Anything model train related in Miami?

Ready to Roll had s very nice hobby shop in the area and well worth the time and effort.  There is also a museum that has the armored heavyweight  passenger car that several presidents used on display as well as some other nice RR equipment.

 

Happy railroading,

Don 

Yep, Ready to Roll. Been one of my "go-to" dealers for years.

Just came home from Ready to Roll.   THE best LHS in this area.   Bill and Jim are great guys.   There is also a large operating layout.   Well worth the ride.

Ready To Roll is on N.W. 143rd St. in Miami. The railroad museum is on S.W. 152nd St. near the Metro Zoo, same entrance from S.W. 152nd St. as the Zoo.

The RR museum, Gold Coast Railroad Museum, has the presidential rail car that one of the presidents used, and has a nice set of California Zephyr passenger cars. On Saturdays they have a train that runs a short distance that you can ride.

 

Lee Fritz

"There is also a museum that has the armored heavyweight  passenger car that several presidents used on display as well as some other nice RR equipment."

 

the ferdinand magellan is at the gold coast railroad museum in southwest miami.  not really close to downtown.

 

 

You can take the FL turnpike extension to get there and get off at SW 152nd St. and go to the right or west.

 

Ready To Roll is in north Miami, and you can take I-95 to NW 135th St and get off, then go under the bridge and go north to 143rd St.

 

I used to live in Homestead FL before hurricane Andrew.

 

Lee Fritz

Thanks for the feedback guys, I admit that I was aware of Ready to Roll but completely forgot they were in Miami.  Doesn't look like I'll be able to drop in while opened due to my schedule, even on a lunch  break unfortunately.  Too bad, as I've heard nothing but good things about them.  Oh well, maybe in a future visit it'll work out in my favor.  Thanks again guys!

John, don't know if you'll still be here in South Florida on the weekend, but if you are, on Saturday afternoons, the club that I just joined, the Florida Citrus Model Train Society (http://www.fcmts.org/) have displays at the Old Davie School House on Griffin Road if you'd want to stop by and say high.  Some of the OGR forum members are also members of the FCMTS.

 

Further north, you could also look into the South Florida Railway Museum at the Deerfield Beach Amtrak/Tri-Rail Station (http://www.sfrm.org/Index.html).  They're open Wednesday nights (tonight) and Saturday afternoons.  

 

On a "larger scale" is the Tradewinds & Atlantic Railroad (http://www.livesteamers.org/) in Coconut Creek that run Live Steamers and G Scale trains.  They're open one weekend a month (unfortunately, not this weekend), but I figured I would put it out there for any readers of this thread who may have the same question as you have when they visit my metro area of residence.

 

I go to each of these last two every now and then and when I was a Cub Scoutmaster, took my Pack there a few times.

 

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for all the additional info, especially the FCMTS.  Unfortunately my return flight back to SoCal leaves tonight so I won't be able to stop by this weekend, as much as I want to.  Hopefully on a future visit I'll have more free time to see everything everyone recommend.  Thanks again guys! 

Ready to Roll has new summer hours in effect: Closed Sunday and Monday, Open 10AM to 4PM on Tuesdays thru Saturday's. Bill Lucas, the owner, got really sick in mid April with an infected Gall bladder which had to be removed, but he's doing much better now. The shop was closed down for a week in mid April when he first got sick, but some customers came in and helped keep the shop open while he was in the hospital. The store hours will probably go back to normal during the Winter Season (November to February).

 

Bill in FtL

Bill,

 

Yeah I checked their hours online after I got the first round of responses, my conference schedules started around 8:30 and didn't conclude until after 5 daily so it just didn't work out to make it there; looked to be about 10 and a half miles north of the hotel I was staying at and where the conference was held.

 

I'm back in SoCal now; certainly glad to get out of all that high humidity.