Model Railroad Museum

If you take a peek in American history, during that pivotal moment where America began her ascent to be one of the finest in the world, you’ll notice that locomotives had a strong presence, playing the most critical of roles during America’s coming of an age.

This sentiment is obvious during the Industrial Revolution, when the nation experienced the most massive explosion in the scale of industry and pace of manufacture the world has ever seen. It was locomotives that played the most crucial of roles: connecting industry upon industry, lump materials to processors to manufacturers, ore smelters to steel mills to automobile assembly plants, sheep farms and cattle farms to textile mills to supermarkets and ports. Through locomotives and railroads, America had created the most successful trade empire in the world all the while forging family names like Ford, Crocker, Huntington and Vanderbilt forever written as part of American history.

Playing such prominent part of the past is the major why…why locomotives and railways are such a birthright of America. And by this legacy, model railroad museums exist by the dozens. On model railroad museums you’ll see American history, her coming of an age, her path to become the finest in the world. On model railroad museums you’ll see scale models of those railways created the industrial America. Like William Wheelwright’s Transcontinental Grand Central Argentine Railway, or scale models of Minor Keith’s International Railways of Central America or the Santa Fe Railways.

The San Diego Model Railroad Museum is a prime example. By researching and compiling information about model railroading history, the San Diego Model Railroad Museum preserves this history, all while educating the public on the countless of the aspects of railroading.

San Diego Model Railroad Museum holds dozens layouts of miniature representations of San Diego and California’s railroad system, historical and contemporary in nature. The four not for profit organization serves as their principal contributors, namely the San Diego Model Railroad Club, the La Mesa Model Railroad Club, the San Diego Society of N-Scale Modelers, and the recently joined San Diego 3-Railers Club.

The Twin City Model Railroad Museum in Minnesota is another non-profit organization that presents with pride the United States railroad system as it was during America’s swinging 50’s and 60’s. Having an organization composing of over 100 member enthusiasts, the Twin City Model Railroad Museum brings detailed and accurate information of America’s railways.

With approximately 10k of square feet as showroom for O, HO, and N scale railroad models; the Golden State Model Railroad Museum (GSMRM) easily has the largest exhibit display. GSMRM has three large model railroads, all constructed and maintained by professionals, the East Bay Model Engineers Society.