A day at the JT&S  Railroad Museum Fall Meet.

Hidden in the hills above Joshua Tree is a little known jewel of a place. It appears like about 100 Acres of private park lands studded with a train station/museum, Pullman Cars, a camping area and a couple of miles of both 7.5 inch and the much larger 15 inch model train track.

Council member elect along with my wife Fay and I took a tour of the facility Saturday.

Along with a dozens Engines of different sizes and propulsion deisel, gas and Steam, the museum is well worth seeing.

The girls thought it was way to cold to spend too long Saturday but I was like a little kid at a candy store.

As you can imagine model Railroading at this level is not a cheep hobby. Some of the trains in the 15 inch track level can cost as much as $30,000 plus. It takes as much a 13 years to build some of these engines so the cost is spread out over quite a few years.

I have purposely not given the location of this wonderland of big boy toys at the request of the JT&S Railroad Club. While they are proud of their accomplishments, they are not at all ready to make their park a tourist destination. I thought that was a rather sensible.

I talked with Club Representative Terry Watson and asked him a little on the history of the club and the railroad park.  He told me it was started in 1968. It sat for years after the original club members passed and after years of being idle,  Renewed interest and new members has made this an important stop for Western States Model Train Enthusiasts.

please call Terry Watson at

(760) 366-8879

to arrange a date & time.

Terry will customize your tour based on your interests and time available

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