Best of 2000: Best Place To Get On Track

San Diego Model Railroad Museum
Casa de Balboa, lower level,
1649 El Prado, Balboa Park
(619) 696-0199

One of the world's largest running train displays is chugging along right in the middle of Balboa Park. The San Diego Model Railroad Museum has seen over a million visitors since opening to the public in 1982. Four huge scale-model displays fill up the gallery's 24,000 square feet, re-creating down to the smallest detail actual southwestern rail lines: the Cabrillo Southwestern (O-scale, 1/48 actual size), the San Diego/Arizona Eastern (HO-scale, 1/87 actual size), Tehachapi Pass (HO-scale), and the Pacific Desert Lines (N-scale, 1/160 actual size). Kids can play with a running Lionel layout and full-sized railroad artifacts are on display, including a track crossing signal and a working semaphore. Admission is $4 adults, children under 15 are free, and everyone gets in free on the first Tuesday of each month.