Links To: The National Model Railroad Association, San Diego Model Railroad Clubs, Railroad Museums & Public Displays, Train Rides, Public Trains & Trolley Service

Pacific Southwest Region, National Model Railroad Association

• Pacific Southwest Region website
• Arizona Division website
• Cajon Division website
• Los Angeles Division website
• San Diego Division website 
  • San Diego Division Facebook Page
  • San Diego Division Facebook Group
  • San Diego Division YouTube Channel 

National Model Railroad Association (NMRA)

• National Model Railroad Association website
  • National Model Railroad Association Facebook Group
  • National Model Railroad Association Achievement Program Facebook Group
• National Model Railroad Association Benefits of Membership
• National Model Railroad Association Rail Pass and Membership Rates

San Diego Model Railroad Clubs

The Centennial Railway Garden
(San Diego, California, USA)
• No website.
• Located outside the San Diego Model Railroad Museum.

Chula Vista Live Steamers
(Bonita, California, USA)
www.chulavistalivesteamers.org 
• Chula Vista Live Steamers, established in January 1974, is a group of people interested in building and operating scale models of real (live steam) machinery. Their engines and associated equipment are usually built and operated by the owner and are maintained by them at their considerable expense of time and money.

La Mesa Model Railroad Club
(San Diego, California, USA)
www.lamesaclub.com
• Located inside the San Diego Model Railroad Museum.
• The club layout, in HO scale, represents the joint Southern Pacific Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway from Bakersfield to Mojave, California (USA) of the 1950s. The current layout consists of the area from the Southern Pacific Bakersfield Yard through the famous Tehachapi Loop to the Mojave Yard. The club uses DCC and Sound using NCE Power Cabs and NCE Pro Cabs. Both plug-in cables and wireless NCE cabs are used. The club layout is still under construction.
• The club has Time Table/Train Order Operation Sessions (set in the 1950s) several times a year and operators are invited from all over the United States to help operate in real time. Some of the model enthusiasts will arrive into San Diego days before these events and visit with friends or family in San Diego, or visit tourist areas or simply enjoy the camaraderie of other model railroad enthusiasts.

North County Model Railroad Society
(Oceanside, California, USA)
www.ncmrs.org

San Diego 3-Railers
(San Diego, California, USA)
www.sd3r.org
• Located inside the San Diego Model Railroad Museum.

San Diego Division - National Model Railroad Association
(San Diego Country and Imperial County, California, USA)
www.sandiegodivision.org
• The San Diego Division of the National Model Railroad Association is quite an active group of railroad modelers, with Zoom Meetings every second Saturday of the month.
• Zoom Meetings include members showcasing their own modeling work, layout tours, and modeling clinics. (A clinic is where one of our members demonstrates techniques or skills needed for modeling. Here are a few examples of clinic topics: An electronics clinic; how to solder; how to weather rolling stock; understanding decoders; techniques and standards to improve rolling stock.)
• When the San Diego Division returns to in-person meetings, we have Quarterly Meets (which includes a potluck luncheon), an annual swap meet, annual picnic and other activities for our members.  
• There are many National Model Railroad Association Zoom Meetings taking place across the nation and around the world during the pandemic. By joining the National Model Railroad Association, you will have access to plenty of Zoom Meetings to help improve your scale railroad modeling. 
• The San Diego Division does not have a club layout or permanent meeting room. Each individual has their own layout and some members do not have layouts. When we have in-person meetings, we meet at various locations throughout San Diego County. 
• The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) is a world-wide organization with over 18,000 active members, associates, families and clubs dedicated to the hobby of scale model railroading in all its facets, helping to educate its members in modeling techniques, to learn more about the hobby and to meet others with your same interest. The National Model Railroad Association also develops standards for scale model railroad equipment for model railroad manufactures, to help facilitate the interchangeability and operation of equipment between modelers, clubs and others.

San Diego Garden Railway Society
(San Diego, California, USA)
www.sdgrs.com

San Diego Model Railroad Association
(San Diego, California, USA)
www.sdmrra.org (The site is currently down as of 2021.)
• Located inside the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. 
• The HO layout features the prototype San Diego & Arizona Eastern from San Diego's Union Station travelling South to Tijuana and through Mexico, recrossing into the United States at Campo/Tecate. The line continues into the Carriso Gorge, down into Imperial County past Plaster City, and ending at El Centro. A 3 foot narrow gauge line from Plaster City to a gypsum mine is also loosely modeled. Finally, the Branch Line running East from San Diego to El Cajon (and at one time Foster) is modeled with trolley and branch line service. Although most of the trackwork and basic scenery is completed, upgrades and detailing continue. 
• The O-Scale layout has been under construction, refinement and operation for more than 25 years. The layout consists of 3 independent loops, a downtown trolley section, an On3 narrow gauge, and a single track mountain division (high-line) with automatic loops at each end. Scenic location is based on an imaginary line from San Diego to Sacramento, California.

San Diego S-Gaugers
(Grossmont, California, USA)
www.sites.google.com/site/sdsgaugers

San Diego Society of N Scale
(San Diego, California, USA)
• No website.
• Located inside the San Diego Model Railroad Museum.

Short Track Railroad
(Vista, California, USA)
www.shorttrackrr.org

San Diego Railroad Museums and Public Displays 

Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum
(Vista, California, USA)
www.agsem.com

Old Town Model Railroad Depot
(San Diego, California, USA)
www.oldtowntrains.com

Pacific Southwest Railway Museum and Association
(Campo and La Mesa, California, USA)
www.psrm.org

Poway-Midland Railway 
(Poway, California, USA)
www.powaymidlandrr.org

San Diego Electric Railway Association, Inc. & National City Depot Museum
(National City, California, USA) 
www.sdera.org

San Diego Model Railroad Museum
(San Diego, California, USA)
www.sdmrm.org
• Located in Balboa Park.

San Diego Train Rides

Balboa Park Miniature Railroad
(San Diego, California, USA)
www.balboapark.org/attractions/miniature-train
• In Balboa Park, next to the San Diego Zoo.

LEGOLAND Express Train
(Carlsbad, California, USA)
www.legoland.com

Pacific Southwest Railway Museum and Association
(Campo and La Mesa, California, USA)
www.psrm.org
• The Campo location has train rides, a museum, gift shop, special events, locomotives, switchers, train cars, maintenance facilities, a railroad yard and more. The La Mesa location has a small museum and an outside display which has a steam locomotive, box car and a  caboose.

Poway-Midland Railway 
(Poway, California, USA)
www.powaymidlandrr.org

San Diego Public Train and Trolley Service 

The Coaster
(San Diego, California, USA)
www.gonctd.com/services/coaster-commuter-rail
• Service between downtown San Diego and Oceanside.

Metrolink
(Southern California, USA)
www.metrolinktrains.com
• Service between Oceanside and Los Angeles. 

Pacific Surfliner
(Southern California, USA)
www.amtrak.com/pacific-surfliner-train
• Service between downtown San Diego and San Luis Obispo, with spectacular ocean views. 

San Diego Trolley
(San Diego, California, USA)
www.sdmts.com

The Sprinter
(San Diego North County, California, USA)
www.gonctd.com/services/sprinter-hybrid-rail
• Service between Oceanside and Escondido.