San Diego Model Railroad Museum

A couple people had independently recommended this museum to us on our visit to Balboa Park and we were pretty excited.
While the sets were huge and the amount of work that had gone into these room-​sized models was impressive (and there were a lot of funny little scenes when you looked closely at the details, like a house with a shark in its backyard, etc), it was a bit lackluster. There were chunks that were unfinished (they didn’t paint one corner of the sky, several buildings were still in «blueprint»), the information boards were poorly written (many mistakes, and when they were long they were very difficult to follow). All of the displays that asked you to press a button (and I’m guessing a short film was supposed to play on the TV screen) didn’t work.
The Christmas-​themed room was cool but a bit crazy (the scale was totally off — they just kind of threw a hodgepodge of everything-​Christmas into that set).
One positive I can definitely say is that this museum is small and you can get everything you need out of this in 30 minutes.

This is one of the largest model railroad I have ever seen! I hadn’t been in many years but as I get older I have even more appreciation for what they have here.
It’s $ 10 for adults and $ 5 for kids. They model specific areas of California on countless feet of track laid on a few different levels in the building.
The attention to detail is crazy. Most of their track is hand-​laid, too, which I can’t even imagine doing myself.
For train fans this is a must see when anywhere near Balboa Park in San Diego.

We brought our train-​loving toddler and he enjoyed himself but definitely wanted more interactive exhibits. There was one room with a few buttons to trigger movement of a train but they seemed to not be working. We saw so few trains on the very old tracks and sets as well, which was frustrating. We read online that there was an interactive Thomas section for kids but saw nothing in the rooms and no signage about this. For the price vs sights/​interaction, it is not worth going back again.

We visited this past weekend, and it was immediately blasted back 25 years. I was glowing like a little kid at the impressiveness of this place. My six year old daughter seemed equally as impressed.
It is clear that this place is run by people who have absolute pride in what they do. The different setups are so detailed and so vast! You could sit for hours and still not see every train on every track! They are actively building a new mountain landscape in one of the sections. The «behind the scenes» really wants to make you go out and build your own. Until you realize you do not have the space, or money. I look forward to visiting again after the current exhibit is done! We are annual explorer pass holders. I also recommend this if you are local.

I took my five year old daughter here today and I feel like I got my money’s worth. We walked in and immediately she was excited to see the cute little model trains. She loved the detail and loved the kids play area. Her favorite room was the room with the cute little Disney characters that rode on the train. I’m so glad I brought her and she was also free if anyone is looking for something inexpensive to do with their little one. I also was able to read interesting things that I didn’t know about the railroad industry. Very pleased with my decision on bringing her there.

What a little gem! For years, I had no idea this place was even here! You can wander through a couple different kinds of model trains in different terrains, like a cityscape and a mountainside. The thing I enjoyed most was finding funny scenes. For example, there was an old man fishing in a pond next to a forest. He had caught a fish and just pulled his line out of the water. In the forest behind him was a bear, staring directly at the fish, hungrily. So cute! Whimsical and creative scenes like that made me smile and chuckle, and they are everywhere. One of the guys there said there was a scene with a car with a body in the trunk! He laughed.
There is a room with toy trains (toy, not model) that is even more kid-​oriented. Ask them for the sheet showing you different scenes you can find. Great for kids.
There were people there who worked on the trains and they were happy to talk about them. I also loved the teeny tiny nano train!
I hate to say anything negative, but $ 10 does seem a little high for the entry fee. Most people are coming here with multiple people, or a family, and that gets expensive fast.

Went here with my 3 year old and husband. I think my husband was more into it than my daughter. But she was tired also so that didn’t help. The train scenes are amazing and huge! We were able to see behind the scenes too on how they build the trains. Also we got to talk to the volunteers who build all this. They were super friendly. The thing I liked the most was the humor behind the scenes. You’ll know what I mean when you come in and see some miniatures riding a dinosaur lol. Great time they also have a garden trolley track outside. Fun time had by all. We were there for an hour and a half.

The San Diego Model Railroad Museum is a fun place for both kids and adults. I had never been to such a place before and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. To my surprise, it wasn’t packed on a Saturday afternoon and pictures came out ok despite the glare and fingerprints on the glass. There are so many things going on in the area that it took us a while to finally figure out where it was; and parking was definitely hard to find, but free! Had we had more time to spare, we would have also visited the Japanese Garden and a couple other museums.

Awesome exhibits! Friendly volunteers! You can tell a lot of work has gone into these exhibits. Lots of detail. Great time with my 3 year old (and 10 and 12 year old as well).

There’s a lot to see here. Railroads of all scales. I just wish that they hadn’t put glass all the way up. It makes it hard to get a good picture. It definitely feels more like a museum and not interactive.
So, if your main interest is just to look at the trains then this is a cool place. $ 9 is a little high for what it is though. I am more interested in getting good photos, but with dirty, scratched plexiglass it makes it harder to get a crisp shots.

To put it simply, I love trains!
I love them so much that I own stocks of five major railroad companies, including all of the class 1 railroads west of the Mississippi. Even Warren Buffett and Bill Gates love railroads. So I was naturally drawn to this museum of model railroads tucked away in the lower level.
I also like photography and needed a photography subject (check out the photos!).
You can expect to spend around 30 – 60 minutes here. Maybe longer if you’re into photography as I am and will wait for the train to make another pass to get the perfect shot. The museum is still expanding and the area in development looks pretty awesome. This is worth a look if you have a few dollars and an hour to spare or are a hobbyist and want to see what others have created.

Lovely museum. Quite small though. Finished the exhibits in an hour. The craftsmanship and quality of the model trains were exemplary. Definitely worth a visit!
The bathrooms need to be cleaned up a bit.

Yup. I went to a model railroad museum and I had a great time. We went with a model train enthusiast/​expert and with his vast knowledge of every facet of trains, scale models, landscape building, etc. it turned out to be a very interesting place to spend an hour.

This place is all kinds of awesome. I’ve loved trains ever since I was a little kid. And now the big kid in me made sure we paid a visit to what is supposedly North America’s largest accredited model railroad museum.
They have gigantic recreations of actual geography like the Tehachapi pass loop and the Goat Canyon Trestle. You’ll find separate landscapes for O, HO, and N gauge setups, as well as a toy train section. Each and every one of the engineers are completely passionate about what they do. It’s obvious.
You could spend a couple of hours and not notice all of the little details like the overturned chicken truck. In fact, the operator had to point out the wolf that was running away with one of the chickens in its mouth. Fantastic stuff!
(A few photos posted here:
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This museum is something to be seen! I bring the kids several times a year, and usually on San Diego resident free Tuesday. The scenes are meticulously designed sparing no detail. Come with kids, or just come as adults. This museum is a must see!
It takes about one hour to see everything without rushing, but it could be seen faster too. Clean restrooms and a café are readily accessible. I love this museum! We’ll be back!

I was exploring Balboa Park with my Dad. He led us into this place, and we found our way downstairs to the entrance. We had to wait a bit, as we were early. Outside their closed doors there is a ‘trolley’ with a TV and video up at the front. We sat inside the trolley, and watched the video about the people and history and stuff about the Model Railroad Museum. It was kinda neat to get an intro before even going into the place.
Eventually the doors opened, and we entered. The couple who had been waiting in the trolley with us watching the video shared a coupon they had acquired from Macy’s. We got in for 50% off thanks to them. People are nice. After we passed the entrance, we began our miniature adventure. It’s a fairly large place, with several large rooms. Each one run by a different model railroad club. Each display is quite amazing. Detailed to the tiniest features, and each with several trains running around the scale rails.
I’ll fully admit, some of the model railroad things people have built from ‘scratch’ (not from a box) were downright amazing. There was one display with a teenager sized wooden trestle bridge spanning an immensely large miniature canyon. Smoke from squealing tires of a drag race, to completely lit and ringing ‘the train coming through’ arm thingies that would drop on the streets right before the train would go by. There’s even a fully functional miniature drive in theater in one display. Very cool.
I’d get sucked into the tiny tiny world, and every now and again a great big head (comparatively to the miniature world) would pop up from behind a mountain or building to push a stalled train along, or reset a track that wasn’t working properly. It was great fun to see the various members of the railroad club enjoying their work. I asked one guy if he knew when a train would be coming around so I could set up a photograph. Before I knew it, I was behind the scenes and inside the tiny world watching it work. The guy was so proud of what he’d done he showed me ‘behind the curtain’. It was very very cool.
It’s really enjoyable to see what other people are really enthusiastic about. It adds extra fun to hear them talk about it with the excitement and reverence they have. Even though I’m not going to be setting up a model train anytime soon, part of me wanted to after speaking with these great guys who run these tiny worlds.
Thank you to everybody who works here. It’s a great little place.

Self guided your of an adorable model train and miniature set museum.
This was absolutely great. We spent a couple of hours in here and would have possibly stayed longer if all the sets had been complete. We couldn’t stop taking pictures!
The setups of the fictitious towns were so cute, sometimes featuring an inconspicuous superman or TowMater from Cars.
And I’m not even that much of a train fan. It was very amusing and educational. I loved the signs where I could read about the history of railroading. I completely geeked out.
$ 8 each for adult. Worth it!

Super cute museum that was surprisingly large! Not sure if I’d personally pay the full $ 8 for it, but it is worth visiting in you’re in the area and are tired of the other museums. I came about 45 minutes before closing time and got to go in for $ 1. This is not an official discount price, so you may have to chance it. Having only 45 minutes to see everything made me rush through the exhibits and I wish I had more time to look at some in detail.
The exhibits are very detailed and the railroad tracks are extensive. The trains are put together by different teams of volunteers, so it doesn’t get too monotonous with the same design throughout. Definitely spend some time watching the small trains go through the tunnels even if it takes at least 20 minutes for it to travel back through the loop.

I discovered this place during December Nights. Balboa Park never stops amazing me with all of it’s hidden treasures.
I’m not even a train person and I thought this place was simply magic. You walk in and are surrounded by models of real Western railroad lines. The detail is simply amazing, but I guess that is what you expect from a project that has been in the works for THIRTY years! This place transports you back into the time when the train was king. I love all of the old school scenes along the routes-​there is even a model drive-​in movie theater playing old cartoons.
On the mezzanine level you are able to see a new line being built. I love that you are able to get this behind-​the-​scenes look into how it all comes together.
This is a great spot for all ages– young and old. Certainly something you won’t see anywhere else!

Went to Balboa Park for the first time on a Sunday afternoon… I saw the sign for this Model Railroad Museum… Walked in, saw the price of admission of $ 8. Almost turned away but coughed it up anyway. I’m so glad I did!
Toy trains everywhere … in life-​sized models! Made me feel like a kid again. The train sets are HUGE! The tracks literally span across different rooms! And they have «conductors» holding the controls as they watch over their trains. The whole time I was thinking… How do I get that job?! Must be so much fun to work there! But again, I would be tempted to set up miniature explosives on one of those awesome looking bridges and set it off as a train crosses it… and then have a Superman doll fly in and stretch out to complete the track… and the train would make it across safely…
Okay anyway! Great place for kids that are a little bit older because there aren’t anything here you can touch. But how awesome would it be for anyone to be able to operate a train on one of their sets?
I need to look for my copy of Railroad Tycoon now!