|
Finding a Garden Railroading Club
For years I have advised beginning garden railroaders to try to find a local or regional club. Club member share tips, plant starts, and fellowship. Often a good club is the difference between getting your own railroad off to a good start or engineering one disaster after another. Most clubs do a great job of welcoming, educating, and otherwise helping newcomers to the hobby.
But sometimes a good club is hard to find, literally. Many model railroading and garden railroading resources try to keep an updated list, but those lists only work as long as club members remember to call them with changes. And, sadly, many clubs have problems remembering to update those lists, or even to keep information updated on their own web sites.
So, while this may look like a list of active clubs, it is really just a list of clubs that were active the last time I had anything to do with them. I have checked the web sites to make certain that the links worked, and I have begun e-mailing the contact people for the clubs without listed web sites to be certain I still have the right contact names. But even if I have this list 100% up to date tonight, it will be out of date by the end of the month.
So think of this as a starting point on your quest to find likeminded hobbyists close to you. If you are associated with any of these clubs, please let me know, and also tell me if any information needs to change. If your club is not listed here, please contact
us with your information.
Also, if a link breaks, or you have reason to believe that a club listed here is no longer functioning as a club, let me know that as well.
Happy hunting!
Australia
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
LGB & G-Scale Model Railway Club of Australia | Based in Sydney, has members from all over Oz and NZ | www.trainweb.org/lgbofozclub | See web site. |
Canada
Alberta
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Rocky Mountain Garden Railroaders | Calgary | www.rmgr.org | See web site. |
Northern Alberta Garden Railroaders | | www.nagrs.ca/ | See web site. |
British Columbia
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Greater Vancouver Garden Railway Club | Greater Vancouver | www.gvgrc.ca | |
Inland Northwest Garden Railroad Society, Inc.
| Southeast British Columbia | www.ingrs.com Steve Featherkile (sfeatherkile@wildblue.net
) | Has members in Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia
|
Nova Scotia
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Cape Breton Garden Railway Society | Sydney | Donna Walker - 902-564-1677 - donna012@ns.sympatico.ca | |
Ontario
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Ottawa Valley Garden Railway Society | Ottawa/Nepean | www.ovgrs.org | Includes fans of battery power and very deep goldfish ponds, frequent running sessions when weather permits |
Backyard Railroaders | Newmarket | www.backyardrailroaders.com | See web site. |
Central Ontario Garden Railroad Association | Mississauga | http://cogra.org/home.html | See web site. |
Germany
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Club der LGB Freunde Rhein/ Sieg e.v. | In the Rhein/Sieg area in the Cologne region | www.lgb-rheinsieg.de/de | See web site. |
Great Britain
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
The G Scale Society | Includes members and smaller groups from many regions | www.g-scale-society.co.uk/ | Web site has many interesting features - worth a visit even if you're an ocean away. Includes links to local groups. |
East Midlands G Scale Society | East Midlands and beyond | http://gscaleeastmids.co.uk/ | Club is active, but web site is still under development. Check out the Archive Section to see past newsletters. |
G Scale Society - Northwest Area Group | Manchester & environs | http://g-scale-northwest.co.uk | Includes member gallery. |
USA
Arkansas
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Central Arkansas Garden Railway Society | Little Rock | Bernie Alsbrook - baalsbrook@sbcglobal.net (Last verified June, 2009) | |
Greater Hot Springs Garden Railway Society | Hot Springs Village | Ted Elzerman - 501-922-9271 - liztede@suddenlink.net (Last verified, April, 2008) | |
Mid-Arkansas Garden Railroad Club (Mid-Ark GRC) | Jacksonville | Michael Tollett - 501-982-2567 - mtollett@centurytel.net (Last verified, April, 2008) | |
Northwest Arkansas Garden Railway Society | Fayetteville | http://nwagrs.org | |
Arizona
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Arizona Garden Railway Society | | azmodelrr.com | See web site. |
California
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Bay Area Garden Railway Society | Greater San Francisco area | www.bagrs.org | A very large and active club, many helpful people |
Eastern Sierra Railroad Society | Ridgecrest, North Mohave Desert | Michael Cossey - 760-446-4845 | |
Gold Coast Garden Railway Society | Ventura | http://gcgrs.com/ | See web site. |
Greater Humboldt Bay Garden Railway Society | Eureka | www.ghbgrs.org | See web site. |
Orange County Railway Society | Orange County | Orlyn Glover -
714-554-8035 - ogees@dslextreme.com (Last verified April, 2008) | |
San Diego Garden Railway Society | Greater San Diego | www.sdgrs.com | A large and active club, I know one of the officers - great, helpful people |
Sacramento Valley Garden Railway Society | Sacramento and 50-150 miles in each direction | www.svgrs.org/ | I know some great people in this club. |
Santa Clarita Valley Garden Railroad Club | Los Angeles County | www.scvgardenrr.com | See web site. |
Shasta Garden Railroad Society | Redding | www.shastagrs.com | See web site. |
Upland Garden Railway Society | Upland | www.uplandgrs.org | See web site. |
Colorado
Florida
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Florida Garden Railway Society | Has Central, Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida divisions | www.fgrs.org | Many members, many outreach activities |
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club | Pensacola | www.ecgrc.com | See web site. |
Florida Fellowship of Model Engineers | Del Ray | William B. (Bill) Lumley - 561-496-4434 | |
Georgia
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Georgia Garden Railway Society | | ggrs.info/ | See web site. |
Vines Garden Railroad Club, Inc. | Loganville | www.vinesgardenrailroad.com | See web site. |
Hawaii
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
East Hawaii Train Group | Big Island | Werner Leupold
- 808-966-8042 - weleupold@msn.com (Unverified as of April, 2008) | |
Idaho
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Southern Idaho G Scalers | | lyonshome.org/ brad/gscalers.htm | See web site. |
Inland Northwest Garden Railroad Society, Inc.
| Northern Idaho | www.ingrs.com Chuck Inlow (cncrr@frontier.com)
| Has members in Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia
|
Illinois
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Gateway Garden Railroad Club | Greater St. Louis (including members from Illinois and Missouri) | http://ggrrc.org also: Ric Golding - 618-594-3902 - westaccess@charter.net (Last verified, April, 2008) | Strong on outreach; some very helpful members |
LGB Model Railroad Club of Chicago | Greater Chicago | lgbmrrcc.com/ | See web site. |
Chicago Area Garden Railway Society | Greater Chicago | www.cagrs.com | See web site. |
Midwest RAILS | Greater Chicago | www.midwestrails.org/index.html | Mostly focuses on modular railroads. See web site. |
Illiana Train Society | 775 Meridian Rd, Valparaiso, IN 46385 | GTrainDavid@Yahoo.com https://www.facebook.com/Illiana-Garden-Railway-Society-157258485074161/ | |
Indiana
Iowa
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Central Iowa Garden Railway Society | Osceola and environs | www.trainweb.org/cigrs/ | See web site. |
Cedar Valley Garden Railway Society | Cedar Rapids and environs | www.cedarvalleygrs.com/ | See web site. |
Kansas
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Kansas City Garden Railway Society, Inc. | Kansas City | www.kcgrs.com | See web site. |
Wichita Area Garden Railroad Society | Greater Wichita | www.wagrs.net | See web site. |
Maine
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Maine Garden Railway Society | Where is Weld, anyway? Has members from almost all over the state. | http://mgrsmembers.blogspot.com | See web site. |
Maryland
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Mason-Dixon Large Scale Railroad Society, Inc. | Bel Air | mdlsrs.com | See web site. |
Shoreline Garden Railroad Club | Federalsburg | www.trainweb.org/ shoreline | See web site. |
Washington, Virginia, & Maryland Garden Railway Society | Gaithersburg MD | www.wvmgrs.org | Web site has "how-to" articles. |
Michigan
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Lakeshore Garden Railway Club | Grosse Point Woods | Robert Greening, Jr - 313-886-6502 | |
Greater Grand Rapids G Gaugers | Greater Grand Rapids | Carl Bajema - 616-791-9010 - bajemacarl@comcast.net (Unverified as of April, 2008)
| |
Minnesota
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Minnesota Garden Railway Society | Cottage Grove | www.mgrs.org | Large members' photo gallery (small photos, though) |
Missouri
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Gateway Garden Railroad Club | Greater St. Louis (including members from Illinois and Missouri) | Ric Golding - 618-594-3902 - westaccess@charter.net (Last verified as of April, 2008) | A fast-growing club that is strong on outreach |
Ozark Garden Railway Society | Springfield and environs | http://ogrs.org | See web site. |
New Hamshire
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
New Hampshire Garden Railway Society | Milford | www.nhgrs.com | Member Railroad Gallery |
New Jersey
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Garden Railroaders of Northern New Jersey | Jersey Northern NJ, SE PA, etc. | www.grrnnj.com | Member Railroad Gallery |
South Jersey Garden Railroad Society | Southern New Jersey | www.trainweb.org/sjgrs/ | Member Railroad Gallery |
New Mexico
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
New Mexico Garden Railroaders | Albuquerque | www.nmgrr.com | Member Railroad Gallery |
New York
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Hudson Valley Large Scale Club | Dover Plains | Pat McCarty - 845-877-6830 - mcginty26@aol.com (Last verified April, 2008) | |
Long Island Garden Railway Society, Inc. | N. Massapequa | www.ligrs.org | Small photo gallery. I know some especially helpful people in this club. |
Western New York Garden Railway Society | Buffalo | Contact: grtebo@gmail.com Website: www.WNYGRS.com | See website. |
North Carolina
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
North Carolina Garden Railroad Society | Raleigh |
http://ncgrs.webs.com/ President Barbara Sossomon - sosfam@nc.rr.com | |
Ohio
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Miami Valley Garden Railway Society | Greater Dayton | www.mvgrs.com | Very friendly and active, with some very talented members. Members' photo gallery, members-only newsletter archive. |
Columbus (Ohio) Garden Railway Society | Central Ohio | www.cgrs.org | A large and active club with many helpful and experienced members. Several remarkable railroads that I've seen in person. |
Greater Cincinnati Garden Railway Society | Greater Cincinnati | www.gcgrs.org | One of the largest and most active clubs in the country, many railroades influenced by Paul Busse who is based here. Members' photo gallery, members-only newsletter archive. |
Northern Ohio Garden Railway Society | NE Ohio | www.nogrs.org | I have met and worked on projects with several members of this club - very helpful people, though quite spread out. |
Riverside Railroad Club | Warren, Ohio | www.riversiderr.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/riversiderailroad | Located at the S.C.O.P.E. center at 220 West Market Street,
Warren, OH 44481. We meet on Tuesdays at 5 and usually have three open houses a year. |
Oklahoma
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Central Oklahoma Garden Railway Society | Oklahoma City environs | A Facebook Page is supposed to be starting. | |
Tulsa Garden Railroad Club | Greater Tulsa | www.tulsagardenrailroadclub.org | See web site. |
Oregon
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Emerald State Garden Railway Society | Eugene | Gary Lane - 541-345-8223 - scudding@comcast.net (Last verified April, 2008) | |
Rose City Garden Railway Society | Portland | www.rcgrs.com/ | Member railroad gallery |
Southwest Oregon Large Scale Trains | Central Point | www.solst.com | Maintains a permanent railroad in a public park. |
Pacific Crossings Model Railroad Club | Salem | http://pcmrc.com | Hosts occasional open railroad tours. Web page has some clever articles. |
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Crossville G Scalers | Crossville | www.crossvillemrc.com | See web site. |
Mid-South Garden Railway Society | Collierville | www.msgrs.org | See web site. |
Texas
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/Other Comments |
Garden Railroad Club of South Texas | Needville | gardenrailroadclub.org | See web site. |
Heart-Of-Texas G-Gaugers | Austin | www.hotgg.org | See web site. |
North Texas Garden Railway Club | Plano, Wetherford, etc. | http://ntgrc.org | Member's photo gallery, free newsletter archive |
San Antonio Garden Railroad Society | Greater San Antonio | www.txtransportation museum.org | See web site. |
Houston Area "G" Gaugers
| Greater Houston |
www.HoustonAGG.com or e-mail HAGGPrez99@aol.com | See web site. |
Utah
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Utah Garden Railway Society | Northern/Central Utah | www.ugrs.org | See web site. |
Vermont
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Vermont Garden Railway Society | | http://www.vgrs.us/ | See web site. |
Virginia
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Big Lick Big Train Operators | Roanoke and environs | John Singleton - js1ton@aol.com (Last verified April, 2008) | |
Tidewater Big Train Operators | Virginia Beach | www.tbto.org | See web site. |
Piedmont Railroaders | D.C. and environs | Tony Tripi - 540-347-9212 - tripi@earthlink.net (Unverified as of April, 2008) | |
Shenandoah and Potomac Valley Garden Railway Club
| The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, eastern West Virginia, Western Maryland, south central Pennsylvania. | http://spvgrc.org/ | |
Washington
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Puget Sound Garden Railway Society
| Puget Sound region | www.psgrs.org | See web site. |
Inland Northwest Garden Railroad Society, Inc.
| The Inland Empire of Eastern Washington | www.inlandnorthwestgardenrailroadsociety.org | Has members in Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia
|
West Virginia
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/ Other Comments |
Shenandoah & Potomac Valley Garden Railway Club | | www.spvgrc.org/ | See web site. |
Wisconsin
Club Name | Location or Region | Web Site or Contact Info | Special Features/Other Comments |
Wisconsin Garden Railway Society | Sun Prairie | www.wgrsociety.org | See web site. |
Other Club Search Databases
Some other folks have been collecting club information for much longer than me, and they may have listings that I haven't tracked down yet, or that I didn't include because I couldn't get any verification for them. If you have a reasonably updated database of garden railroading clubs, please let me know and I'll check it out for possible inclusion here. Also, if you're searching for a club, and you find a good club near you that I don't have good information for, please let me know, and I'll update my list above.
|