blarrib – GGMRC, the Golden Gate Model Railroad Club

Negotiations with the Randall Museum

blarrib — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 19:11:39 +0000

Thanks to those who signed our petition to save the Golden Gate Model Railroad Club layout. There are over 1,000 of you! We very much appreciate your support.

Our negotiations with the Randall Museum and the Dept. of Rec & Parks to keep the trains running are approaching a critical point and we may shortly be looking to you to communicate directly with the Dept. of Rec & Parks, the Museum and your appropriate elected officials to voice your support.

Please give us your email using the form in the sidebar to the right so that we can keep you informed of the latest developments.

Thank you again for your support.

Golden Gate Model Railroaders

Museum Closing

blarrib — Fri, 01 May 2015 23:14:24 +0000

The Randall Museum closed for renovations on June 1, 2015. This means that that you will no longer be able to visit the GGMRC’s train layout until the Museum reopens some time in 2017.

Our last Junior Engineer Day was on May 16, and many children came and had a last chance to run a train with us.

We are planning to reopen in 2017 with the layout updated and improved. We are working with the Museum to provide access the layout any time that the Museum is open and not just on Saturdays.

Keep watch on this web site for further news.

GGMRC YouTube Channel

blarrib — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 19:29:18 +0000

Click here to access the new YouTube channel the we have created to feature videos of our layout.

Click here to see the club’s Google+ page.

You can also find these links in the sidebar to the right.

This play list has all the club’s videos:

and here are some more videos posted by the club members:

Ride Around the Track

blarrib — Sun, 05 Oct 2014 18:09:09 +0000

One of our members created a nice video of a cab ride around the main line of the layout. Take a look and see what it is like to ride around the layout:

And here’s the California Zephyr on the track:

You can find more videos of the track here.

Good News!

blarrib — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 19:19:54 +0000

We have just heard from the Randall Museum that the building department has given verbal approval to keep the train room and layout as they are. This does need to be confirmed in writing.

It appears that our layout will survive the Museum’s renovation that will start next year. It also means that the work that we have started to define a formal relationship with the Museum and to make the layout available to the public whenever the Museum is open can now go forward. We will also be trying to meet the Museum’s request by modifying the layout to create a new interactive element that let kids run a train when no club members are present.

This is a solid step in the right direction that we think will lead to a better experience for everybody. We will make further posts as this work progresses.

Click here for more information on our campaign to Save the Train!

Museum Working to Save the Train!

blarrib — Thu, 15 May 2014 16:50:30 +0000

We have had two very positive meetings with the Randall Museum and the Parks & Rec. Department to discuss how to Save the Train! The meeting last week included Phil Ginsburg, General Manager. He gave his commitment to work toward Saving the Train!. The meeting this week was a working level meeting. Click here to see a letter that was jointly issued by the GGMRC and the Randall Museum that describes how we are both working to Save the Train! In this weeks meeting they said that the Museum met with the San Francisco Building Department twice. The first time had a very negative result that would lose the train. After the GGMRC researched the codes and found exceptions that would let us stay, the Building Department became much more positive. A third meeting is scheduled between the Museum and the Building Department for the end of May. The Museum expects to get a definitive ruling in that meeting. This means that we should know if we will be able to Save the Train! in early June. We will publish a progress report then. Click here for more information on our campaign to Save the Train!

Digital Controls Now Here!

blarrib — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 23:09:24 +0000

After working on it for the last year, we have completed the conversion and are now running DCC regularly. We will run DCC trains on Saturdays and Wednesday evenings.

Come by and take a look. We would love to have you join us.

Thank you all for your support! This will help us to make running trains on the layout more interesting for us and for you. We will be able to run more trains on the layout at the same time and to run them closer together.

Thanks for your help!

blarrib — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:41:32 +0000

We have exceeded our goal of raising $2,500 to support the conversion of our layout to use the latest digital control system. As of our business meeting in November we had raised more that $2,600. Many thanks to everybody who helped us.

This upgrade will allow us to run more trains on the layout at one time and take advantage of the the sounds and controls that are available on the latest locomotives. This will make running trains more interesting and more realistic.

Our layout was originally designed and built more than 50 years ago. It has proved to be very flexible and has stood the test of time well. However, we have decided to adopt the new digital technologies that are now available.

This upgrade went well beyond what the club had been able to raise on a regular basis to maintain and operate the layout. We need your help to accomplish this upgrade.

WeÂ will appreciate your futureÂ donations that will help us to continue to improve our layout. Even a dollar or two would help. You can send your donation to:

GGMRC Modernization Fund
P.O. Box 14933
San Francisco CA 94114

Thank you for your support!