While the Golden State Model Railroad Museum is only 22 years old, the group of people that build and operate the layouts inside it, namely the East Bay Model Engineers Society, is one of the oldest and largest clubs of its kind in the world. What follows is a brief sketch of our long and colorful history. Much of this information was assembled by club member Paul J. Soito.

Publications

The early history of the club was described in Model Railroader, June 1962, pg. 46-55 and operations were described in Model Railroader, March 1968, pg. 35-39. The 1947 NMRA convention brochure, hosted by the EBMES, contains interesting historical information. Click to view copies of the articles.

The Early Years (1933-1940)

The East Bay Model Engineers Society was founded in 1933 and ranks as one of the oldest modelling clubs in the nation. It started with a small group of members with a diversity of interests ranging from shipbuilding to model airplanes, power boats and model trains. Records are sketchy but the first "home" for the club may have been Walter Brown's Industrial Gear Machine Works in Oakland.

In 1934, the club started its first train layout, in O scale, in the basement of Grahme Hardy's Book Store in Oakland.

In 1936, the EBMES expanded and moved to the baggage room of the Western Pacific Depot. This layout was HO scale. By 1937, the EBMES had become strictly a model railroad club.

Halleck Street (1940-1985)

After a brief move in 1939 to the Key System offices, the club moved in April 1940 to its longterm home in a Santa Fe warehouse at 4075 Halleck Street, Oakland, near the edge of Emeryville. For forty years the club built HO, O and eventually N scale layouts. Many residents and visitors to the East Bay fondly remember the layouts on Halleck Street.

The building itself was 100 x 125 feet located in an industrial area right next to the Southern Pacific tracks. The building was apparently never in great shape, and over the years, maintenance issues continued to be a problem.

The O scale layout was roughly 63 x 100 feet and consisted of several separate divisions. The Sante Fe Western ran standard guage equipment around the edge of the space, while the Oakland, Antioch and Eastern ran trolleys and electric freight. There were two narrow-gauge railways: the Poterville Western (On30) and the Denver and South Park (On3).

 

 

The 33x80 foot HO scale layout was found in the back of the building. It contained over 2900 feet of track, including mainline passenger and freight service (the Sante Fe Central), electric traction (East Bay Traction Co), branchline facilities (Cajon and West Pokechop) and a narrow gauge line (Sierra and Pacific Coast).

 

 

The N scale layout, the Sante Fe Eastern, was the last addition to the club and had over four scale miles of track.

The days on Halleck Street saw a few noteworthy events besides the regular operating nights, and open houses. In 1939 and 1940 club members helped in the construction of an O scale train display at the World's Fair held on Treasure Island, in San Francisco Bay. In 1947, we hosted the first West Coast National NMRA convention.

 

 

 

In the early 1980's, the condition of the building had deteriorated to the point where members began thinking about finding a new home for the club. In 1984, any indecision was eliminated: Sante Fe decided they needed the property for something else and we needed to move out. The search was on for a new building.

Here are some photos of the Halleck Street layouts.

Point Richmond (1985-present)

In 1985 we relocated to a much larger space, our current building, located in Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline in Point Richmond. The original space was very large, but needed substantial renovations. The building had been occupied by various tennants over the years, most recently a paint manufacturer, and we needed to clean, redesign and renovate the interior as well as put on a new roof.

At this time, the Golden State Model Railroad Museum was incorporated. Our goals were, and continue to be, to provide education to adults and children interested in model railroading, prototype railroad history and operations. We are a California non-profit corporation and qualify as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3), which means that we can accept tax-deductible donations. The actual layouts are constructed, operated and maintained by the East Bay Model Engineers Society (EBMES).

Sadly model railroads do not transport well, and little of the Halleck St. layouts could be saved, except for rolling stock and some structures. Old-timers may recognize a few of these on the new layouts, particularly on the O scale layout.

One advantage of starting fresh is that you can "do it right". Rather than haphazardly filling the building with trains, many plans were formulated and examined. These considered not only the layouts, but the public spaces as well, to ensure that visitors would have the best possible experience when visiting our club. Visitors were not shoe-horned in as an afterthought, rather the building has an elevated central walkway, wheelchair access and controlled lighting.

Finally, in 1989, construction began on the three layouts you see today. We opened our doors to the public in 1991 and we continue to build and modify the layouts. As our many regular visitors know, there is always something new to see.

The club has gone through many changes over the years, both in location and in membership. Our move was traumatic but now we have the dual advantage of being one of the oldest model railroad clubs in the world, in a brand new facility, benefitting from almost 60 years of model railroad experience.

We look forward to seeing you.

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