Prince William County Model Railroad Club

History of the Club

Founded in 1991 by 8 avid railroading fans, PWMRC has grown to over 60 members of all ages and from all walks of life. Together we share a common bond - the love of trains and the desire to share that love with the public.

The PWMRC is a HO scale, modular railroad club operating in the northern Virginia area. The PWMRC had its origination in the back of a model railroad hobby shop, The RIP Track in Woodbridge, VA in 1991 as a small group of modelers with a common goal to grow a model railroad club.

With the death of the store owner and the closing of the shop in the late 90s, the PWMRC removed their small layout from the store property and focused their attention on modular standards and periodic participation in model railroad shows. NMRA standards guided the development of the modules with Digitrax equipment as the exclusive operating system.

In 2004, the PWMRC was offered a section of the Amtrak station in Quantico, VA through a lease agreement with CSX for a semi-permanent layout. Dedicated members worked throughout the year to build out a sceniced and operating railroad in 9 months.  The PWMRC conducted monthly open house events to the general public along with periodic clinics of the broad span of model railroad topics in compliance with the lease agreement. A "golden spike" ceremony was held in December 2004 and a permanent layout was built there. Monthly open houses and special events throughout the year drew many spectators to downtown Quantico.

In 2016 the CSX asked the club to vacate the building in anticipation of a station modernization project. The club salvaged what they could of the model railroad equipment and continued as a modular club making appearances at several model railroad shows, i.e. Great Scale Model Railroad Show, Greenberg Train Shows, BDS Troop 964 Annual Train Show, and numerous library shows around Prince William County throughout the year. Several members of the PWMRC have hosted operating sessions at their home layouts over the years as well.

Club members have taken group rides on the Cass Scenic Railroad and on East Broadtop. We've held train oriented get-togethers and gone rail fanning together. Of course there are workshops, clinics, and operating sessions on member home layouts. We have even participated in local parades. And everyone is welcome to run trains on the modular layout at any of the shows we participate in.

Members are always willing to lend a helping hand to whoever needs help with their layout. From rock carving to painting to the unfortunate dismantling, members have pitched in to help each other.

Club members frequently hand-off their DCC Controller to let young engineers run their train. The excitement in those young faces is priceless.

Whether you like rail fanning current lines or rolling stock, prefer highly detailed modeling of historical scenes and lines, or to just run trains and let your imagination run wild, we have a member who is into that aspect of the hobby.