San Diego Model Railroad Museum, California
Model railroad museumOpen Wednesday to Sunday, 11 am to 4 pm
Founded in 1982 in Balboa Park, the San Diego Model Railroad Museum fills 27,000 square feet with detailed model railroads of California, built and run by four local clubs, and calls itself the only AAM-accredited model train museum in the country.
- Founded in 1982
- 27,000 square feet of layouts
- Inside Casa de Balboa
- Push-button kids train layout
- Built by four local clubs
- Free Resident Thursdays
San Diego Model Railroad Museum at a glance
- Hours
- Wednesday to Sunday, 11 am to 4 pm; open some holiday Mondays; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas
- Admission
- Prices posted on the museum's Hours and Prices page; free for San Diego residents on Free Resident Thursdays
- Seasonal events
- Polar Express Family Day, Winter Exhibition: Holiday Toy Trains, December Nights, Trains & Treats, Easter Eggspress, Thomas Family Day, Swap Meet, Ales 'N Rails
- Plan for
- About 1 to 2 hours
- Best for
- Families with young kids and model railroaders
- Best ages
- Toddlers to age 12
- Parking
- Balboa Park lot shared with the Fleet Science Center; free on City holidays and for disabled placards
Hours and prices as the museum posts them, checked October 19, 2026. Confirm before you go.
Contact and directions
- Address1649 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101(opens in a new tab)
- Phone(619) 696-0199
- Emailinfo@sdmrm.org
- Websitesdmrm.org(opens in a new tab)
Follow San Diego Model Railroad Museum
Look inside the book
Taking the kids to San Diego Model Railroad Museum? Bring Rally along.
In Rally Takes the Train, a corgi's little legs can't manage the big train stairs, so Dad gives him a boost. It takes about five minutes to read, a good fit for the drive to San Diego.
Rally Takes the Train
Eight pages from the book
Turn the page
That's 8 of 25 pages
See who’s waiting at the station
Grandmommy and Papa are at the last stop. Get the full hand-painted book, $13.99 on Amazon.
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Like it so far? See the full book
25 hand-painted pages, paperback, $13.99 with fast shipping from Amazon.
Every page is real watercolor on paper, painted by hand by Leslie Dunn. Nothing in this book was made with AI.
From a 1935 exposition layout to a museum of miniature California
Model trains have a long history in Balboa Park. At the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition, pioneer modeler Minton Cronkhite designed a 40 by 70 foot O scale model railroad that was billed as the chief transportation feature of the fair. Railroads such as the Santa Fe and the Pennsylvania hired him to build giant layouts for world's fairs, hoping to stir interest in train travel during the Great Depression.
The museum itself opened in 1982 on the lower level of the Casa de Balboa, with a mission to preserve railroad heritage through miniature versions of California railroads, research the history of model railroading, and teach the public about railroading. Nearly three million people visited in its first three decades, and its 27,000 square feet make it one of the largest model railroad museums anywhere.
What makes it work is the clubs. The big layouts were built and are maintained by four local nonprofit groups: the San Diego Model Railroad Association, the La Mesa Model Railroad Club, the San Diego Society of N-Scale and the San Diego 3-Railers. Members have spent years on details like the Tehachapi Pass layout, modeled from thousands of photographs of the real line nearly curve for curve and switch for switch.
Today the museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with education staff, school and scout programs, summer camps and a reference library, and it describes itself as the only model train museum in the country accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
Mountain passes, desert gorges and a toy train gallery
The museum is home to two massive HO scale layouts. The San Diego & Arizona Eastern, about 4,500 square feet, follows the real line from San Diego Union Station east through Carrizo Gorge to the desert floor at El Centro. The two-level Southern Pacific on the Tehachapi Pass recreates the joint Southern Pacific and Santa Fe line from Bakersfield to Mojave in the 1950s, including the Tehachapi Loop.
The 2,700 square foot Cabrillo & Southwestern in O scale imagines a route from San Diego to Sacramento, and the 1,200 square foot Pacific Desert Lines in N scale models a railroad that was surveyed but never built, with 33 scale miles of hand-laid main line. The Toy Train Gallery runs Lionel-type 3-rail trains on four main lines and displays rare Lionel and American Flyer cars from the 1920s to the 1950s. There is also an exhibit called Freight and Flora, plus a non-circulating library open to any visitor.
Don’t miss
- Southern Pacific on the Tehachapi PassA two-level HO layout of the 1950s Tehachapi Loop, built from thousands of photos for nearly curve-for-curve accuracy.
- The San Diego & Arizona EasternA 4,500 square foot HO layout that follows the real line from Union Station through Carrizo Gorge to El Centro.
- Pacific Desert LinesAn N scale layout of a railroad that was surveyed but never built, with 33 scale miles of hand-laid track.
- The Cabrillo & SouthwesternA 2,700 square foot O scale layout imagining a line from San Diego to Sacramento.
- The Toy Train GalleryFour main lines of Lionel-type trains, rare vintage cars, and a kids layout where anyone can push a button to run a train.
Push the button, watch the train go
The Toy Train Gallery has an interactive layout where children push a button to run a train, a hands-on stop for the youngest visitors. Older kids can follow trains through tunnels and over trestles on the giant layouts, and the museum builds STEAM learning into its programs, from Trains & Tots for little ones to school programs, scout programs and summer camps.
Family days fill the calendar, including the Easter Eggspress, a Summer Kick-Off, Thomas Family Day, Trains & Treats at Halloween and a Polar Express Family Day in December. The museum is indoors, which makes it an easy pick on a hot or rainy Balboa Park day. Groups of children under 13 need one adult chaperone for every four kids.
Plan your visit: tips for San Diego Model Railroad Museum
- Park in the lot shared with the Fleet Science Center, near Park Blvd and Space Theater Way.
- City of San Diego residents get in free on monthly Free Resident days and can register for free Tier 2 and 3 Balboa Park parking.
- Groups larger than 20 should reserve two weeks ahead.
- During December Nights the museum closes by day and opens 5 pm to 9 pm.
- Catch a docent-led tour, held about once a month.
The holidays are a big season here. The Winter Exhibition of Holiday Toy Trains opens in mid November, the museum stays open in the evening for Balboa Park's December Nights, and a Polar Express Family Day comes just before Christmas. In fall, Trains & Treats turns the museum into a Halloween family day. See our guides to Christmas train rides in California and Halloween train rides in California for more.
Four clubs, a nonprofit and plenty of volunteers
The museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a small staff, a volunteer board and four member clubs that build and run its layouts. Volunteers receive training, flexible hours, discounts and free passes. Visitors can help by becoming members, donating, giving artifacts, joining one of the clubs or shopping in the gift shop.
Other San Diego rail stops
The San Diego Electric Railway Association's National City Depot is only about 5 miles south, and the Poway-Midland Railroad is about 18 miles north. For a real train ride in the backcountry, head east to the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum at Campo. See all the train museums in California for more.
- San Diego Electric Railway Association / National City DepotNational City, CA · about 5 mi
- Pacific Southwest Railway MuseumCampo, CA · about 8 mi
- Poway-Midland RailroadPoway, CA · about 18 mi
- Southern California Railway MuseumPerris, CA · about 71 mi
- Fullerton Train MuseumFullerton, CA · about 90 mi
- RailGiants Train MuseumPomona, CA · about 100 mi
Bring Rally along: a train book for the drive
The model trains here disappear into tiny tunnels and pop out on the other side, and I can just hear the little gasps. Rally's train in our book does the same thing on a bigger scale: a dark tunnel, then a big bright light and happy cheers. Our book's train is the Pacific Surfliner out of San Diego, so this museum feels like a neighbor. Little readers can find that tunnel in our picture book.
Free for train families
Print the Rally coloring pages before you go
Watercolor coloring pages from the book, free to print. Tuck a few in a folder with crayons for the drive or the wait for the next train.
Get the free coloring pages
A train story for the ride homeRally Takes the Train is a five-minute rhyming picture book about a corgi's first train trip to see his grand-paw-rents. Hand-painted in real watercolor. $13.99 on Amazon, for ages 0 to 8.
Buy on Amazon (opens in a new tab)More for train families
- Train museums in California: every museum by town, with a map
- Train museums in every state: search by town or near you
- Christmas train rides in California
- Halloween train rides in California
- Every Amtrak route with kids
Work or volunteer at San Diego Model Railroad Museum?
We want this page to be the best introduction to your museum on the web. Send new hours, event dates, corrections or photos to kelsey@rallytakesthetrain.com and we will update it. You are welcome to share this page with your members.
Sources
- San Diego Model Railroad Museum official website(opens in a new tab)
- San Diego Model Railroad Museum on Facebook(opens in a new tab)
- San Diego Model Railroad Museum on Instagram(opens in a new tab)
- San Diego Model Railroad Museum on X(opens in a new tab)
- San Diego Model Railroad Museum on Wikipedia(opens in a new tab)
Everything on this page comes from the museum’s own website and social pages and, for history, Wikipedia, checked October 19, 2026.
San Diego Model Railroad Museum: 20 questions families ask
Where is the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park?
The San Diego Model Railroad Museum is at 1649 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101, on the lower level of the Casa de Balboa building in Balboa Park. It shares a parking lot with the Fleet Science Center, and its main cross streets are Park Blvd and Space Theater Way.
What are the San Diego Model Railroad Museum hours?
As of October 2026, the museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 4 pm. It opens on some holiday Mondays, such as Labor Day and Indigenous People's Day, and during Thanksgiving week. It is closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Check sdmrm.org for special operating days.
How much are San Diego Model Railroad Museum tickets?
Ticket prices are listed on the museum's Hours, Prices and Directions page at sdmrm.org, and were not included in the information we reviewed. Tickets can be bought online through the Buy Tickets button. Memberships run for a year, and City of San Diego residents get in free on monthly Free Resident days.
Is the San Diego Model Railroad Museum ever free?
Yes, for City of San Diego residents. The museum holds a Free Resident day most months, usually on the second Thursday, such as October 8, November 12 and September 10 in 2026. There is no free day in December because of December Nights. Check sdmrm.org for what residents need to show.
Does the San Diego Model Railroad Museum offer an EBT discount?
An EBT discount is not described in the information we reviewed, though many visitors search for one. Call the museum at (619) 696-0199 or email info@sdmrm.org to ask about current discounts. City residents can also visit free on Free Resident days.
Where do you park for the San Diego Model Railroad Museum?
The museum shares a Balboa Park lot with the Fleet Science Center. City residents can register for free Tier 2 and 3 parking, disabled placards park free in regular spaces, paid parking ends at 6 pm, and parking is free on City holidays. A public tram runs 8 am to 8 pm.
How long does it take to see the San Diego Model Railroad Museum?
Most families spend about one to two hours walking the four big layouts and the Toy Train Gallery. Model railroaders who want to study the details of the Tehachapi Pass or San Diego & Arizona Eastern layouts can easily stay longer, especially on a docent-led tour day.
What layouts are at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum?
The museum has the HO scale San Diego & Arizona Eastern and Southern Pacific on the Tehachapi Pass, the O scale Cabrillo & Southwestern, the N scale Pacific Desert Lines, and the 3-rail Toy Train Gallery. There is also an exhibit called Freight and Flora.
Is the San Diego Model Railroad Museum good for toddlers?
Yes. It is indoors, and the Toy Train Gallery has an interactive layout where children can push a button to run a train. The museum also runs a Trains & Tots program and family days through the year.
Does the San Diego Model Railroad Museum have a summer camp?
Yes. The museum runs summer camps, with an Education Coordinator and Summer Camp Manager on staff, plus virtual camp kits, school programs and scout programs. Camp dates and registration are listed under Learn on sdmrm.org.
What does the San Diego Model Railroad Museum do for Christmas?
The Winter Exhibition: Holiday Toy Trains opens in mid November. During December Nights on December 5 and 6, 2026, the museum closes by day and opens 5 pm to 9 pm. A Polar Express Family Day is set for December 19, and the museum is open on Christmas Eve.
Does the San Diego Model Railroad Museum have a Halloween event?
Yes. Trains & Treats: Halloween Family Day runs October 31 and November 1, 2026, and an All-Gauge Layout is set up on October 31. It is one of several family days the museum holds through the year, alongside the Easter Eggspress and Thomas Family Day. Event details and tickets are on the museum's events page at sdmrm.org.
When is the San Diego Model Railroad Museum swap meet?
The museum holds swap meets several times a year. The 2026 calendar included swap meets on February 21 (7:30 am to 10:30 am) and May 23, and a Community Swap Meet on November 7, 2026. Check the events page for times and vendor information.
What is Ales 'N Rails at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum?
Ales 'N Rails is an event listed for November 21, 2026, part of National Model Railroading Month at the museum. Ticket details and age requirements are posted on the museum's events page, so check there before you plan to go.
When did the San Diego Model Railroad Museum open?
The museum opened in 1982. Model railroading in Balboa Park goes back further, to the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition, when Minton Cronkhite built a 40 by 70 foot O scale model railroad that was the chief transportation feature of the fair.
Who builds the layouts at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum?
Four local nonprofit clubs build and maintain the layouts: the San Diego Model Railroad Association, the La Mesa Model Railroad Club, the San Diego Society of N-Scale and the San Diego 3-Railers. The La Mesa club also holds operating sessions at the museum throughout the year.
Can I book a group or field trip at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum?
Yes. The museum recommends that groups larger than 20 reserve two weeks ahead, and standard admission applies. Groups with children under 13 need at least one chaperone, age 18 or older, for every four children. Schools should use the School Programs page on sdmrm.org.
Can you have a birthday party at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum?
The museum lists Parties and Rentals on its website, but the details were not included in the information we reviewed. Check the Parties and Rentals page at sdmrm.org or email info@sdmrm.org for packages and availability.
How can I volunteer at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum?
The museum invites volunteers and offers training, flexible hours, discounts and free passes. You can also join one of the four model railroad clubs that build the layouts. Start at the Volunteer at SDMRM page on sdmrm.org or email info@sdmrm.org.
What train museums are near the San Diego Model Railroad Museum?
The San Diego Electric Railway Association's National City Depot is about 5 miles away, and the Poway-Midland Railroad is about 18 miles north. The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum runs train rides from Campo, east of San Diego, and also has a depot museum in La Mesa.
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