2025 Meets and Events

About Our Meets and Events

The San Diego Division holds monthly meetings and events every month, every second Saturday of the month and held at various times and locations. 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 and other events. Our quarterly Meets (held February, May, August and November) can include Clinics, Show & Tell, Silent Auctions, Hobo Auctions, contests, swap meets, Bingo for Trains, raffles, door prizes and food.
• 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.

Meets and Events for 2025

May 10, 2025, Saturday - Spring Meet.

Spring Meet: The Spring Meet will be held at the North County Model Railroad Society which is located in Oceanside, California (in San Diego North County).

• Date: Saturday, May 10, 2025.
  
• Time: 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Location: North County Model Railroad Society is located inside the Heritage Park & Museum at  220 Peyri Drive, Oceanside, California 92058.
• Parking: There is free parking at front and in the rear of the park.
• Lunch: Lunch will be provided with a small donation.
• Activities: There will be Show & Tell, two clinics, door prizes and more.
• Accessible: Yes, the facility is accessible.
• Masks: Not required.
• Show & Tell. We are asking as many people as possible to present a five minute Show & Tell.
  • Show & Tell is a time to bring a project or model and show 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.
  • If you make a PowerPoint presentation, it will be easier to see for everyone.
  • Please contact Ryan and let him know you'd like to participate in Show & Tell.
• Clinic 1: Weathering by Pete Steinmetz. The clinic will be outside due to better lighting. Pete will take up to 10 people to work hands-on and the rest of the Division can watch the entire clinic and weathering process. Each rail car needs to be provided by the participants, a box car red or brown rail car. Please remember, this is a learning experience and don't bring your best rail car. Bring a rail car that mistakes can be made and it won't be a problem. Pete will spray each rail car with a flat finish outside at the beginning of the clinic. Pete will be showing how to effectively and realistically weather a car using Pan Pastels. Pete will provide all the rest of the material for weathering.
• Clinic 2: Open Car Loads by Bob Chaparro. Bob's clinic will look at various railroad car loads that modelers can duplicate with an emphasis on general service flat cars and gondolas in the steam and transition eras. Prototype practices will be explored through photos and diagrams. Examples of accurately modeled loads and common modeling errors will also be covered.
  
• Door Prizes. There will be Door Prizes!!
  

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 - PSR 2025 Convention - Pacific Southwest Express

PSR 2025 Convention: This is the Pacific Southwest Region (PSR) 2025 Convention, the Pacific Southwest Express. Details are listed on the convention's website listed just below.

• Date: September 3–6, 2025.
  
• Location: Ivine Hilton, 18800 MacArthur Blvd, Irvine, California, 92612. The Irvine Hilton is located next to the John Wayne Airport which is located in Santa Ana in Orange County, California, USA
  
• Website: www.pacificswexpress.org
• Accessible: Yes, the facility is accessible.
• Masks: Not required.
• Activities:
  • Welcome Reception
  • Pacific Southwest Region Board of Directors Reception
  • Pacific Southwest Region Members Meeting
  • Hobo Breakfast
  • Celebration of Models
  • Clinics
  • General Interest Clinics
  • Model railroad layout tours
  • Operation Sessions
  • Prototype tours
  • General Interest Tours and Vacation Tips
  • Model Railroad Swap Meet
  • Silent Auction
  • Hobo Auction
  • Awards Banquet and Raffle Prizes
• Convention Tips
  • Book your convention and hotel early
  • Book the Hobo Breakfast early to save your seat
    
  • Purchase your convention HO scale and N scale rail cars early, before they sell out
    
  • Purchase your convention shirt and convention pin online before they sell out
  • Book clinics, Operation Sessions and Prototype Tours early before they are booked
    
  • Book the Awards Banquet early to save your seat
    
  • Remember, for model railroaders, to start early on locomotive and rail car models, structures and displays for evaluations.
  • Remember, for the non-rail convention goers, to start early on your Arts & Crafts items for evaluations.

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: 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.

Past 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 freelance Coyote Pass and Northern Railroad model railroad layout. This is a fantastic layout. If you've never seen Dick's model railroad layout 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.
• Beginnings of the Layout: The museum quality HO scale freelance Coyote Pass and Northern Railroad was first started in 1972. The layout was designed for switching operations and has been upgraded and expanded since. The railroad has since been upgraded to use DCC and Sound to control the locomotives.
• Operation Sessions: The railroad continues weekly Operation Sessions today with some of his crew taking part in switching operations for over 20 years. Operations can take place with a minimum of two people and a maximum of eight people. The average number of people during Operation Sessions is six people. Operation Sessions typically take about two hours. The most important part of this model railroad is for the entire crew to have fun.
• Era and Location of towns: While the layout is freelance in design, the era includes steam engines and 1st & 2nd generation diesel-electric locomotives. The railroad features four train routes based loosely in the Southwest (in the USA) and has modeled towns such as Tucson (Arizona), Yuma (Arizona), and Santa Fe (New Mexico).
• Expansion of the layout: The layout was re-built once and expanded twice throughout the years, allowing years and years of model railroad operations for model railroaders in the San Diego area. The scale miles of the railroad have increased greatly over the years due to the two expansions. One of the layout expansions was to make the aisle ways wider, making it easy for people to pass each other during operations.
• Things to look for: The layout has multiple industries including factories located in a downtown city location, a coal loading industry spur, a cement factory, an oil industry spur, grain storage industries, a milling company, a pickle company, an ordinance factory (No smoking near the building, please!), an ice company and more. There are so many industries with industry spurs, that the switching combinations are probably close to infinity, providing a new experience to operators every time operation sessions occur. 
• More things to look for: The railroad has multiple tunnels, multiple bridges, many kitbashed buildings and industries, kitbashed rail cars, kitbashed rail car loads and kitbashed locomotives. The layout itself has lots of detail including cars, people, signage, fences, trees, shrubbery, roads, railroad crossings and more. The railroad also has a large fleet of locomotives and rolling stock. In front of a doorway, there are two custom built bridges connecting track. When these bridges are put in the storage position, several switches automatically cut off the track power on both sides of each bridge, so that trains can't accidentally run off the track. The back drops use a combination of painting, photos, very thin 3D buildings and half buildings.
• Follow Up: 32 people attended. Here's a big thank you for Dick Trotter for hosting the January model railroad layout tour. Dick provided coffee, cookies and homemade banana bread. Thank you. The train room was always busy with people with Dick explaining to guests about his model railroad layout. One of his crew also ran a train during the layout tour. Many of us sat outside and caught up with each other discussing the model railroad layout, model railroading and other things. In addition, there were many people who had never seen Dick's train layout and there were also those who had been to his model railroad layout before.

February 8, 2025, Saturday - Winter Meet.

Winter Meet: The Winter Meet is being held at the San Diego Electric Railway Association (or what I call the Trolley Museum) in National City and is shaping up nicely with all activities confirmed from having two interesting clinics, lunch, Show & Tell, a Silent Auction and more.

• Date: Saturday, February 8, 2025.
  
• Time: 9:00 a.m.–3 p.m.
  
• Location: San Diego Electric Railway Association, Inc. and the National City Depot Museum (also known as the Trolley Museum), 922 W. 23rd Street,  National City, California 91950
  
• Parking: There is free parking.
  
• Lunch: Lunch will be provided or it will be a pot luck.
• Activities: Clinics, Show & Tell, lunch, Silent Auction and door prizes.
  
• Accessible: Yes, the facility is accessible.
• Masks: Not required.
• Clinic 1: How to Give a Clinic by Pete Steinmetz.  Pete's clinic will go over the mechanics of how to organize, structure and make a clinic for new clinicians. The clinic will also be helpful for experienced clinicians, their input will be welcomed. The clinic will help make an average clinic turn into a really good clinic.
  
• Clinic 2. Stockton Sub by Gene Forbes. The HO scale model railroad layout is a prototype railroad modeling the Stockton Sub. The Stockton Sub is subdivision of the ATSF Railroad. The era of the model railroad layout is the 1950s through the 1990s. The railroad has been designed for Operation Sessions. The subdivision runs from Stockton, California west to Richmond with a connection to Point Richmond via a regional railroad. The entire layout is based in California. The railroad was built in 2014 in a dedicated 9 X 13 foot building in his backyard. The railroad has all its track laid and industries are still under development.
  • Some of Gene's Hobby Background: Years ago, Gene got into the hobby in the 1980s due to his wife pushing him into the hobby because she said he needed one. In the early 2000s, Gene was was contemplating either building a garden railroad or an HO scale railroad. The inspiration for Gene to finally build an HO scale model railroad layout came from Gene attending 33 consecutive National Model Railroad Association national conventions and throughout the years having purchased lots of HO trains and structures.
• Lunch: To be determined
• 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.
• 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.
• Door Prizes: There will be door prizes.
• Model Railroad Layout Tour: There is an O scale model railroad layout self-guided tour at the museum.
• Follow-Up. The Meet was well attended with 23 people attending. The clinics and Show & Tell presentations were well received. The Silent Auction was also a hit. We had Jersey Mike's subway sandwiches, drinks, chips and cookies.

March 8, 2025, Saturday - Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: Tim Foote will be presenting his HO scale freelance Desert Highlands Railroad. It is a freelanced model railroad layout based on California's High Desert rail line from Barstow, California to Kingman, Arizona during the transition period of the railroad of the 1950s. To be more specific, Tim's layout era is approximately in the 1950s and the 1960s.

• Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025.
  
• Time: Noon–3 p.m.
  
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Lunch: Tim will be graciously providing hot dogs, chips, drinks and cookies.
• Parking: There is on street parking and you'll enter the property through the side of his house. Signs will be posted.
  
• Accessible: Unfortunately, the model railroad layout is not accessible.
  
• Masks: Not required.
• Inspiration, Era and Layout Information: The Desert Highlands Railroad was inspired by Tim's fondness of high desert railroading and rail fanning in Southern California and Arizona. The era of the layout is in the transition era and specifically, is loosely based during the 1950s and 1960s. The single level model railroad layout sits in a three car garage and takes up an area of approximately 14 X 22 feet. The layout includes track which has code 83 track for industry spurs and railroad yards and code 100 track for the main track.
• More About the Railroad: Even though it is a freelance railroad, the towns and location of cities are real such as the city of Barstow, the Ludlow Railroad Station, buildings in Needles, a Kingman water front, Mineral Park and the small town of Borate (the city is contemporarily named Boron). The layout has the Barstow railroad yard, many spurs, a staging railroad yard, several freight depots, a machinery industry, a Borax mill, several mines, a high voltage transformer substation, mountains in Arizona, a body of water with a tug boat and more.
• Electronics, DCC & Sound, NCE Power Cabs and More: To power the locomotives, Tim uses DCC & Sound (DCC = Digital Command Control) using NCE Power Cabs. There are three power districts, each power district having a circuit breaker and has one power booster for the entire layout. As an option, the railroad is also set up to use apps on your phone and wifi, to control the locomotives. Most of the signals are scratch built and are working signals which change based on the switch being in normal or reverse position. Future plans for Tim's railroad include lighting inside of the buildings, adding working street lights and more. He also has some future plans to set up sound devices such as animal sounds and factory sounds. Animation are also in future plans.
• Rolling Stock: Tim mostly uses GP7 and GP9 diesel-electric locomotives and some steam locomotives during Operation Sessions. He usually uses 4-axle diesel-electric locomotives due to the tight curves on the layout. His railroad cars include box cars, covered hoppers, tank cars, flat cars, gondolas, livestock cars, reefers, maintenance of way cars, cabooses and more. Tim's favorite locomotive is the ALCO PA which he typically only runs on club layouts and not on his own layout.
• Operations Sessions: While the railroad was not originally made for Operation Sessions, Tim had already built railroad yards, sidings and plenty of spurs, making it easy to make the railroad Operation Session ready. Tim uses JMRI (Java Model Railroad Interface) to plan operations and uses a manifest system to run Operation Sessions.
• Operation Session Lessons: Tim is offering anyone in the Division who visits his model railroad layout tour, to take part and learn about Operation Sessions. This is something to look forward to if you haven't participated in any Operation Sessions or are a veteran of and love Operation Sessions. Please email Tim to schedule your place during his layout tour.
• Current Status and Future Plans: The model railroad layout is over 65% completed with most of the structures placed on the layout. He continues to add new structures and new scenery to the layout when he can. The railroad still needs fine detailing, scenery and some landscaping, according to Tim.

Update: Wow... 39 people attended Tim's model railroad layout tour. This was a successful and fun model railroad layout tour and a good time was had by all. Operations Sessions took place throughout the entire day. Tim and his wife provided hot dogs, chips, drinks and cookies for lunch. Yours truly, the webmaster, grilled hot dogs for everyone during lunch.

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

Layout Tour: David Lancaster will be presenting his Z scale (1:220) modules, model trains, buildings and other Z scale electronics and equipment for the San Diego Division. This is the first time David has hosted a model railroad layout tour.

We are grateful for his generosity for hosting this event and are looking forward to what will be a fascinating model railroad layout tour. Please be sure to mark your calendars and bring lots of questions and your cameras for this event.

• Date: Saturday, April 12, 2025.
  
• Time: 1 p.m.-5 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.

Some Model Train History: David started model railroading as a child. His father was a model railroader and gave both his children 4 X 8 plywood boards to make their own model railroad layouts.

• David started in O scale 3-rail model railroading as a child.
• Later on, he changed to N scale model railroading. His first N scale layout was on a 3-1/2 X 8 board that fit into the back of a truck. The legs of the layout folded up and doubled as a cover when transporting the layout.
• David finally change to Z scale module model railroading.

Learning About Z Scale: Z scale (1:220) is one of the smallest commercially available model railroad scales and has a track gauge of 6.5 millimeters / 0.256 inches. There are many interesting facets about Z scale model railroading and Z scale module model railroading that are not immediately apparent to the eye.

• 1:220 means that when you see a Z scale locomotive, the real locomotive is 220 times larger and vice versa.
• Both DC and DCC (Direct Current and Digital Command Control) locomotives can be purchased in Z scale. 
• Z scale operates on 9-10 volts instead of 12 volts.
• Due to the light weight of locomotives, it is difficult for Z scale locomotives to pull a train up a grade.
• Most Z scale layouts have little to no grades.
• Modules allow model railroaders to gather at train shows and other events, and members are from the same city or different cities, and allows railroaders to make new layout configurations every time they meet.

Why Model Z Scale? The small size of Z scale makes it possible to fit more track into a small space. If you have limited room in an apartment, condo or house, Z scale can be a great choice to have a more scale miles of track in limited space. Also, Z scale is used for novelty model railroad layouts such as placing them in coffee tables, briefcases, suit cases, book shelf displays, guitar cases or jewellery boxes. Several transportation museums, have used Z scale to represent real world railroad scenes.

Some Z Scale History: Z scale was introduced by Märklin (a model toy company based in Germany) in 1972 at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany. Z scale is one of the smallest commercially available model railroad scales (1:220), with a track gauge of 6.5 millimeters / 0.256 inches. Z scale operates on 9-10 volts instead of 12 volts. Both DC and DCC (Direct Current and Digital Command Control) locomotives can be purchased in Z scale.

• In 1978, a Märklin Z scale locomotive pulling six coaches made its entry into the Guinness Book of World Records by running nonstop for 1,219 hours and traveled a distance of 720 kilometers (450 miles) before the motor failed and the train stopped. Z scale was the smallest model railroad scale for decades.
• While there are now smaller scales than Z scale, the very smallest scales are niche markets with a small number of people modeling the smallest of small scales.
• Z scale is now a mature modelling scale with model locomotives, rolling stock, track, signalling, structures, scenery, vehicles, figures and more becoming available in increasing numbers from an expanding variety of established and particularly smaller, fast-growing manufacturers.
• During Covid-19 pandemic which began to have a strong-hold in early in 2020, Märklin sales (for all their scales) started to increase and had to hire more employees for the demand.

ZoCal: David is part of the ZoCal Southern California Z-Scale Model Railroading Group. He joined the group in 2007. ZoCal is comprised of a group of model railroaders located throughout San Diego County and the Greater Los Angeles area. ZoCal is not a model railroad club which means they don't have any regularly planned meetings. Members of ZoCal refer to themselves as a group. If you are interested in Z scale model railroading, ZoCal is actively looking for new members.

ZoCal And Train Shows: ZoCal displays their module model railroad layouts at multiple train shows throughout the year. If all goes as planned, ZoCal will be attending six train shows (from San Diego to Bakersfield, California) in 2025. The group welcomes guests of train shows to bring their locomotives, rail cars or both and run their trains on the group's modules. If a guest at a train show has only brought rail cars, the group will loan guests locomotives so they can pull their trains.

• The group currently has 41 modules and depending upon the train show, will make a model railroad layout with many of their Z scale modules.
• One of ZoCal's railroad yards has 28 tracks, over 120 switches, four double-crossovers and can hold 634 rail cars. The name of this railroad yard is Big Freight Yard or BFY.
• The group has at times connected so many modules together that it will take 17 minutes for trains to make a complete circle.
• It is interesting to note that all modules are made so they can be configured on either side of the module and track will still connect correctly.
• They also have black skirts for the modules to give the layout a finished look.
• Each time the group sets up their module layout, the configuration always changes.

More Z Scale Module Information: Z scale module model railroading has module standards so that model railroaders around the world can make their own modules. When members meet to created a model railroad layout, all the modules will fit together. 

• Modules are main with two double main tracks. This way, you can have as many as four trains running continuously on the modules without hitting each other.
• Modules have a standard width by any length desired.
• Modules are 50 inches from the floor to the top of the rail.
• To connect the track between modules, the group uses expansion track. Expansion track is fascinating and be sure to discuss this with David.
• Some of the names of the modules are called simply modules, balloon end modules, T modules, L modules, S modules. Modules can also be named for what is on the module. For example, the oil refinery module, the lumber mill module or the steel mill module.
  
• Modules have the same electronics and electronic connectors allowing multiple modules to be correctly wired for the entire layout.

ZoCal and the San Diego Model Railroad Museum: ZoCal is also the group of model railroaders who are building a model railroad layout in the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. The decision to start the museum layout was in November 2023. The model railroad layout plans have been completed. All the benchwork has been completed and is made from steel. The benchwork is so strong, it will support an adult crawling on it. The track for layout was received in November 2024. The height of the layout is 36 inches. It will be the first Z scale model railroad layout to be on permanent display at the museum. This is an opportunity for model railroaders to join the ZoCal group to help finish the layout and operate trains on the Z scale model railroad layout.

ZoCal Operation Sessions at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum: ZoCal's permanent model railroad layout at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum has been designed similar to a real railroad with main track, railroad yards, sidings, spurs, towns and more. While Operation Sessions have not been created on paper, in the future, if ZoCal members want to develop an Operation Sessions plan, they can do so for the future enjoyment of the members. One oval section of the track is not what you'd find on a real railroad (or is not prototypical track work) and this is because this oval track will allow guests to push a button and make a train travel around that section of the track.

Follow-up. The Z scale module model railroad layout tour was a success with 26 people attending. There we some very awe inspiring modules such as the railroad yard modules, a briefcase model railroad layout and a cigar case model railroad layout. Everyone who attended learned about the fascinating module construction and Z scale model railroading.

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 the days of March 14, June 13, July 11 and October 10 in 2026 open for model railroad layout tours. Thank you.

January 11, 2026, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: The January 2026 model railroad layout tour will be hosted by Rudy Spano. Rudy models HO scale model trains. The San Diego Division is looking forward to Rudy's realistic model railroad layout.

• Date: Saturday, January 11, 2026.
  
• Time: To be determined
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Parking: To be determined
• Accessible: To be determined.
• Masks: Not required.

March 14, 2026, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: The March 2026 model railroad layout tour will be hosted by Steve Bradley. Steve has a HO/HOn3 scale layout that is made for Operation Sessions. Details abound with Steve's model railroad layout. When touring Steve's layout, please be sure to try to find the smallest of details. Let Steve know the details you find and ask Steve if you have missed seeing any details on his railroad.

• Date: Saturday, March 14, 2026.
  
• Time: To be determined
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Parking: To be determined
• Accessible: To be determined.
• Masks: Not required.

April 11, 2026, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: Joel Shank has two model railroad layout tours for April 2026 in the Brawely, California area. 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 a HO scale railroad 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 the local Brownie's Diner in Brawley, California at 11:00 a.m. This will allow us to stretch our legs from the drive from San Diego to Brawley, eat a nice lunch, have a few laughs and then use the facilities before proceeding to the model railroad layout tours.
  
• Railfanning: There are also some good opportunities to railfan before and/or after the layout tours. There are several areas to railfan, including standard gauge and narrow gauge railroads that are located in the Brawley area.
  
• Parking: There is on street parking and you'll enter the property through the driveway.
• Accessible: To be determined.
  
• Masks: Not required.

June 13, 2026, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: The June 2026 model railroad layout tour is open. Please contact the webmaster if you want to host a model railroad layout for June 2026.

• Date: Saturday, June 13, 2026.
  
• Time: To be determined
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Parking: To be determined
• Accessible: To be determined.
• Masks: Not required.

July 11, 2026, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: The July 2026 model railroad layout tour is open. Please contact the webmaster if you want to host a model railroad layout for July 2026.

• Date: Saturday, July 11, 2026.
  
• Time: To be determined
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Parking: To be determined
• Accessible: To be determined.
• Masks: Not required.

October 10, 2026, Saturday -

Model Railroad Layout Tour.

Layout Tour: The October 2026 model railroad layout tour is open. Please contact the webmaster if you want to host a model railroad layout for October 2026.

• Date: Saturday, July 11, 2026.
  
• Time: To be determined
• Location: San Diego County.
  
• Parking: To be determined
• Accessible: To be determined.
• Masks: Not required.

Note: Pacific Daylight Time starts March 9, 2025 and Pacific Standard Time starts November 2, 2025. 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 and other pandemic 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. If another pandemic occurs, we will keep you informed on the status of all our meetings. In the meantime, masks are optional at all our in-person Meets and Events for this year, unless otherwise noted due or when required by state or federal law.]