.
    

May 11, 2024, Saturday - Spring Meet.

Spring Meet: The Spring Meet will be held at the North County Model Railroad Society. Please remember to mark the date on your calendars.

The Sprint Meet for 2024 will have a Business Meeting, Show and Tell, two clinics, Achievement Program award presentations and door prizes. The North County Model Railroad Society will be holding their Swap Meet from 8:00 a.m.–noon on Saturday.

• Date: Saturday, May 11, 2024
  
• Time: 8 a.m.–3 p.m.
  
• Location: North County Model Railroad Society, 230 Peyri Drive, Oceanside, California 92057
  • Please remember, if you are looking to join a HO scale model railroad club in the North County of San Diego, this will be a good opportunity to talk to the members of the model railroad club.
    
• Parking: Free parking. Please look on Google Maps, there is a parking lot at the front and rear of the park.
  
• Food and Drinks by the North County Model Railroad Society:
  • 8:00 a.m. Complimentary coffee.
  • 9:00 a.m.–noon. Soft drinks and food.
  • The North County Model Railroad Society will be selling soft drinks, hot dogs, chips and cookies (or donuts) starting around 9:00 a.m. and at reasonable prices.
    
  • Or you can bring your own food and drinks.
• Accessible: Yes, the building is accessible.
  
• Masks: Masks are optional.
• Swap Meet: 8:00 a.m.–noon.
  
  • The Swap Meet is free for all visitors.
  • This is one of the largest model train Swap Meets in San Diego County.
    
  • The North County Model Railroad Society will have door prizes.
  • The Society will also be selling hot dogs, chips, cookies (or donuts) and drinks around 9:00 a.m. at very reasonable prices.
  • The San Diego Division will have a table at the Swap Meet as a recruiting table. If you would like to help staffing out swap meet table, please let us know on the day of the Meet. The model railroad layout is opened from 10:00 a.m.–3 p.m.
  • You may visit the the model railroad layout during the Swap Meet.
  • While some people are ready to leave the Swap Meet at noon, you are welcome to stay and talk with North County Model Railroad Society's model railroaders and visit the layout.
  • Sellers: Please RSVP here: swapinfo [AT] ncmrs [DOT] org. There is a $12.00 fee for sellers.
  • Sellers: Table set-up is at 7:00 a.m. It is best to bring your own tables to sell your items.
• Self-Guided Layout Tour: The HO scale "Inland and Southern Pacific Railroad" model railroad layout that is located inside the Train Depot building in Heritage Park.
  • The model railroad layout is opened from 10:00 a.m.–3 p.m.
  • The North County Model Railroad Society was founded in 1990 and has been in several different locations in North County. The club began construction of its current layout, in its latest home in Heritage Park, on June 18, 2014.
  • The club's railroad is a two-level layout modeling from San Diego to Oceanside, then through Temecula and ending in Colton, California. The layout includes railroad stations, railroad yards, a helix, industry spurs, many towns, multiple industries, multiple tunnels, bridges and more. The layout has nighttime capability including buildings with lighting, street lighting and has thunder and lightning effects. 
  • The club is open to the public, has Wednesday Work Nights and the layout has been designed with Operations Sessions in mind.
  • The club has regular Operations Sessions throughout the year.
  • The club invites model railroaders of all ages to join their HO scale model railroad club.
  • If you are looking to join a HO scale model railroad club, this is a good time to meet fellow model railroaders and find out more about their club and the membership fees.
• ALL SAN DIEGO DIVISION EVENTS WILL BE HELD in the "Livery" Building.
• San Diego Division Business Meeting: 10:00 a.m. at the "Livery" building.
• Clinic 1: 10:30 a.m. "Modeling Positive Train Control Rooftop Details in 2023" by Tim Harris.
  • Tim's presentation will give some ideas about what Positive Train Control (PTC) details can be found on current day locomotives. The presentation will primarily focus on BNSF Railway locomotives but will also show Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern locomotives as well. Information will be provided about what PTC antennas look like and what is available for modelling these details in HO scale.
  • BNSF Railway was a merger on September 22, 1995 between Burlington Northern Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF was often called "Santa Fe"). BNSF Railway is the largest Class 1 railroad in the United States.
  • In 2023, BNSF reported $23.8 billion (USD) in revenue and is headquartered in Forth Worth, Texas. The company has approximately 36,000 employees, 32,500 miles (52,304 km) of track, has track in 28 states, has over 13,000 bridges, 89 tunnels, over 25,000 grade crossings and has around 7,500 locomotives. The company has 1,200 trains running, on average, per day. The company has three transcontinental routes providing rail connections between the western and eastern United States.
• Show & Tell: 11:30 a.m. This is a time to bring a project or model and show off your model railroading work or discuss any topic about model railroading. You can also talk about something concerning any real railroad, either historical or present day information. Most people keep their presentation to about five minutes. We would like several people to participate in the Show & Tell portion of the Spring Meet. Please contact Ryan and let him know you'd like to participate in Show & Tell.
• Clinic 2: Noon. "Modeling Southern Pacific’s Unusual Rolling Stock" by Ryan Di Fede and Don Fowler.
  • Over the years, railroads have experimented with many types of rolling stock to improve efficiency, capacity and safety. The "Modeling Southern Pacific's Unusual Rolling Stock" presentation will take a look at some of the Southern Pacific’s unusual rail cars and paint schemes that are commercially available.
    
  • Southern Pacific Transportation Company, or Southern Pacific, was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company was acquired in 1996 by the Union Pacific Corporation and merged with their Union Pacific Railroad.
  • At the time, the railroad was operated by various companies under the names of Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific Company and Southern Pacific Transportation Company.
    
  • The Southern Pacific legacy founded hospitals in San Francisco, Tucson and Houston. In the 1970s, it also founded a telecommunications network with a state-of-the-art microwave and fiber optic backbone. This telecommunications network became part of Sprint, a company whose name came from the acronym for Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Networking Telephony.
    
• Achievement Program Contest Judging: Every Meet is an opportunity for all Division members to bring in your structures, locomotives, rail cars or modules for Rodger Gredvig and/or Wayne Pierce to evaluate. We recommend you contact Rodger and let him know you'll be bringing something to judge for the Achievement Program so that he'll make sure he has the appropriate appropriate forms to fill out.
  
• Achievement Program Awards Presentations: Rodger will making several Achievement Program presentations.
  
• Door Prizes: There will be Door Prizes!!
• Carpooling: Help take the sting out of high gas prices and carpool with a friend.
• Update: 25 people attended the 2024 Spring Meet.
  • The Swap Meet was well attended and Division members who were selling items said they sold many of their model train items. Those who were purchasing items said they received good deals at the swap meet.
    
  • National Model Railroad Association awards were given to multiple members.
  • Both clinics were very interesting and very well received. There were many questions and some discussions during both clinics.
  • Here is a big thank you to Tim Harris for his hard work making a very detailed clinic on "Modeling Positive Train Control Rooftop Details in 2023".
  • And here is a big thank you to Ryan Di Fede and Don Fowler for their "Modeling Southern Pacific’s Unusual Rolling Stock" informative presentation.
  • In addition, there were many free door prizes that were given to Division members at the end of the Meet.

June 8, 2024, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: San Diego's Shotgun Tom Kelly will be providing a tour of his HO scale model railroad layout for the San Diego Division. Shotgun's Wikipedia web page is here online.

• Date: Saturday, June 8, 2024
  
• Time: Noon-3 p.m.
  
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Parking: There is on street parking.
  
• Accessible: The model railroad layout is accessible.
• Masks: Not required.
• Model railroad layout tour: Shotgun Tom's model railroad layout is 10 feet by 7 feet and is mounted on a pool table in his garage.
  • All model railroads have unique designs and features. One of the most unusual features of Tom's railroad is the entire model railroad layout moves up and down and is stored near the ceiling. Then at Tom's command the entire railroad moves down and rests on top of a pool table when he's ready to run trains!
    
  • There is a hydraulic lift with metal cables that pulls the entire model railroad layout to the ceiling. Then Shotgun can play pool with his friends. There are lights mounted under the railroad layout so the pool table is lighted while playing pool.
  • When at Tom's house, please remember to look for the details on his model railroad layout. There is a a city with multiple businesses including a barber shop, a radio and television station (Shotgun Tom's radio and television station), a movie theater, a mountain for the TV station’s tower and transmitter, a tobacco shop, a warehouse, city office buildings, several billboards advertising Shotgun as a radio announcer, a pool hall, a water tower, a city hall, a city apartment building, a Santa Fe train station, industrial areas and more. There is also a residential area with homes.
    
  • Remember to notice the roads on the model railroad layout. Sometimes model railroaders forget to put roads, vehicles and figurines of people on their layouts. It is important for modelers is to model roads, vehicles and people because this is what the real world really has.
• Carpooling: Help take the sting out of high gas prices and carpool with a friend.
• Follow-up: Wow!!! 37 people attended Shotgun Tom's model railroad layout tour! What a fun time.
  • There were plenty of snacks, food and drinks. There was bottled water, soda, M&Ms, nuts, two types of cookies, brownies and one of the members brought 100 chicken wings! Everyone was had a good time telling stories and learning about Shotgun's model railroad layout. Shutgun had two trains running the entire time of the tour, one modern freight train with diesel electric locomotives and one steam locomotive passenger train.
  • There were several fun scenes on his layout, so if you missed the fun scenes, remember it is important to discuss the model railroad layout with the owner! Some of the scenes are a TV crew outside reporting the news, there is a funeral in a grave yard and a person (or possibly a zombie) is rising out of the casket and a women is fainting, there is a mother and child crossing the street with a police officer looking out for traffic and there's a brothel in the city with a flashing neon sign. And there are several billboards advertising Shotgun Tom. It's a fun layout.
  • Many of us were invited into Shotgun's radio studio and enjoyed learning a little bit about being a radio disc jockey. We got to see where and how the magic happens! This was very fun.
    
  • One very nice things about the San Diego Division is that every member is extremely nice and we have a wonderful comradery among our members. Our comradery of model railroaders absolutely outshines some of the more prominent model railroad clubs here in the San Diego metro area. Therefore, when our Division members visit model railroad layout tours, they typically don't just show up and then leave, our members show up, enjoy the layout, stay for a long time and talk, tell jokes, see who can tell the biggest lie and have an all-around good time.

July 13, 2024, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: John Vavra will be providing the model railroad layout tour for July. John Vavra has a wheelchair accessible HO/HOn3 model railroad, called the Santa Fe Lines, and the era is set "firmly" in 1994. More about the era of his railroad, below. John also has prototype railroad memorabilia that everyone can enjoy and is displayed in his garage.

• Date: Saturday, July 13, 2024.
  
• Time: Noon-3 p.m.
  
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Parking: There is on-street parking.
  
• Accessible: The model railroad layout is accessible.
  
• Masks: Not required.
• More about John's model railroad.
  • John's Start in the Hobby: Like many people in the hobby, John started with larger scale trains in his childhood. John's father had an S scale American Flyer train set that his father would set up for several weeks each year and it would be boxed up for the remainder of the year. Eventually, John would bring out his father's trains more than once a year. Then at one point in his youth, John and his older brother visited a beautiful HO scale model railroad layout and that changed the course of John's hobby and changed his scale to HO scale and also got more serious about the hobby. Eventually, he added HOn3 scale to model, as well.
    
  • The Beginning of the Railroad, How it is Going: John started his layout in 1997 and his model railroad layout is still under construction is about 85-90% complete. By the way, John's current model railroad layout is his fifth layout.
  • Era Of Layout: The era of the his railroad is 1994, that last year before the pre-BNSF merger. While the era of his railroad is set in 1994, John will deviate from his era anytime he wishes being a big believer in artistic license. "My railroad, my rules" is his mantra.
    
  • Location of the Railroad: The location of the railroad is loosely based in Arizona and Colorado, USA. The cities modeled on the layout are Flagstaff, Arizona and then going northeast, he models the cities of Durango and then Silverton which are both located in Colorado.
  • Standard Gauge: The standard gauge portion of John's railroad is based on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. John's layout has two continuous main track loops for HO scales trains.
    Narrow Gauge: The narrow gauge railroad is loosely based on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) (the link is to the official website) located in Colorado. His narrow gauge line is a point to point railroad line with return loops at each end. And because the era of the layout is 1994, John is modeling the narrow gauge railroad as it was in 1994, as a tourist attraction using only steam locomotives pulling passenger rail cars.
  • Grades: The maximum grade for the Santa Fe Lines is 2.2% and the maximum grade for the Durango and Silverton is a 2.5% grade. The Sante Fe main tracks are 150 feet (2.5 HO scale miles) and the length of the Durango and Silverton main track is 100 feet (1.65 HOn3 scale miles).

  

  • Controlling The Locomotives: John uses Digital Command Control (DCC) & Sound with MRC Prodigy Elite Wireless to control his locomotives.
  • Structures: If you notice, there are many buildings on the model railroad layout. Most of the buildings are not only detailed on the outside but are also are detailed on the inside. Ask John his method he uses to detail the interior of his buildings. Many of the names of the businesses are named after friends, family and former business associates. Some restaurants and stores are the actual names of businesses found in each city. The street lights are also lighted. The railroad can be run with night operations.
  • Scenes: Looking carefully at the layout, there are multiple scenes of people and animals in the mountain areas. Also, many people scenes are located in the residential areas and downtown areas of the layout. Can you find the dog and the dog's house, a husband and wife in an argument and the bread delivery man who dropped a box of bread?
  • Benchwork: The height of the benchwork is between 39" to 54". The aisleways were redesigned and recessed to allow wheelchair access. All the electronic circuit boards are hidden and have been put on hinges so you don't have to crawl under the layout to work on the electronics. Having your electronics on hinged panels is an innovative and very practical way to mount electronics under the layout.
  • Building the Layout: John has built everything on his layout from the benchwork, to the electronics, to the buildings, the roads, mountains, ponds, small lakes, creeks, waterfalls, the ground and the scenery. He has kitbashed buildings as well as scratch built buildings. He has over 400 trees on the layout and uses a variety of trees. He also has weathered almost all his locomotives and rail cars. He continuously has many small other projects he works on every week.
    
  • Trackwork: For his HO scale railroad, he uses Atlas Code 83 super-flex track. He uses Shinohara No. 8 and No. 6 turnouts. For his narrow gauge railroad, he uses a combination of Sinohara flextrack and some Micro Engineering track, all Code 70 track and uses Shinohara No. 6 turnouts.
    
  • Model Railroader Magazine Article: John's Santa Fe Lines model railroad was featured in the December 2021 Model Railroad magazine with a Santa Fe #5259 diesel-electric locomotive featured on the front cover. A copy of his magazine will be available at the model railroad layout tour and all members are welcome to read John's article while at the tour.
    
  • The Newly Installed Town of Silverton: John has been diligently and relentlessly working on the town of Silverton starting in October 2023. The town was installed on the railroad in May 2024. Make sure to ask John about how he built the city of Silverton, you might be interested in the electrical features of this fun town.
    
  • Canyon Diablo and Railroad Bridge Project: John's last major project is the massive Canyon Diablo and railroad bridge. This is going to be huge project because the bridge is 220 feet above the canyon floor and stretches for 544 feet from one side of the canyon to the other. On July 1, 1882, the first train passed over the Canyon Diablo railroad trestle bridge near Two Guns, Arizona. The current Canyon Diablo steel arched railroad bridge was built in 1947. The bridge remains a popular spot for railfans.
    
  • Where's Smokey? Don't forget to look for Smokey.
    
  • Editor's Note: Second Model Railroad Layout Tour. I highly recommend you don't miss John's model railroad layout tour. This will be John's second model railroad layout tour, so if you missed his first layout tour, this will be an excellent opportunity to see his model railroad layout and discuss the hobby with John. Don't forget to take pictures of the railroad and be ready to ask John any questions you may about about his modeling and his railroad.
• Carpooling: Help take the sting out of high gas prices and carpool with a friend.
• Follow-Up: John's model railroad layout tour was a big success! This was a well attended tour with a total of 37 visitors!!! Everyone enjoyed visiting with John and seeing all the details and scenes on his railroad. John's layout room was packed with visitors almost the entire time. Many of us sat in John's garage, had a look at his prototype souvenirs, talked to each other about model railroading and the real railroad, and a good time was had by all. The weather was very nice with a typical clear sky and a sunny Southern California day. Also, John provided lots of drinks and snacks for everyone.
  

August 4-11, 2024, Sunday-Sunday - Surfliner 2024 NMRA National Model Train Convention.

NMRA National Model Train Convention: The SurfLiner 2024 NMRA National Convention is being held in Long Beach, California, USA.

• Date: Sunday-Sunday, August 4-11, 2024
  
• Location: Long Beach, California, USA.
  
• Accessible: Yes.
  
• Masks: Not required.
• Hotel: The hotel for the convention is the Westin Long Beach and is in downtown Long Beach. The Westin Long Beach is two blocks from the beach, harbor and pier. It is directly across the street from Center for Performing Arts.
  
• Clinics: There will be more than 100 clinics consisting of on-site presentations by local model railroaders, nationally recognized “Master Model Railroaders” and virtual presentations by clinicians around the world will be available. Clinics will cover the history of railroading in Southern California (Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and others) and the Southern California citrus industry. There will also be clinics on basic and advanced model railroading, backdrop painting and methods, along with electronics and animation, battery powered model railroading (Dead Rail), layout planning, layout design, scenery techniques and more.
• Layout Tours: There are many model railroad layout tours and here is a list from the Surfliner's website as of June 4, 2024.
  • California Southern Model Railroad Club – HO  scale
  • Highland Park Society of Model Railroad Engineers – HO, HOn3  scale
  • Christmas Tree Lane Model Railroad Society - HO, HOn3, G  scale
  • Pasadena Model Railroad Museum – HO  scale
  • Joel Morse’s New York, Ontario & Western – N  scale
  • James Middleton’s SP, UP, and SF California – HO  scale
  • Vic Thies’ Too Much Fun Railroad – G  scale
  • Morrie Fleishman’s Texas & Viejo RR – HO  scale
  • Morrie Fleishman’s Mitchell Falls & Staunton RR – F  scale
  • Todd Brody’s Tortoise & Lizard Bash Railroad – G  scale
  • John Gornick’s Tower Junction Railroad: DM&IR RR – HO  scale
  • Jeff Traintime’s Northern Division of Milwaukee Road – HO  scale
  • L.A. Live Steamers – MULTIPLE  scaleS / GAUGES
  • Santa Susana Pacific Model Railroad Society – HO  scale
  • Gary Butts’ Gary & Sandy Railroad – HO  scale
  • Don Julien’s DJ&C Railroad – HO  scale
  • David Sheegog’s Castle Peak & Thunder Railroad Society – G  scale
  • Gary Johnson’s Johnson Railroad – G  scale
  • Harold Benash’s PD Lines – HO  scale
  • Marty Bradley’s Oakhurst Railroad – HO, G  scale
  • Ron Varnell’s Any Era Western Railroad – HO  scale
  • Frank Kenny’s CPRX Central Pacific Railway – N  scale
  • Los Angeles Model Railroad Society – HO  scale
  • Belmont Shore Model Railroad Club – N  scale
• Prototype Tours: The Surfliner 2024 convention currently has prototype tours of the Los Angeles Union Station, The Southern California Railway Museum, Travel Town Museum Rail Giants Train Museum, Metro Rail Fleet Services Facility, and self-guided tours of the Tehachapi Loop and the Cajon Pass.
• Please see the Surfliner 2024 website for more information.
• Please remember that all clinics, model railroad layout tours and prototype tours are subject to change.

September 14, 2024, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: Chuck Molnar will be providing the model railroad layout tour for September. Chuck models a prototypical portion of a narrow-gauge line of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad which served the towns of Durango to Ridgway, in Colorado, USA. The part of the Rio Grande Southern he models is from Ridgway to Rico. The scale of the layout is HOn3.

• Date: Saturday, September 14, 2024.
  
• Time: 10:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Parking: There is on-street parking.
  
• Accessible: The model railroad layout is not accessible.
• Masks: Not required.
• More about the model railroad layout.
  • The Concept: Rio Grande Southern was in business from 1891 to 1952 and is known as as one of the most rugged and iconic narrow-gauge mountain railroads in Colorado, USA. The railroad spanned approximately 162 miles and went over four mountain passes on steep grades. Construction of the railroad started at both ends of the railroad, starting at Ridgway and Durango.The railroad began construction in 1890 and was completed in two years on December 12, 1891.
    
  • Main Reference Books: The main reference books that Chuck uses for his railroad are 1) The R.G.S. Story: Rio Grande Southern - Vol. I-XII., Collman, Russ, and Dell A. McCoy, Sundance Publications and 2) The Silver San Juan, The Rio Grande Southern, Mallory Hope Ferrell, Pruett Publishing Co.
  • Name Of The Railroad: The name of Chuck's railroad is the Rio Grande Southern.
  • The Gauge: The railroad is a HOn3 narrow-gauge model railroad.
    
  • The Making Of: The initial planning of Chuck's Rio Grande Southern began in 1997. Major benchwork was also started in 1997 and progressed over several years. The layout began in Carlsbad in a family home, in a three car garage. The layout was then cut into sections and put into storage for several months in 2005. Later, the layout was moved to a new location near the coast and then reassembled in a purpose-built free-standing building for his railroad and modeling. The total area of the building is 26' X 24' (feet) including the model train workshop. The size of the layout is 18' X 20', the aisles are 2' X 6' and the workshop is an area of 8' X 13'.
    • Interestingly, very little damage was done to the layout during the move because the benchwork was strengthened before the move. In 2006, major work was restarted by putting the sections back together, making the layout slightly bigger than it was in Carlsbad and then improving the electrical work. The layout, in terms of all the track work and scenery, was finished in 2021. As of 2024, the model railroad layout is about 95% complete.

  

  • The Era and Cities: The era of the layout is between 1890-1953. The part of the Rio Grande Southern he models is from Ridgway to Rico. The towns he models on his railroad include Ridgway, Placerville, Ophir and Rico. There are multiple types of structures and are based prototype pictures in the railroad history books. There are also mountain ranges, rivers, creeks, lakes, trestles, trees and other scenery on the model railroad. Name plates of locations and even elevation are located throughout the fascia of the benchwork.
  • An Avid Modeler. Chuck started in the hobby when he was eight and has made about a half a dozen layouts in his lifetime. It is interesting to note that Chuck has built everything on his current model railroad layout, this includes but is not an inclusive list, the benchwork, electrical systems, scenery, buildings, trestles, track, switches, painting, weathering and the model train workbench. All the trestles on the railroad were designed by Chuck and were hand-built. All the buildings are made from kits, are kit-bashed, scratch built or made using board-by-board kits. Chuck is continually upgrading his railroad with new structures, track work and more.
  • Track Work: Please note that all the track and switches are hand-laid using Fast Track jigs and tools for building switches. For the track work, Chuck used Micro Engineering rails and spikes. The ties were purchased from the Mt. Albert Scale Lumber Company located in Canada.
    
  • Powering The Locomotives: The layout is designed for walk around control using DCC & Sound using NCE Pro Cabs. (Editor's note. All of Chuck's steam locomotives have sound and working LED lighting. Not only are the front lights working but back-up LED lights installed on the tenders are working, that is, if the prototype had a back-up light.)
    
  • Operation Sessions: The railroad has been made for Operations Sessions. The exact details of his Operations Sessions are still in the planning for Chuck's model railroad layout.
    
  • Webmaster Note 1: Ash Pit. Chuck recently added an ash pit under one section of the railroad tracks. Can you can find this new addition to his railroad? How many model railroaders that you know, have modeled an ash pit for steam locomotives? Have you ever seen a model railroad club that models an ash pit? This is something to think about, for those model railroaders who love the steam era of the railroad. This is a very nice prototypical detail and scene.
    
  • Webmaster Note 2: This Is A Model Railroad Layout Tour You Don't Want To Miss. Chuck provided a previous layout tour for the San Diego Division in June 2022. Since then, he has made many upgrades to his model railroad layout, including adding new structures and adding new track. Please mark your calendars for Saturday, September 14, 2024. This will be an excellent opportunity for you to see his better than museum quality model railroad layout. This will also be an excellent time to ask Chuck any questions you have about his layout and about the hobby.
    
• Carpooling: Help take the sting out of high gas prices and carpool with a friend.
• Update: Wow!!! What a fantastic and beautiful day! We had a total of 22 guests visiting Chuck's private model railroad layout. Everyone had a great time visiting with Chuck and seeing his better than museum quality narrow gauge model railroad layout. There were drinks and snacks for everyone. Many of us spent time talking with each other outside, in his resort-like yard, to catch up with what everyone was doing in the model train hobby.

October 12, 2024, Saturday - Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Event: Ryan Di Fede will be providing a model railroad layout tour of his N scale Southern Pacific Railroad's Cascade Line.

• Date: October 12, 2024
  
• Time: 9:00 - noon.
  
• Location: San Diego County. The webmaster will send out a reminder email about two weeks in advance of the event. Then two days in advance of the event, the webmaster will send out another reminder email with Ryan's address.
  
• Parking: There is on street parking.
  
• Accessible: Unfortunately, the railroad is not accessible. Apologies to everyone about this, in advance.
  
• Masks: Not required.
  
• More about Ryan's model railroad layout:
  • The Railroad: Ryan established the Southern Pacific Railroad's Cascade Line N scale model railroad in 2009.
    • The railroad is based in Eugene, Oregon (USA) through to the east, to the Cascade Summit. The main town on the layout is Oakridge, Oregon which was home base to helpers for trains heading up the “Hill” to the Cascade mountains.
    • The railroad is prototypical to a point and then artistic license is also in play with the model railroad layout.
  • The Era: The era for the railroad is 1954. This means that he can have anything on his railroad that is from 1954 and decades prior. No buildings, vehicles or trains on his railroad can be from any year that is later than 1954.
    
  • The Research: Ryan has traveled to Oregon and has done extensive research, including interviewing local people and railroad employees to make his layout as prototypical as possible.
    • An important point when modeling a real area is to take as many pictures as possible and either print them or have them available on a computer or some device so its easy to reference them.
    • Hint: You can also make an album of pictures and keep it (or keep several albums) near your railroad so your reference material is close by and no computer or electronic device is necessary to reference the pictures.
    • This is an inspiration to all model railroaders who want to add realism to their own model railroad layouts.
      
  • Details Of The Railroad: The model railroad layout has a number of industries, a hotel, urban buildings and more.
    
    • The railroad also has lumber based industries, furniture factory, an oil storage facility, a gas station, a restaurant, railroad station houses, an animal coral, an engine house, city buildings, a paper mill, residential houses and more.
    • Can you find all of the structures?
    • And can you find any structures that I have not listed?
      
    • In addition, the railroad has railroad yards, staging yards, storage yards, sidings and a wye.
    • Ryan models mountains, waterfalls, rivers and roads. An important feature to model on any model railroad layout is roads.
    • He also has vehicles on his model railroad. This is another important feature as there are many cars and trucks just about everywhere there is civilization.
    • The railroad is a multi-level layout and has a track elevator that moves the trains to and from each level.
    • Ryan also has night lighting so he can operate his trains for night time running.
    • The railroad is prototypical but is compressed.
    • The rock formations are very beautiful. Be sure to ask Ryan how he made his rocks and cliffs because he uses a very good technique providing realistic results.
  • Structures: More about the structures. Some of the structures are prototypical and then some structures use artistic license and are representative of what is in each city.
    • Reminder: There are some interesting and very specific prototypical structures on Ryan's railroad. If you are not sure what a particular structure is used for, be sure to ask Ryan about the structures you can't identify.
      
    • Here's a hint. Do you know what a rock shed (also called a snow shed) is for? Have you ever seen this? If not, look for it and if you can't identify it, please ask Ryan where and what a rock shed is for.

  

  • Locomotives: The locomotives on the railroad include a F3, F7, SD9, ALCO PA, E8, a Cab Forward and another steam locomotive.
    • The SD9's are usually used as helper pairs to get up the hill.
  • Trains: The trains on the railroad include through freight trains, mail trains, passenger trains and local trains.
    • The passenger trains are generally limited to six passenger cars due to the length of the sidings.
    • The freight trains typically have from five to eight rail cars.
    • The Klamata is a U.S. Postal mail train.
    • The Cascade is a night time train.
    • The Pacific Coast Expeditor is a trailer train and is also a first class freight train.
      
    • Ryan has a variety of trains. Some are prototypical trains and others are not.
  • The Railroad Is Still In Progress: The model railroad layout is still in progress. Ryan has be diligently working on his layout for the past several years adding more structures, details, scenery and track to the layout.
    
  • Controlling The Locomotives: Ryan uses Digital Command Control (DCC) & Sound for his railroad and he uses NCE Power Cabs and a phone app to run the locomotives.
  • The Elevator: The elevator is used for both storage track and to position trains on either level of the model railroad layout. Note that the elevator is manually controlled using a powerful winch.
  • Operation Sessions: The model railroad has been made for Operation Sessions. Operation Sessions is when a model railroad is run like the real railroad.
    • His Operations Sessions usually has about five people and it can take approximately two hours to complete the event. There are three engineers, one dispatcher and one elevator operator.
      
    • Ryan uses JMRI and the WiThrottle app to run his trains during ops sessions, plus he uses a fast clock.
    • JMRI means Java Model Railroad Interface.
      • According to the JMRI website, the JMRI project is a tool for model railroad computer control.
      • JMRI is built in the Java programming language to allow it to run anywhere and making it independent of specific hardware systems.
      • JMRI is intended as a jumping-off point for hobbyists who want to control their layouts with a computer without having to create an entire system from scratch.
      • You can manage your locomotive rosters and easily program your decoders using the JMRI DecoderPro®.
      • You can build control panels and control your layout using the JMRI PanelPro™ to set up signaling and other functions.
      • The JMRI OperationsPro™ lets you create manifests that route cars across your railroad from shipper to receiver, and provide train crews with operating instructions.
    • He also uses a Raspberry Pi (which is a small computer) in conjunction with JMRI to run his Operation Sessions.
  • The Building Housing The Railroad: The model railroad layout is in Ryan's backyard inside a completely enclosed outdoor air conditioned 8X12 foot storage shed.
    
• Carpooling: Help take the sting out of high gas prices and carpool with a friend.
• Follow Up: This was a well attended event with 21 people. Everyone had a good time and were pleased with the progress that Ryan has made on his model railroad layout. We enjoyed talking about the layout and about model railroading in general. It was a beautiful Southern California day and the weather was sunny but not overly hot. Ryan and his wife provided snacks and drinks for everyone.

Note: Pacific Daylight Time starts March 12, 2023 and Pacific Standard Time starts November 5, 2023. In the USA, in general, Daylight Time starts the second Sunday of March and Standard Time begins the first Sunday in November. In Europe, summer time begins the last Sunday of March and ends on the last Sunday in October.

We do not have a physical office, permanent meeting room or layout. Each month, we meet at various locations throughout San Diego County. With the exception of during a pandemic, we hold virtual meetings.

[Covid-19 Information: Our Division provided virtual Meets during the Covid pandemic of 2020 and during the first half of 2021. Our in-person Meets started back in August 2021. Masks are optional at our in-person Meets and Events in 2023, unless otherwise noted or when required by state or federal law.]