The San Diego S-Gaugers is a tax exempt 501(C)(3) association of model railroaders founded January 19, 2008, in San Diego, California, dedicated to a three-part mission:
1. Promotion of S-Gauge model railroading
2. Education about S-Gauge model railroading, about model railroading in general, and about railroading in general.
3. Having fun in the process
To contact the club, email sandsgaugers@gmail.com.
We are moving in to a different shopping center, Parkway Plaza, in El Cajon, three miles east of our previous home. Good news for our visitors: there's a movie theater, food court, and lots of nice stores. Scroll down to the bottom of this page for a map and directions.
It's a larger space than we had before, so we'll be able to have more of our layouts set up for permanent display rather than rotating them in the window. And there is a built-in counter (to the left in the picture) where we may be able to test and repair visitors' trains.
We have a lot to set up and organize, and we want to complete the engine yard expansion of the layout, so our grand opening is tentatively scheduled for September 12, during the NMRA convention. Until then, stop by to watch things progress and to run the window layouts. We hope to have them running by August 28.
That's the good news. The bad news is that our new location will cost us a lot more than the old one, and our moving expenses and interim costs will exceed $3000.
If you would like to help us out, there are three ways you can make a donation:
Via Zelle to our email address sandsgaugers@gmail.com
On Venmo using the name @SDS-Gaugers
Send a check payable to "San Diego S-Gaugers" to:
San Diego S-Gaugers
14287 Mango Drive
Del Mar, CA 92014
Any amount would be appreciated. Since we are a 501(c)(3) organization, your donation is tax deductible.
Thank you very much.
Got trains?
Got a box of old trains in the garage? Bring them in and see if they still run. We have a test track not only for S scale trains, but also for Sn3, HO, N, and O Scale trains.
We can test them with AC, DC, DCC, or Lionel Legacy power sources.
Do you have childhood memories of American Flyer trains? Did you convert to HO or N due to space limitations? Are your eyes and hands finding smaller scales difficult to work with? Take another look at S Scale trains.
We invite you to join us! No space for a train layout at home? Come run your trains on the club layout, learn how to service or repair them, learn how to build and landscape a layout, and meet a bunch of interesting, knowledgeable people. Don't have any trains? That's okay; if you love trains, come join us anyway. For information about joining the club, go to the "About Us & Membership" page.
Big Changes Are Coming!
The engine service yard that we built in 2013 was connected to a corner of the layout for several years, but that configuration didn't fit in our Grossmont Center location and wouldn't fit in our new Parkway Plaza location. It has therefore been sitting in the middle of the layout as we deliberated various possibilities. We are excited to unveil the plan we came up with and invite you to come in and watch the progress. Here's a drawing of the planned change.
Visitors will enter an aisle that takes them between two new corner modules to a viewing area in the middle of the layout, surrounded by trains! On the left are the two Gilbert Siding modules with operating accessories that have for years been displayed in the alcove at the rear of our suite. Straight ahead is the engine service yard that has been enlarged to accommodate the eastbound mainline running around the yard. On the right is a new S-curve module and the Girder Bridge Module that has been on the front of the layout.
We have a Reefer and a Hobo
The back wall that was for many years a California hillside scene, has been repainted as a PFE refrigerator car.
And Hobo Joe is climbing the ladder. Everything is complete except the door latching mechanism.
And we have a train wreck
To show one of the things a work train does, we have staged a train wreck on the modules in our rear display cubicle.
Some freight cars have derailed and the Industrial Brownhoist crane is lifting the tank car back onto the track.
The circus has come to town!
You may have noticed the circus engine and two cars in the display case near the entrance. We've completed that train and it's now sitting in the passing siding on the S-curve.
And we purchased a reproduction set of the circus cutouts that Gilbert included in their 1950 Circus Set.
The circus will be on the S-curve until the new buildings are installed there.
We even have trapeze artists!
Are you looking to buy some trains?
Some of the trains and accessories donated to our club are offered for sale on a consignment basis at the Gilbert Gallery website.
Look for items for which the owner is shown as SDSG or simply SG.
In addition to S-Gauge trains, some N, HO and O Gauge trains are available, and a few Z scale items,
plus some decals and light bulbs that can be used with any scale.
Do you have childhood memories of American Flyer trains? Did you convert to HO or N due to space limitations?
Are your eyes and hands finding smaller scales difficult to work with?
Take another look at S Scale trains.
Proceeds of all sales come back to the club to support our operations.
Like to see the trains run?
When we were closed, the trains still ran. All you had to do was push the button outside the window and the trains on the window layouts ran for about a minute.
We plan to have the trains work the same way in our new home.
And there's also a button inside that runs the trains.
John Constans' Sn3 Westside Lumber Layout
In August of 2012, we visited John Constans' Westside Lumber Sn3 Layout on an NMRA layout tour.
Little did we know that six years later, his widow would donate it to our club in his memory.
We have transported it to the side room of our clubhouse, reinforced it, and created a new mount for it, refurbishing it for public display.
Click the picture to learn more about it.
Layout Tour Videos
The visitor's view:
And here's a video of the layout from the engineer's viewpoint:
The mail train pulls through Gilbert Town to deliver a bag of mail and pick up outgoing mail (video courtesy of Guido Hamacher).
We get a lot of special visitor trick-or-treaters on Halloween.
Our videos page has a lot more videos for you to watch.
Entering our Grossmont clubhouse, you were greeted by the girder bridge and military aircraft museum modules on the front of our big modular layout.
Click the picture below for a view of each of the modules in the layout.
To the right was the first of our three window layouts, Liberty Loop, named for our first home in San Diego's Liberty Station shopping center.
We have named our railroad the Grossmont Central Railroad in honor of our previous clubhouse hosts, Grossmont Center in La Mesa, and Raulf lettered the club's American Models Baldwin diesel locomotive for it.
Click the picture to see more pictures and the story of why and how the layout was built.
Click below for a video tour of Liberty Loop:
To your left was our second window layout. Depending on the time of year, you would see one of four seasonal layouts.
At Halloween, Christmas, and Easter we have a loop or track around a seasonal ceramic village.
Click the picture to see more pictures and the story of why and how the layout was built.
Because we have buildings for only three seasons on the seasonal layout, Mark suggested that we build a classical
1950s American Flyer layout to display the roots of our S gauge history. Click the picture to see more pictures and a video of it.
We named it Streeterville in honor of Burdette Streeter who donated his collection to the club.
In the alcove window to your far right was the Lego Window Layout provided by the L-Scale Museum.
Over the years, Michael Todd, curator of the L-Gauge Museum, has brought in a variety of Lego creations, most recently Lego Train layouts, to enhance our clubhouse. To see more about each of them, click the picture or "The Lego Window Layouts" link in the sidebar menu at the left.
Here's a video of the Lego train on the Flintstones display in May of 2023.
If you happened to come by when we were not open, you could push the button outside the window and the trains on all three window layouts would run for about a minute.
Our Timesaver Game
The Timesaver is a game/puzzle created by John Allen and published in Model Railroader Magazine in 1972.
It comprises two identical mini-switching yards connected by a short track that holds only one car.
Each yard has five spurs each long enough for two or three freight cars and a run-around with space for one car on one side and two on the other. Each yard has a switch engine and five freight cars scattered around in the yard.
The objective is to move the cars around into some specified final position. The person who does it in the shortest time wins.
Alternatively, it can be played as a cooperative two-player game where the final position for some cars is in the other player's yard.
For more information and pictures of the Timesaver, click the picture or the "Timesaver" link in the sidebar menu at the left.
Member Projects
Dale created some freight cars and work cars that are more interesting and realistic than those manufactured by Gilbert and other manufacturers, and many of the buildings on the layouts were built by club members.
Click the picture for a web page dedicated to member projects like this.
Meetings and Other Events
The club has monthly meetings, at 10:00AM to noon, generally on the third Tuesday of the month (see calendar of events below).
At the January meeting each year, we hold the election of officers and collection of annual dues.
At the club's June 2016 meeting, Wes Noel demonstrated the proper application of Bullfrog Snot to increase the traction of an engine's drive wheels so it can pull more cars.
Click the picture to see the video of this clinic.
More clinics will be added as we shoot videos of them.
In March, we began a series of informal engine repair workshops.
Calendar of Events
2026
SEPTEMBER
12 11:00AM - 6:00PM Grand Opening
17 10:00AM - 3:00 PM Work/Play Day
22 10:00 AM - noon Monthly Meeting
OCTOBER
15 10:00AM - 3:00 PM Work/Play Day
20 10:00 AM - noon Monthly Meeting
31 noon - 6:00 PM HALLOWEEN
NOVEMBER
17 10:00 AM - noon Monthly Meeting
DECEMBER
15 10:00 AM - noon Monthly Meeting
2027
JANUARY
19 10:00 AM - noon Annual Meeting and Election of Officers
Shows
NMRA, Pacific Southwest Region, San Diego Division Events - 2nd Saturday each month
2026
SEPTEMBER
9-13 NMRA Pacific Southwest REGIONAL CONVENTION - Mission Valley, CA
??? S-FEST WEST - Southern CA ???
OCTOBER
3-4 GREAT TRAIN SHOW - Del Mar, CA
How to Find Us
From most of San Diego County, you will be heading east on Interstate 8 to El Cajon. Take the Johnson Avenue exit and turn left, passing under the freeway. We are in Parkway Plaza, the large shopping center to your right as soon as you pass under the freeway.
It is a large indoor mall with eight entrances indicated by arrows on the site map below. Our new home is about the same distance from each of the five entrances in the west half of the center (left side of the site map).
There is plenty of free parking indicated by a P in a black circle on the site map below.
If you prefer to park in the parking structure out of the hot El Cajon sun (bottom center of the above site plan), turn right at the first stoplight, right after you pass under the freeway. Go in the rear entrance, through the Food Court, down the main aisle and turn left at Victoria's Secret. Alternatively, there are two other entrances at the northwest corner of the parking structure; make your way to the western aisle and proceed toward Dick's to the last aisle that goes to the right; we're the third suite on your right.
Make sure you park in Parking Structure A in the middle, not Parking Structure B on the east side of the center.
For the two west side entrances to the center, turn off Johnson Avenue before or after Bob's Discount Furniture and park in the large outdoor lot.
The main entrance is on the north side of the center, off Fletcher Parkway, past Dick's Sporting Goods. Turn right at the Pioneer Way stoplight into the outdoor parking lot. Go in that entrance, down the aisle past Victoria's Secret and turn right down that aisle. We're on the left, the third suite from the far end.
The picture below is the front of our suite; when we open, the white paint will be removed from the windows so everyone can see all the exciting train layouts inside!
