This travel blog focuses on things to do in BERKELEY and SAN FRANCISCO. It also features more travel destinations throughout Northern California. All are presented in small, easy-to-digest chunks of text along with plenty of photos so you really get the picture. Discover even more weekend adventures at my BERKELEY AND BEYOND website at www.berkeleyandbeyond.com. This blog is a continuation of my out-of-print guidebook--WEEKEND ADVENTURES IN SAN FRANCISCO & NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.
900 Dornan Dr./Garrard Blvd., (510) 234-4884. Apr-Dec; closed Jan-Mar. View layouts only, W 11-3 & Sat 12-5; free. Trains operate only on Sun 12-5; $4, 63+ & 4-11 $2, families $10.
The immense layout of the Golden State Model Railroad Museum is operated by the East Bay Model Engineers Society, which started in 1933 and is one of the oldest continually operating model railroad clubs in the country. Club members are seen popping up here and there like meerkats amid the 10,000 square-foot layout, which is the largest in Northern California and which incorporates three scales of toy trains--O, HO, and N--traveling through a miniature California. My grandkids quickly found the wrecked trains in a gully and injured play animals--one had lost its head. Oddities abound. When you arrive, ask for a scavenger hunt worksheet so you can try to find items in the display such as a haunted house and an occupied outhouse. Theme days occur on the fourth Sunday, and an exciting annual Wreck Day in November finds trains derailing and havoc reigning.
exterior of Golden State Model Railroad Museum in Pt. Richmond, California
entrance to Golden State Model Railroad Museum in Pt. Richmond, California
interior of Golden State Model Railroad Museum in Pt. Richmond, California
interior of Golden State Model Railroad Museum in Pt. Richmond, California
child points out wrecked train at Golden State Model Railroad Museum in Pt. Richmond, California
club member at Golden State Model Railroad Museum in Pt. Richmond, California
layout detail at Golden State Model Railroad Museum in Pt. Richmond, California
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