Recent and Upcoming Events

Scale Rails of Southwest Florida

Recent and Upcoming Events

The Depot - Our Home

In June of 2003, Scale Rails of Southwest Florida purchased a building to use as a club house. It is located just off Pondella in North Fort Myers, close to the center of gravity of the clubs membership. The address is 1262 Piney Road, North Fort Myers, FL 33903. Renovations were complete and the building was used for the first club meeting in August, 2003. We are now busy building our new HO layout. To see progress go to the Trainroom page.

The New Club Layout

Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from about 10am to about 2pm, club members go to the Depot to work on the construction and operation of the new HO scale layout. There is lots of work yet to do but we are now able to run trains. All Club members are encouraged to come help.

Open To The Public

Even though we still are working on our new HO scale layout, we do welcome the Public to drop by and see what we are doing. We have our modular N scale layout set up and operational, as well as a small HO scale layout designed for young kids (as opposed to us older kids!) to operate. We also will give you a tour of the HO layout and sometimes there are trains running. So you can observe progress, see how it is done, and sometimes see and hear the trains running. Who knows, you might become inspired to join us!

Routine Club Activities

Monthly meetings are held at our Clubhouse, the Depot, at 1262 Piney Road in North Fort Myers, FL. These meetings are held on the Second Saturday of each month at 1:30 pm. Sometimes other events cause us to change the day or time of a meeting. Please check the Calendar page for the latest information. Spouses are always welcome and are invited to attend.

Each year Scale Rails hosts a Train Show in Ft. Myers on the Saturday and Sunday following Thanksgiving. Attendance averages about 800-1000 people. The show also includes about 100 tables of dealers, selling model railroad equipment.

Each winter, starting in January, the Club conducts Clinics on the many varied aspects of model railroading. These Clinics are open to the public and will be held at our clubhouse, the Depot. Please check the Calendar page for specific topics and dates.

We occasionally host a NMRA Regional Convention. The last one we hosted was the May 2009 SSR Convention.

We also take trips together to both Regional and National Conventions, go on shopping trips to the east coast, Orlando, and the Tampa area, and visit other layouts, hobby shops and museums.

Many members are working on the various NMRA Achievement Program certificates of Merit, earning their way toward the Master Model Railroader Award.

Scale Rails Holiday Train Show

Upcomming Events