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All About the Pebble Creek Model RR Club

Love trains? Interested in learning about railroads?  Do you have an old Lionel or American Flyer set? Do you want to run a train during the holidays?  If so, even a little, then a model railroad club could be for you.

The PCMRC was formed in January 1998, for the purpose of fellowship around model railroading and with the goal of building a modular layout.   Several meetings were spent discussing organization, design then we got to work and built the sectional layout.  In December of 1999, the layout was launched at an open house in Pebble Creek and the railroad club was underway.  The HO sectional railroad was later expanded, scenery added and operated for several years.

In 2001 we built a small outdoor garden railway.  It is located next at the old Arts & Crafts Center. The funding for the track work came from individual contributions, raffles and a donation from Robson Corporation. The club owns motive power, rolling stock and the buildings. The garden railroad runs on holidays and special PC events.

The new Great Lakes Western HO pike comes from our long desire to build a permanent railroad and the fortunate availablity of space in the old A&C center when the new one opened in January 2006.   A year was spent designing a fully state-of-the-art model railroad.  Detailed CAD track layouts were prepared and a phased construction plan formulated.  Industries were spotted and extensive discussions conducted in the railroad's design and operation.

Keys to Room 106 were given to the club on January 6th, 2006.  Quickly the room was painted sky blue, phase-1 benchwork built, and wiring installed.  By February, an inaugural first train was run on a small portion of the railroad.  As of December 2008, substantially all track has been installed and wired.  Control panels have been installed thoughout the layout and much scenery work is completed or in process.  A Golden Spike ceremony was held in October 2007 and  open house with training running throughout the layout was held in November 2007.  

But this railroad is a multi-year project, with considerable projects still ahead.  In January of 2009 we commenced regular operating sessions simulating operations of a real railroad.  We welcome anyone with an interest to help us to build a club size dream layout.

Members of the PCMRC have varied interests and skills. Some members have large home layouts, in various scales, while others have backyard garden railroads. Others are former railroaders.  A few have just started to build a layout. Help building your home railroad is always available.  Others just come to enjoy the fellowship and occasionally run a train, even though they don’t own any equipment themselves.

The club has monthly business meetings, a holiday dinner and several other functions throughout the year. Two weekly work sessions are also held under the direction of the HO Superintendent, and Operating Sessions are held for members monthly under the control of the Chief Dispatcher. Please see our Timetable for the schedule of all activities. .

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Last Update: 01-27-2009