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Model Railroading Near Washington, DC
Model Railroading Interesting and Useful Information
Made in the Potomac Division — Local Model Railroading Companies
Fallen Flags in and around Washington, DC
Operating in and around Washington, DC
The Potomac
Module Crew (PMC) consists of members of the
Potomac Division who have an interest in HO modular model
railroading. A module is a section of a model railroad built
to a minimal standard set of dimensions, track locations, and
electrical connections. The type of scenery display is left to
the imagination and creativity of the builder. The scene on a
module can be rural or industrial, agricultural or urban,
mountainous or prairie-like, or any combination. The time
period model is also left to the modeler. The use of modules
allows a modeler the opportunity to create a section of
railroad without a major investment of time, space or money. A
module is also easy to transport and store when not in use. 
Northern
Virginia NTRAK promotes the hobby of N-Scale Model
Railroading. Member’s interests include railroad operations,
history and safety, writing and photography, as well as model
building. Throughout the year, the organization sets up at
railroad shows and shopping malls throughout the Metropolitan
area. The layouts are flexible and their modular nature allows
the layout to be tailored to fit the available space. These
setups allow members to run realistic- length trains over long
stretches of varied scenery, something that is not usually
possible on home layouts.
The Northern Virginia Model Railroaders (NVMR) is
a HO scale model railroad layout, that is on permanent display
at the Vienna station. The club models a small railroad, the
Western North Carolina, set in the 1950's. The club hosts open
houses, 10 times a year, where the public is welcome to come
and see trains running.
The Four County Society
of Model Engineers is a not-for-profit HO
scale modular railroad club dedicated to advancing our
skills and enjoyment of the hobby. We are located in
Central Maryland, mainly Carroll, Howard, Frederick and
Montgomery Counties, but also with members in surrounding
areas. 
The
Rockville Model Railroad Society (RMRS) was
founded in 2004 in Rockville, MD by the
merging of the Gaithersburg Model Railroad
Society and the Maryland Central Model
Railroad club. We are currently occupying
space in the King Farm area of Rockville, in
the old King Farm Homestead. We have a
diverse group, modeling in all popular
scales from G to Z. Open a new window at the Severna Park site.
The Washington,
Virginia, & Maryland Garden Railway Society (WVMGRS) is
the largest and oldest Garden Railway Society on the Eastern
Coast. Members enjoy a variety of scales associated with the
Guage 0 and Guage 1, and share a passion for small scale
live steam locomotives. The WVMGRS participates in many
aspects of garden railroading in our community, including
display, meeting, show, and layout open house. 
The Train Room in Hagerstown, MD is the
home of one of the largest collections of rare and unusual
items from Lionel & model railroading, toys, war related
items, etc. Much of the collection pre-dates World War II.
The museum houses one of the largest operating O-gauge model
railroad displays on the east coast, with all the sights and
sounds of the real thing ....and tons of railroad
memorabilia! 
Baltimore
Society of Model Engineers is undergoing a
transition while they look for a new permanent home. The
club has relocated to an interim location in the Woodberry
neighborhood of Baltimore. While searching for a new
home, the club will be constructing layouts in a sectional
manner in HO and O scales, with additional display layouts
in N and Z scale possible. In addition to building layouts
plans are for monthly clinics covering model techniques,
layout planning and construction, and railroad slide
presentations. In addition plans are being made for visiting
home layouts in the
area. Open a new window at the Baltimore Society
of Model Engineers site.
Augusta Co. Railroad Museum & Model
RR Club — Hosts the annual Harrisonburg area
model railroad show, the first Sunday in May. 
The
Meade Area Model Railroad Society - MARRS is a
group of model railroaders, collectors, and rail enthusiasts
based in the vicinity of Fort George G. Meade and the town
of Laurel, Maryland 
The Japan Rail Modelers (JRM) of
Washington DC is a loose group that focus on modeling
Japanese rail systems. Our goal is to support and encourage
modeling of Japanese rail systems and provide public
education about the extensive Japanese railroads. 
The Harford Associates for Railroad Modeling (HARM) is
an informal group meeting every Tuesday evening for the past
35 years. Members live in or near Harford County, Maryland.
Our objective is to operate and construct member layouts.
Scales range from N through G. HARM members are active with
the NMRA. Our site offers a platform to share ideas to
enhance the model railroading experience. 
The
National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) is
devoted to the development, promotion, and enjoyment of the
hobby of model railroading. It is people at the national,
regional and local level promoting the hobby, educating
people about it and working to insure that your trains and
equipment will work on other layouts. The NMRA member enjoys
participation in the Achievement Program; Photo, Slide and
Model Contests with fellow members; modelers Aid (ask a
question); directory of Information; glossary of terms;
retailers network; estate counseling (we may all need this
some day); access to Master Model Railroaders; and the most
important fellowship of other modelers.
The Mid-Eastern Region (MER) of the NMRA
includes the central states of the east coast, from New
Jersey to North Carolina. The purpose of your MER is to
promote, stimulate, foster and encourage the art and craft
of model railroading, to expand interest in and
publicizing the hobby of model railroading through
publication of the LOCAL six (6) times annually, and to
sponsor a convention or two each year. These conventions
give MER members the opportunity to network with other
model railroaders without traveling cross country.
November Model
Railroad Open Houses DE - MD - PA - NJ. Model Railroad Month Open House information site
Kalmbach
Model Railroad Event Calendar
To see the trains.com calendar, click on "All Events" in the
left column. This gives a filter where you can ask for
events within so many miles of your zip code. For example,
putting in "20904" (Silver Spring) for zip code and "100
miles" for Radius revealed 42 events within 100 miles
between November 28, 2014 and March 15, 2015. For slightly
further distances you will have to scan the entire list,
which at the time this was written had 264 events listed
nationally through October 29, 2017. For events more than
about 4 months away, you have to recheck the list
periodically - some groups are more organized and list their
meets 4 to 5 months in advance; others barely get listed a
week ahead of the event.
RailServe.com
Model Railroad Event Calendar
DCC by Design provides
services & product to help layout owners implement a
DCC system tailored to their needs. The free information
includes several articles about starting with DCC.
Services include DCC system and wiring design, control
panel design and assembly, JMRI software customization,
and mobile decoder installation. Products offered include
YardBoss, a locomotive and rolling st management software
which interfaces with JMRI, LocoBuffer USB for connecting
Digitrax systems to a computer, and numerous kits,
components and how to information.
Great Decals! produces
prototype decals in N- through O- scales with a focus on
the Piedmont railroads. Everything in our line started as
someone's idea. Even if you don't model that area, the web site has something for you: a list of all the model railroad decal web sites we know about.
The Washington, DC Chapter
of the National Railroad Historical Society (NRHS) is
a diverse group of people with a common interest in rail
transportation and its rich and storied history that
conducts a wide variety of activities, including public
excursions, train trips, tours, as well as private
railroad car journeys, and monthly meetings. There are a
wide variety of programs, community service projects,
rail equipment restoration and operation, excursion
train operations, community service activities,
historical research, photography contests, and railfan
outings.
The
Potomac Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society
(NRHS) is a group of railfans based in the
National Capital Area. We seek to increase public awareness
of railroads and their history. We meet the third Tuesday of
every month at 8:00 PM in the Montgomery Country Executive
Office building, 101 Monroe Street, Rockville, MD. We
welcome visitors. Member benefits include: interesting
monthly meetings with guest speakers, railroad- related film
and slide shows; annual chapter picnic; Potomac Rail News
monthly newsletter; opportunities for rail excursions and
industry field trips; and opportunities to assist at the
Gaithersburg Railway Museum and local railroad heritage
celebrations.
Scratch the surface of the Washington
& Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail and you will
find a railroad -- quite literally in some places. Ask the
older residents of the towns along the trail, and they will
tell you that they remember it. Known as "The Virginia
Creeper," in a reference to the speed of its trains, the
W&OD Railroad ended passenger service in 1951, lost its
contract to carry mail in 1951 and expired in 1968.
Throughout
its 160 years, the B&O Railroad enjoyed a rich and varied
corporate life. It was America's first common carrier railroad
and survived to become one of the world's oldest railroad
companies. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Historical
Society (B&ORRHS) exists to help assemble,
interpret and share that history. The B&O, like
railroading everywhere, touched virtually all areas of
American life. This diversity is reflected in the Society:
members' interest range from motive power and railroad
architecture to modeling and artifact collecting. Each year
the B&ORRHS holds an Annual Convention, with facility
tours, workshops, photo and models shows, displays, and the
Annual Membership Meeting and Banquet. Two regional
mini-conferences are held annually in the spring in the
Baltimore area and in Ohio. 
Located among
Baltimore City's historic southwest neighborhoods, at the
original site of the historic Mt. Clare Shops, the B&O
Railroad Museum is recognized universally as the
birthplace of American railroading. Forty acres of heritage
and a world class collection await your discovery. In
Association with the Smithsonian Institution.
NMRA members receive a $2 discount off the regular admission
charge.
Ellicott
City B&O Railroad Station Museum. The old
mill town of Ellicott City was the site of the first
passenger terminus of the B&O Railroad and therefore has
the distinction of being the oldest railroad terminal in the
country. Built in 1831, the station was a hub for both
commercial and Civil War trade. The museum features rotating
themes throughout the year: the Civil War from February
through May, the birth and development of the B&O from
May through September, and a holiday model train exhibit
from December through January.
The
National Capital Trolley Museum was founded
after the abandonment of streetcar service in the District
of Columbia. The Museum opened to the public in 1969 at its
present location in Northwest Branch Park in Montgomery
County, Maryland. The Museum's mission is to preserve and
interpret the history of Washington's electric street
railways. The collections consist of 17 streetcars from
Washington D.C. and other cities. Many of these are operated
on a one-mile demonstration railway. In addition, there is
an O-scale model layout representing a Washington
streetscape from the 1930's, a film program, and traditional
exhibits of street railway artifacts and photographs.
The Baltimore
Streetcar Museum is dedicated to preserving
Baltimore's public transportation history, especially the
street railway era. Their collection is focused on
equipment that ran in Baltimore. 
The
Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum (HRM) is
dedicated to promoting a public understanding of the
railroad history and railroad related activites in the
general area of Hagerstown, Maryland through
restroration, preservation, entertainment and education.
The Brunswick Railroad Museum
is located in the heart of Historic Brunswick
Maryland. The museum offers a 1700 square foot
interactive HO scale model railroad layout, which
depicts the B&O Railroad's "Metropolitan
Subdivision" from Washington DC's Union Station
platforms to Brunswick's large classification yards. The
BRRM also houses a large collection of artifacts from
the last century (and beyond) in exhibits telling the
story of the city of Brunswick, and the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad who built it, and the C&O Canal
National Historic Park Visitor Center for the nearby
historic site of Canal lock 30.
The Chesapeake
Beach Railway Museum in Chesapeake Beach, MD
commemorates the Chesapeake Beach Railway that served
this summer resort 28 miles from Washington, DC.
Exhibits include photographs of trains and the town, a
model train, a diorama of the resort, and a surviving
kangaroo from the carousel.
The
mission of the Chesapeake and Ohio Historical
Society (C&OHS) is to collect, conserve,
restore, index, archive, and make available materials on
the history of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway to as
wide an audience as possible. To interpret the American
railway experience through the Chesapeake & Ohio's
historical experience, using data, photographs,
drawings, publications, small artifacts, and full-size
railroad rolling stock.
In
the 125 years of its operation as an independent
railroad, the Western Maryland built a reputation as a
truly "Fast Freight Line." From the laborers on the
docks of Port Covington to the top brass, Western
Maryland people were noted for their skill in the
transportation field, and the pride that showed in every
aspect of their work. Today, the WM is a fond memory,
its remnants serving as an important link in the CSX
Transportation chain. Its memory survives, however, in
the Western Maryland Railway Historical
Society, Inc.
Take a trip back in time
. . . on the Walkersville Southern,
established in 1991 on the Frederick branch of the old
Pennsylvania Railroad. Come see our turn- of-the-century
railroad station and freight house. Ride in vintage
1920s passenger cars or on an open flatcar as your rail
excursion runs past a 100-year-old lime kiln, and then
out into the picturesque Maryland farm country.
The
Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society
(PRRT&HS) brings together persons
interested in the history of the Pennsylvania Railroad,
its subsidiaries and its predecessor companies to
promote the preservation and recording of all
information regarding the organization, operation,
facilities and equipment of the PRR. Publications
include The Keystone, a quarterly illustrated journal;
the monthly electronic newsletters Keystone e-NEWS and
Keystone Modeler. The PRRT&HS meets annually,
usually the first weekend in May. Activities include,
field trips, illustrated talks/lectures on various
aspects of the PRR, general discussion sessions, movies,
and slides of the Pennsy.
The
Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was
a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia to Washington,
DC. It is now a portion of the CSX Transportation
system. The RF&P was a bridge line, with a slogan of
"Linking North & South". (A bridge line has more
traffic passing through its connections with other
railroads than it originates or terminates at points
along the line.) For the major portion of its existence,
the RF&P connected with the Atlantic Coast Line
Railroad and Seaboard Air Line Railroad at Richmond. At
Alexandria and through trackage rights to Union Station
in Washington, DC, connections were made with the
Pennsylvania Railroad, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and
the Southern Railway.
Capital Free-mo is
an open group of model railroaders who construct,operate
and display an HO scale Free-mo modular layout at
locations around the Washington, DC area.The Chesapeake Beach Model Railroad Club - At the present some of us are meeting at the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum in Chesapeake Beach, MD.,on Tuesday mornings working on the model railroad there. Call the museum to make sure we are there. Contact Larry Brown lbrown9601@verizon.net for further information.