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San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park, San Diego

Last Modified: February 20, 2020

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If you follow the blog, then you know that both bridges and trains are two of my favorite things to photograph. Side note, if you are looking for an awesome place to see real trains make sure to go to Orange Empire Railway Museum but if you want to see miniature trains and miniature cityscapes in all their glory then you need to go to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park. Here is all the information.

San Diego Railroad Museum 1

Details

  • Cost: Adults $12.50, Children (Age 4-11) $6
  • Hours: Tuesday through Friday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Saturday – Sunday 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
  • Information from 2016
  • Location: Balboa Park

San Diego Railroad Museum 15

With so many different options in Balboa Park, you can spend an entire day exploring all of the museums, if not longer. For me, I went right to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum to see one of the largest in the entire country and to indulge my inner child, who remembers building these with my dad as I was growing up.

San Diego Railroad Museum 3

This museum is located on the bottom floor of one of the main buildings, and while it is not as big as some of the other museums in the Balboa Park complex, all of the displays are miniatures, so there is obviously a lot to see.

San Diego Railroad Museum 8

The museum is like one long loop, and each area has a large window from when you can watch the trains go by and check out the cities that are made to complement the look and provide a full experience.

San Diego Railroad Museum 5

My wife and I decided to play a game of “what’s the weirdest thing you can find,” as there is a lot of goofiness added to the cities that are created for the trains. Here are some of the ones we found:

A man walking his dinosaur.

San Diego Railroad Museum 16

A bunch of rock climbers

San Diego Railroad Museum 2

My personal favorite, the shark sitting in the family swimming pool.

San Diego Railroad Museum 11

I would love to throw out the challenge for any readers to find a better one and post it in the comments.

San Diego Railroad Museum 9

,Many volunteers maintain the train museum and you can see as you are walking around how they interact with children, care for the trains, and help to provide an excellent experience.

San Diego Railroad Museum 13

This is a great place for practicing photography as there are a lot of fun scenes and moving things you can photograph.

San Diego Railroad Museum 4

While not for everyone, this is a really great museum if you are into trains or miniatures. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and if you love trains, make sure to check out Orange Empire as well.

Filed Under: Museums, Southern California Tagged With: featured, San Diego, San Diego County

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    Josh from California Through My Lens My name is Josh, and for the last 10 years, I have been exploring as much of California as I possibly can. This site is a collection of those adventures to encourage you to get out and explore California for yourself. More about me.

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