Tucked inside the Casa de Balboa building in Balboa Park is the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. It is the world’s largest operating model railroad museum and holds four enormous scale and model layouts depicting railroads of the Southwest. My son, who’s 7, loves going. Each time we go, we find something new and fun. On this last trip, our favorite model railroad was the Toy Train Gallery. In this exhibit, there are four separate main lines, realistic scenery, and many operating accessories. A “choo-choo cam” broadcasts a color image to a television screen to give visitors a great view of the train’s route. And if you stand in just the right place (ask one of the volunteers where), you can even see yourself on the television screen.
The other exhibits are all staffed by volunteers and are available for questions about their model railroads. Throughout the museum, there are areas where visitors can get some historical perspective of the railroads that are depicted in the museum. It also has a great gift shop for big and small train enthusiasts.
Additionally, right around the holidays, Legoland brings in an incredible holiday train exhibit. The scenery and trains are made from Legos. It is a really fun exhibit and I know we will be back to see that again.