# Travelling to so-cal from uk



## nomis45mm (Oct 5, 2008)

I'm going to be in California for 3 weeks in August, specifically around the San Diego & Lake Arrowhead areas.


Are there any good large-scale train shops that you guys could recommend?
We are flying in and out of San Fran, and heading down via Anaheim. Ive already got trips planned to Roaring Camp, Disney, and Knotts








Is there anywhere else not to be missed?

Thanks!


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Be sure to look at Gold Coast Station 

http://www.goldcoaststation.com/ 

I am sure there are others, especially since you are traveling from San Francisco to San Diego.


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By nomis45mm on 23 Jul 2009 03:53 AM 


I'm going to be in California for 3 weeks in August, specifically around the San Diego & Lake Arrowhead areas.


Are there any good large-scale train shops that you guys could recommend?
We are flying in and out of San Fran, and heading down via Anaheim. Ive already got trips planned to Roaring Camp, Disney, and Knotts








Is there anywhere else not to be missed?

Thanks!



We're about 20 minutes SE of Dizzyland and Knott's Fairy Barn if you would like to stop by and see the Tortoise & Lizard Bash.

http://tortoiseandlizardbash.com/


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

No good train shops here in San Diego. There is one that has a fair amount of USAT and some older full list price locos, Reed's in La Mesa (10 minutes East of San Diego city proper). 

San Val would have been great in Van Nuys, but they are no more. There's a shop with a lot of stuff in Huntington Beach, near 405, but you have to ask for what you want, very small showroom, but lots of trains in the "Warehouse" which you cannot enter... it Morgan's Big Trains, just off the 405 freeway. 

Regards, Greg


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By nomis45mm on 23 Jul 2009 03:53 AM 


I'm going to be in California for 3 weeks in August, specifically around the San Diego & Lake Arrowhead areas.


Are there any good large-scale train shops that you guys could recommend?
We are flying in and out of San Fran, and heading down via Anaheim. Ive already got trips planned to Roaring Camp, Disney, and Knotts








Is there anywhere else not to be missed?

Thanks!



Since you are going to spend at least a small amount of time in northern California (Roaring Camp) if possible try and visit the train museum in Sacramento's "Old Town". It is a truly primo museum with most equipment beautifully restored and displayed indoors. Much of the equipment is from the 1870's-1890's but there is also a lot of later stuff such as an SP cab-forward and some diesels.

Sacramento is about 1-1/2 to 2 hours drive from the SF Bay Area. Besides the wonderful displays that could easily use a full day to view they have a great bookstore crammed full of railroad books should you be interested. Additionally there are many fine restaurants in Old Town itself within blocks of the museum for lunch and/or dinner to keep the family happy if they are with you.


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## nkelsey (Jan 4, 2008)

I second Richard's idea of the Sacramento Rail Museum, and would also suggest going up to Jamestown for the Sierra RR roundhouse, train and museum. For shopping in So Cal there is Upland Trains in Upland. 

Griffith Park has the Travel Town museum, LA Live Steamers, with trains in LA and Walt Disney's barn with displays. 

http://www.lacity.org/rap/dos/parks/griffithpk/attractions.htm 

I no longer have contacts at Dismal World, the Tragic Kingdom, but ask about roundhouse tours at Customer Service. ( I remember E Coupons, so its been a while! heck, I remember Knutts before they built the wall) 

Enjoy the traffic


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

GRR and RR stuff to see in California:

The Northern California... 

a. California RR Museum, Sacramento...one of the best three RR museums in the US...this is two hours north of San Francisco...it IS possible to take a train from SF to Sacramento if you don't have a rental carhttp://www.csrmf.org/default.asp

b. Roaring Camp, Felton...I love this place. Buy food at the start of the ride or take a picnic lunch with you...and eat it on top of the mountain. There's a nice grassy area...and a sandwich with a bottle of wine makes for a great afternoon and train ride. After lunch, take another train back down.http://www.roaringcamp.com/
c. San Francisco Cable Car Museum...downtown SF...you'll get to see all the motors and belts that pull all the cable cars that are out in the street http://www.cablecarmuseum.org/

d. The Train Shop, Santa Clara...one of the better train shops in California. All scales. Lotsa books. http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-train-shop-santa-clara

e. Train Town, Sonoma...1 hour north of SF http://www.traintown.com/ 

f. Skunk Train, Willits...train ride through more redwoods http://www.skunktrain.com/ 

g. Contact the Bay Area Garden Railway Society through their website to see if they have any member layouts open for touring http://www.bagrs.org/ 



In LA area:
a. LA Live Steamers, Griffith Park...weekends for sure...ride on live steam trains http://www.lals.org/

b. Travel Town Museum, Griffith Park...train museum http://www.lacity.org/rap/grifmet/tt/index.htm

c. Fairplex Garden Railroad, Los Angeles County Faigrounds, Pomona ... nice, big, well run outdoor layout http://www.fgrr.org/ 


San Diego area:
a. Contact San Diego Garden Railway Society through their web site to see if they have any member layouts open for touring http://www.sdgrs.com/

b. Walter Anderson's Nursery, Poway...outdoor garden railroad that usually has trains running http://www.walterandersen.com/

c. San Diego Model Railroad Museum, Balboa Park...one of the biggest, if not THE biggest model RR museums in the US http://www.sdmodelrailroadm.com/ 

d. San Diego Railroad Museum, Campo...40 minutes east of SD...HOT http://www.sdrm.org/ 

e. Reeds Hobby Shop, La Mesa...the local big hobby shop for trains stuff http://www.reeds-hobbies.com/


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## pageeddie (Nov 2, 2008)

It was announced, today, July 9, 2009, that the "Magic Behind Our Steam Trains" tour will be suspended for the next ninety (90) days. No further explanation was given and I will not speculate about it. We will have to wait to see what happens on October 8, 2009. Sorry to be the bearer of the bad news, but I thought you would want to know.


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## nomis45mm (Oct 5, 2008)

Thanks for the info guys









I will definately check out some of those ideas - thanks for the invites!

Our hotel in sand Diego is right next to the park, i might just have to make a visit to the museum while we are there.
I didn't realise that the "behind the magic" tour was suspended, i wasn't planning on doing this one anyway so it's no big personal loss - sad news though.


Also,

Are the bachmann 45 ton diesels still available over there?
They seem to have disappeared form UK suppliers.


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## Rod Fearnley (Jan 2, 2008)

Nomis be sure to take in Balboa park when you are in San Diego, they have a good train display up there, all scales.
Its a good day out anyway, we enjoyed it.
Rod

PS You could always get your train stuff on line and delivered to one of our MLS friends who live close by......................That works for me also







MLS is one big family.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Rod, that would be item "C" in Mike's post under San Diego... it's best to refer to it as Mike put it, otherwise people may just wind up in the park! ha ha!. 

I am in north San Diego, but right off the 5 freeway, if a drop ship point is needed... oh, I also have G scale trains, ha ha! 

Regards, Greg


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## Rod Fearnley (Jan 2, 2008)

Whoops!







Sorry, I missed that part of Mikey's post. 
Rod


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I only brought it up, because many San Diego residents do not understand that the museums are actually in Balboa Park, they only think of Balboa Park as the grassy area... west of 163... (you go over the Laurel street bridge to get from the grass to the museums). 

Regards, Greg


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Nomis, since you will be in and out of San Francisco (the locals hate when you call it San Fran), the one layout that you should see, which is not far from SFO (that's the airport) is Jack Verducci's. As far as I know, Jack's not a regular poster on MLS, probably because he's too busy building outdoor and indoor layouts for dozens of clients, and pens a regular column in Garden Railways Magazine. Jack is a swell guy and a member of the Bay Area Garden Railway Society, as is TAP Plastic's Russ Miller. Sooo, I would put a bee in Russ' bonnet on MLS and have him arrange a visit to Jack's. And Russ, if you read this, c'mon, show this Brit a little hometown hospitality


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