9. March 2025
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Museums & Exhibitions

San Diego Model Railroad Museum

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

San Diego Model Railroad Museum

20 USD
San Diego Model Railroad Museum
4.5

Rating

 4.5/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Nice landscapes
  • Interesting seasonal exhibits
  • Included in Balboa Explorer Pass

Having an Balboa Explorer Pass during our visit to San Diego in December 2023 gave my wife and me the opportunity to check out quite a lot of the city’s attractions. One of the places we visited is the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. With an exhibition space of some 2,500 square meters, it is the largest model railroad museum in North America. Here is my review.

 

San Diego Model Railroad Museum – Location & Admission

The San Diego Model Ralroad Museum is located in Casa de Balboa in Balboa Park, San Diego. Apart from San Diego Zoo, there are numerous attractions in the area. Balboa Park features free parking. However, the capacities may be limited during peak times. There are some restaurants and places to refresh as well, so that you can easily spend a whole day in the area.

The model railroad is typically opening daily except Mondays from 10:00 to 16:00. There are, of course, some impacts by public holidays. General admission is 20 USD for adults. San Diego County residents visit for free every first Tuesday of the month. If you are interested in multiple Balboa Park attractions, I recommend going for the Balboa Explorer Pass, which is including a wide range of attractions for 72 USD with a maximum visiting period of seven consecutive days (as of November 2024.).

 

San Diego Model Railroad Museum – The Visit

You can explore the different model landscapes typically through glass windows. Most of them are on both sides of the aisle. However, there are also smaller scale models or exhibitions of model trains themselves. Of course, the San Diego Model Railroad Museum features different North American scenes. This also leads to the situation that compared to places like the legendary Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, for example, the landscapes feel a bit more empty. Nonetheless, there many of the landscapes do tell a some really nice and funny stories just by the way they are set up. This leads to an entertaining time in the museum, also for families with children. The ones which were there during our visit felt to enjoy their time quite a lot. I also liked the level of documentation of the different landscapes.

There are model railroads with different scales in the museum as well. As you see in some of the pictures, some of the technology used feels rather basic from what I am used from the German global standard-setting model railroad. Nonetheless, it is a cool place and I really enjoyed the way landscapes are built or the infrastructure in display. The level of traffic is nice, but there could be a bit more, I feel.

 

Special Exhibitions

We visited the place during Christmas season. The San Diego Model Railroad Museum does feature seasonal exhibits. Not too surprisingly, we ran into the very colorful and beautifully done Happy Holidays railroad. This was definitely a lovely place to boost your seasonal spirit, even though it might be a bit too posh. As you see in the pictures below, the place was a paradise for children. The museum also features some displays with model trains of certain scales and topics.

 

San Diego Model Railroad Museum – Services

There is a nice shop close to the entrance. Apart from typical souvenirs, you can also buy some basic scale model train equipment.

 

San Diego Model Railroad Museum – My View

I really liked the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. The atmosphere is quite nice. Despite the holidays, the museum was not that crowded during our visit as well. Most of the model landscapes are not that rich, but that likely reflects the reality. The museum is definitely a nice place to enjoy an alternative view on the United States and North America.

 

Scale Modeling at Flyctory.com

Cars, Trains, Planes and more – here are postings about the world in model size:

 

Flyctory.com in San Diego

Here are all my postings related to San Diego in California:

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