Visting San Diego and Salt Lake in September 2018
- Thread starter Ralphmp
- Start date
There is a great indoor HO Model Railway of the Tehachapi Loop in San Diego and of course the Trams one of the line that heads North and East has a Full Size Switcher at one of the stops. Sorry I cannot be more specific my trip was in 2000. The Balboa Park with the Tehachapi Loop Layout was an easy walk from the Center. Yes this is the link to it.
sdmrm.org
sdmrm.org
Rhos Helyg Loco Works
Registered
Gavin Sowry
Garden Railroader and Raconteur
San Diego to Salt Lake City...... you can do that all the way by Amtrak. San Diegan to LA, Coast Starlight to San Fran (spend a day or three on the Cable Cars and Trams), California Zephyr to Salt Lake City.
Arrival at Salt Lake City. On this trip, we had a Union Pacific pilot engine attached there for a diversion up through Ogden and on the Overland Route across Wyoming and down to Denver.
Did that journey on my trip in 2000 then drove back via Tehachapi Loop and big hill climbing Eastbout of LA forget name now. Long interesting drive with a couple of overnights on the way.
Greg Elmassian
Guest
Yes, you must visit the Model Railroad museum in "old" San Diego.
What dates? You are invited to our monthly meeting at a member's home. See www.sdgrs.com and check the calendar... you can contact me or any other of the board members, it's a friendly group.
Reeds Hobby in La Mesa has G....
Get me your dates, we also have club members willing to have guests.... you can email me if you don't want to post on the forum
Greg
What dates? You are invited to our monthly meeting at a member's home. See www.sdgrs.com and check the calendar... you can contact me or any other of the board members, it's a friendly group.
Reeds Hobby in La Mesa has G....
Get me your dates, we also have club members willing to have guests.... you can email me if you don't want to post on the forum
Greg
Ralphmp
Registered
Thanks for all the suggestions, and thanks Greg for the kind invitations - regrettably, our schedule meant we had limited time in San Diego on this trip but we liked what we saw and will be heading back next year for a longer stay.
I wasn't particularly impressed with the model railroad museum in Balboa park - lots of exhibits under construction or not operating, and we saw many families with young kids asking "why isn't it working?" Seems a missed opportunity to encourage youngsters with an interest in trains, and I heard at least one family grumbling about poor value for money. The one exception was the Lionel 3 railers group. These guys had a highly entertaining layout in full swing with many trains operating, as well as model cars, buses, aircraft and other line side attractions. They were also willing to chat with everyone who wanted to ask questions, unlike a particularly surly gent who was operating the only other layout that was working.
On the plus side, because we spent much less time in the model railroad museum it meant we had time to visit other Balboa Park museums - National History, Aeronautical and Car/Motorcycle - as well as take part in a Japanese Tea ceremony.
When we got to Salt Lake we took a ride on the Heber Valley Railroad, but apart from the "Wild West Show" outside the station - several guys very enthusiastically acting out a sheriff vs robbers scenario - the ride was quite dull. The fact that they don't seem to run steam locomotives any more (for environmental reasons we were told) was disappointing and meant we were pulled along by a nondescript diesel of some sort. Not one of our better preserved railroad experiences.
We looked into the Amtrak option for getting to Salt Lake from San Diego, but $600+ for the 2 of us (and that was just for a seat - sleeping berth would have pushed the cost to over $1000), plus a 34 hour journey with 3 am arrival time is just ridiculous. Our rental car for the whole of our 10-day vacation cost the same (and this included a surcharge for picking up in CA and dropping off in UT) and we did the journey in under 2 days with an overnight stop to see some relatives in Arizona. I really don't get Amtrak pricing policies.
Overall, we had a great vacation, just a pity the railways side of things was disappointing.
I wasn't particularly impressed with the model railroad museum in Balboa park - lots of exhibits under construction or not operating, and we saw many families with young kids asking "why isn't it working?" Seems a missed opportunity to encourage youngsters with an interest in trains, and I heard at least one family grumbling about poor value for money. The one exception was the Lionel 3 railers group. These guys had a highly entertaining layout in full swing with many trains operating, as well as model cars, buses, aircraft and other line side attractions. They were also willing to chat with everyone who wanted to ask questions, unlike a particularly surly gent who was operating the only other layout that was working.
On the plus side, because we spent much less time in the model railroad museum it meant we had time to visit other Balboa Park museums - National History, Aeronautical and Car/Motorcycle - as well as take part in a Japanese Tea ceremony.
When we got to Salt Lake we took a ride on the Heber Valley Railroad, but apart from the "Wild West Show" outside the station - several guys very enthusiastically acting out a sheriff vs robbers scenario - the ride was quite dull. The fact that they don't seem to run steam locomotives any more (for environmental reasons we were told) was disappointing and meant we were pulled along by a nondescript diesel of some sort. Not one of our better preserved railroad experiences.
We looked into the Amtrak option for getting to Salt Lake from San Diego, but $600+ for the 2 of us (and that was just for a seat - sleeping berth would have pushed the cost to over $1000), plus a 34 hour journey with 3 am arrival time is just ridiculous. Our rental car for the whole of our 10-day vacation cost the same (and this included a surcharge for picking up in CA and dropping off in UT) and we did the journey in under 2 days with an overnight stop to see some relatives in Arizona. I really don't get Amtrak pricing policies.
Overall, we had a great vacation, just a pity the railways side of things was disappointing.
Greg Elmassian
Guest
The good thing about the museum is that they have given a large amount of space to several clubs. The bad thing is they are often more concentrated on building the layouts than putting on a show. Were you able to get "backstage" on the 2 story layout? They might not have offered, especially if you had kids due to safety concerns.
Greg
Greg
Ralphmp
Registered
There was some activity on the 2 storey layout but the gents working on it didn't encourage any interactions with the public. To be fair, it looked like there was a deal of construction going on and they were probably discussing something to do with that. i guess we were most disappointed in the large O gauge layout which looked like it could be very entertaining to watch when in full swing, but despite there being a couple of people present there was no movement of trains at all. Maybe the museum should advise when exhibits are actually going to be operating and reducing the entrance fee when they're not and all visitors get to see is a static collection of models.
Greg Elmassian
Guest
The museum is a two way street, they asked for a Z scale layout, and then said we had to man it basically continuously during hours of operation of the museum.
Very few clubs have a membership to support that. Of course, rent-free place for your huge layout should be worth something too.
When I was there, the O scale layout was not doing much either, but we identified ourselves as members of the San Diego club, and they let us backstage on the 2 story layout, but there were very few trains running, we were interested in the construction and track plan, not something your grandchildren would have been interested in.
Next time have more time here, and I can set up visits to our club member's layouts.
Greg
Very few clubs have a membership to support that. Of course, rent-free place for your huge layout should be worth something too.
When I was there, the O scale layout was not doing much either, but we identified ourselves as members of the San Diego club, and they let us backstage on the 2 story layout, but there were very few trains running, we were interested in the construction and track plan, not something your grandchildren would have been interested in.
Next time have more time here, and I can set up visits to our club member's layouts.
Greg
Rhos Helyg Loco Works
Registered
I was sorry to read that. When I went there steam loco 618 was pulling the train. A quick check of their web site shows heavy work being undertaken on both 618 and 75 and "due to be completed in 2016". Don't you just hate it when people do not keep their web sites up to date?