Welcome to the Los Angeles Division, NMRA
Love trains? So do we! We are a group of model railroaders in Ventura and Los Angeles counties who share our love of trains and modeling by educating people and promoting the hobby of model railroading, helping all modelers - from beginners to experts - build their skills and capabilities, and holding in-person and virtual events.
Please look around the site to learn more about the Los Angeles Division, the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA), local rail-related museums, groups, and hobby shops, and upcoming local, regional and national model railroad events.
Spotlight On The 2026 OC 'N'gineers
The Orange County N'gineers N scale modular club builds and operates layouts in the region every year and has been part of the Central Coast Railroad Festival for decades. Your webmaster was part of the group that displayed our T-TRAK layout in the San Luis Obsispo Library on the weekend of October 2nd to 4th. This was my first time participating in a T-TRAK event it was fantastic! It was great to share out layout with the public, especially the kids who were super excited to watch the trains operate.
It definitely amped up my motivation to clean up the modules that I brought and to build more for future shows. I had some great feedback from the public visitors and stole some ideas was inspired by some of the other modules. It was great to see the modules in the wild and out of their natural habitat (my garage).
I would really recommend joining modular model railroad club to any model railroader. For me, knowing that it would be seen by the public inspired me to put a little more thought and working into my models. Even if you have a great home layout or are part of a club with a layout, you can build a T-TRAK module and bring it to some shows. You have 100% freedom in your module - you can try modeling a different area or era and even try your had in N scale. Not sure if it's for you? Contact the club(s) you are interested in - they will be happy to include you in a few future events to see if it's for you.
Below are some photos from the layout so you can see what I am taking about.
Text and photos by the LA Division
We need your help! If you have photos of a model you are proud of, a cool train-related thing you saw in the area or on a trip, or have some interesting news, please contact us so we can share it with the rest of the world.
See More Spotlight Articles >>>
Upcoming Events
Some of the upcoming railroad-related events over the next few months include:
- November 1 - TTOS/Southwestern Division Train Meet, Arcadia
- November 1 & 3 - Slim Gauge Guild Open House, Pasadena
- November 7 - Coachella Valley Model Railroaders Open House, Indio
- November 7 - "Hemet's Railroads & Depots Through Three Centuries" Presentation, Hemet
- November 7 - Santa Susana Railroad Historical Society Swap Meet and Open House, Santa Susana
- November 7, 8 & 10 - California Southern Model Railroad Club Open House, Norwalk
- November 7 & 8 - TrainFest, Milwaukee
- November 14 & 15 - Tehachapi Loop Railroad Club Train Show, Tehachapi
- December 5 - Los Angeles Model Railroad Society Holiday Open House, Harbor City
- December 6 - TTOS/Southwestern Division Train Meet and Christmas Party, Arcadia
- December 12 & 13 - Great Train Show, Pleasanton
- December 19 & 20 - Great Train Show, Ventura
The Los Angeles Division
We are a group of more than 200 railroad modelers in Los Angeles and Ventura counties in southern California. We are one of 150 local groups, called "divisions", of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) across the world. The Los Angeles Division is part of the Pacific Southwest Region of the NMRA, which includes three other divisions covering Southern California, Arizona, and Southern Nevada.
We hold a monthly virtual meeting on the first Thursday of every month at 7pm. These informal "Sand House Chats" are a round-table where members can share information and talk about whatever interests them.
All Division members receive the "LA Division Coupler," the Division's quarterly newsletter via email.
In addition to our website, we share information on multiple social media sites.
- The Los Angeles Division, NMRA Facebook page (a public page that anyone can "like" to follow)
- The Los Angeles Division, NMRA Instagram page (@la_division_nmra )
The NMRA
The National Model Railroad Association is a 501(c)(3) not for profit educational organization that was founded in 1935. It is a world-wide organization with over 16,000 active members, associates, families and clubs dedicated to the hobby of scale model railroading in all its facets, supporting a hobby of many diverse interests that all relate to the greater world of trains and railroads.