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Theses next two weekends are usually the time that model railroad clubs and displays are open! So what clubs/ displays are you going to this year?

For me it's the N.A.S.M.E, the Black Diamond, and possibly Leigh and Keystone Valley clubs in the Leigh Valley area.

 

Last edited by prrhorseshoecurve
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If you live in the Philadelphia, PA or Wilmington, DE area, the Brandywine River Museum has a 35'x65' 0 gauge holiday display from now until mid-January.  The layout features both two rail and three rail trains and well executed scenery.  Trains as long as 100 cars are routinely operated.  I designed and built this layout (with help from my best friend and best man Jeff Punderson) in the 1970s, and the museum staff has beautifully maintained and completely rebuilt the display (while retaining the original design) in the more than 40 years since.  For many families, visiting the Brandywine River Museum to see the holiday train display has become a tradition.  Open everyday except Christmas.  Highly recommended!

Kirk Lindvig

www.sgma.us

December 6th and 7th "December Nights", those of us not quite PC still call it "Christmas on the Prado", all of the museums in Balboa Park will be open late and free of charge as well as all kinds of other activities as part of the event. Of course the Model RR Museum will be participating, I will be one of the operators on Friday night. The layout has been decorated, that was done yesterday while I was at the oncology clinic missing out on all the fun. 

It's a lot of work but that is far outweighed by the fun and enjoyment that comes with it.

This is from a few years back.

Last edited by Doug W.

In the four state PA, DE, NJ, MD area there  are about a hundred open houses in the month of November.

Google "DE PA NJ MD 2019 model railroad open house"  Check out the remaining weekend.  Click on a name and a google map is available with time slots.  walk in friendly.   Different scales but a lot of great ideas to glean.

The G&O will be hosting its annual winter show the weekend of December 7 and 8 from 10 to 4 both days.  I will be running trains both days.  

The G&O is located in San Leandro, CA (San Francisco Bay Area near the Oakland Airport).  More information can be found at the club's website:  SLHRS.org  Here are some photos from past shows.  NH Joe

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SGMA1 posted:

If you live in the Philadelphia, PA or Wilmington, DE area, the Brandywine River Museum has a 35'x65' 0 gauge holiday display from now until mid-January.  The layout features both two rail and three rail trains and well executed scenery.  Trains as long as 100 cars are routinely operated.  I designed and built this layout (with help from my best friend and best man Jeff Punderson) in the 1970s, and the museum staff has beautifully maintained and completely rebuilt the display (while retaining the original design) in the more than 40 years since.  For many families, visiting the Brandywine River Museum to see the holiday train display has become a tradition.  Open everyday except Christmas.  Highly recommended!

Kirk Lindvig

www.sgma.us

Kirk, you created a wonderful legacy that has touched tens of thousands of people. The Brandywine River Museum is my favorite Holiday layout. It is both a delight to the senses and also very relaxing to soak in and experience. Perhaps it's the subdued winter colors and textures that create that feeling, but I also love the way that 3-rail was intertwined with the 2-rail O Scale trains.

If on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, we'd love to have you visit the Rescue Fire Company Christmas Train Garden in Cambridge, MD. 

This will be our 85th annual running of the Train Garden. Info can be found either on Facebook under Rescue Fire Company Train Garden, or on the RFC website.

Ours isn't the most detailed display because it's not permanent, but the history and evolution of it is quite interesting, and we have made great strides to incorporate large numbers of operating items this year.

Also, while on the topic, does anyone know of any other seasonal or permanent displays that have remained a constant for longer than 85 years? We aren't certain we're the oldest in the country, but we're struggling to find anyone operating longer, fire department or otherwise.

Here on Long Island there are several clubs with open houses this time of year. Over the past few weekends, my wife, Kathie, and I have gone to Central Operating Lines in Bohemia (a Marine Toys for Tots drive there, too, so we always drop off a book or toy for the kids) and the St. James Model Railroad Club. Missed the last Nassau Lionel Operating Engineers' open house in Levittown but we'll hit one there before Christmas, I'm sure. TMB (formerly Train Masters of Babylon) in East Farmingdale will be another stop in the next few weeks. Visiting the clubs is always a nice break just to enjoy trains running during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Those are the big four for us. Then, of course, in mid-January will be Trainstock 12 at the NJ Hi-Railers!

Chris

The Intracoastal Model Railroad Club (IMRRC) will have its annual Christmas Show on December 7th and 8th. The club and show is in Southeastern North Carolina in Brunswick County close to the South Carolina Border close to Myrtle Beach area. We will have Standard, G, O, HO and Z gauge layouts featuring interactive children’s layouts full of accessories.

I your in the area stop by, you will not be disappointed.  

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wild mary posted:

Let's see, there's close to 100 - maybe more - around the Baltimore area.  Check it out.   www.wvmgrs.org/TrainGardens.htm

My railroad open houses is listed in this under northern Maryland.

The Chesapeake Susquehanna & Western.  We have many visitors each year that find us from this publication.  Last year we had a little over 1100 visitors.

Karl

We are here with our older son and his family in Fort Mill, SC outside of Charlotte, NC, and I saw the following posted by “Dorcie, the TrainDame” on this forum describing a new holiday layout being completed by TW TrainWorx to be displayed in the lobby of 300 South Tryon Street in downtown Charlotte:

Dorcie said in her post,

“..... I dashed to the studio floor and shot this video, enjoy!”

Happy Tracks!

TrainDame aka Dorcie 
TW TrainWorx
Dallas, TX | Concord, NC 
(214) 634-2965

According to what I can find, the exhibit opens on Thanksgiving Day and runs through January 1st.  I hope to slip away sometime Friday to visit this display as we fly back home to Oregon on Saturday.

Speaking of Oregon, if all went well, my friend, Don, and other volunteers set up our Capitol Holidays Layout under the giant Christmas tree in the rotunda on the Oregon State Capitol in Salem earlier this week in my absence.  This will be the 35th year, and probably the last, that we have set up our American Flyer S Gauge layout under the tree in the Capitol.  My AF trains run through a scene depicting the Salem, OR area in honor of A C Gilbert’s boyhood home.

We are planning to be home in time for the annual lighting of the Christmas Tree and starting of the train on December 4th. The the Holidays at the Capitol tradition started in the early ‘80s with a large loop of Standard Gauge track on the floor under the tree and running a pre-war AF steam train:

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That’s my two sons, now both in their forties checking out the tree and train that first year.  

Merry Christmas!

Alan

PS:  Here is a more recent look at the Oregon State Capitol Holidays Layout:

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Gilly@N&W posted:

The Science Museum of Virginia is hosting a multi-gauge train show this coming Friday 11/29  - Sun 12/1. River City 3 Railers will be displaying two layouts. 

As an addendum to Gilly's post.......a full page add in this morning's Richmond Times Dispatch! If you are in the area, come out and see us......

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Peter

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