Prince William County Model Railroad Crew

History of the Club

Founded in 1991 by 5 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 in the Prince William County area.

A sheet of paper at The Rip Track announced: 

"Anyone interested in starting a model railroad club, please leave your name and number here."

And so began the creation of the Prince William County Model Railroad Club (PWMRC). The 5 members started meeting at each other's homes and word of the club spread quickly and membership began to grow.

In June of 1991, the owner of that hobby shop offered some space in a back room to build a layout. The members quickly organized, created a charter, established a treasury, and formally called themselves the Prince William County Model Railroad Club. 

The first layout was a 16 foot double mainline layout in a dog bone shape. This entertained most of the membership for some time. The layout was moved in 1992 to new quarters in the hobby shop after the shop owner acquired a larger store up the street. From 1992 to 1993 the layout continued to develop with the incorporation of a large yard, several sidings for industries and a spur leading up to a second level to be worked on later. Several Saturday sessions brought in many onlookers as scenery and track work was completed. With the death of the store owner and the closing of the shop in 1993, the PWMRC removed their small layout from the store property.

The 1st Annual Manassas Railway Festival was in the planning stages. PWMRC was asked to provide a modular train display for the festival. Following National Model Railroad Assoc. (NMRA) standards, the modular railroad construction began in February 1995. The club unveiled its modular railroad at the 1995 Manassas Railway festival. Eighteen modules made by club members were hooked together for the one day event. The layout featured two mainlines and used conventional cab control for model train operations. That Railfest marked the beginning of a new era for PWMRC. The members enjoyed the modular concept and voted to do more shows.

During talks with the City of Manassas to possibly occupy the Manassas Granary that stood where Harris Pavilion is now, the club incorporated in 1995 under the name of the Prince William County Model Railroad Club, Incorporated, and began annual filings with the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and with the state of Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) as a 501(c)7 not for profit social club in 1996.

As the club's interest in the modular layout format grew, participation in professional and community shows rose. PWMRC was traveling from Timonium, Maryland to Richmond, Virginia with their modules. At each show, more people became interested in the club and membership began to soar. 1997 proved to be the busiest year to date with 13 shows and several railfan excursions, as well as the business meetings being held twice a month. The club also entered the digital age with the purchase of digital command control equipment (DCC) from Digitrax®. DCC enabled more trains to run at one time in different directions on the same track without controlling electrical blocks. Members were now able to operate scheduled train meets at passing sidings with ease.

From 1997 to 2001 the PWMRC supported community, state, and nationwide level events, including the National Scout Jamboree. Twenty-five Time Saver puzzle modules were constructed for the Jamboree, where members of the club taught scouts and scouters logical thinking and train operations.

In 2004, the PWMRC was offered a section of historic Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac train station in Quantico, VA through a sub-lease agreement with the Virginia Railway Express (VRE), which leased the building from the CSX Railroad for its operations. The final arrangement also included coordination with the Town of Quantico to include them in our communications and strategic plans for a semi-permanent layout. Dedicated members worked throughout the year to build out a semi-permanent, fully operating model railroad in 9 months.  A "golden spike" ceremony was held in December 2004 and layout was operational.

One of the prominent requirements of the lease was to provide public education events germane to the model railroading hobby. The PWMRC conducted no less than 16 open house events a year which included operating sessions that emulated the rail activity of a real railroad, transporting goods by rail from one location to another. In addition, members of the club conducted clinics to demonstrate and teach to the general public, methods and techniques of the broad expanse of model railroad topics, e.g. creating scenery, electronics of model trains, realistic operation of model railroads and repair of model railroad items. The monthly open houses and special events throughout the year drew many spectators to downtown Quantico.

Unfortunately for the PWMRC, in 2019 the VRE asked the club to vacate the building in Quantico in anticipation of a station modernization project. A final video record was created of the layout. The club salvaged what they could of the model railroad equipment and continued as a modular club making appearances at several model railroad shows, e.g. The Great Scale Model Railroad Show at Maryland Fairgrounds Timonium, Greenberg Train Shows at the Dulles Expo and Fredericksburg Expo Centers, and numerous library shows around Prince William County throughout the year.

The PWRMC has supported Scout Troop 964 of Dale City, for the past 25+ years with their primary annual fund raiser, a model railroad show at the Saunders Middle School and now, the Lake Ridge Middle School.  Members of the PWRMC helped start that event which has enabled 1000’s of boys and girls to benefit from the experiences of being a scout and earn a merit badge.  The PWMRC has been a partner with the City of Manassas and the Historical Society since the beginning of the Manassas Railfest celebration.

Several members of the PWMRC have hosted operating sessions at their home layouts over the years as well.

With the club’s ongoing interest to acquire another permanent operating location it became apparent that the club must attain a 501(c)3 status to qualify for grant programs as well as tax deductible contributions. To this end, the PWMRC petitioned the Richmond, Freelance & Prototype Model Railroaders, Inc. (RF&PMR) to merge the PWMRC into their organization as a Special Interest Group (SIG) which extends their 501(c)3 status to the PWMRC. This was approved by the RF&PMR in November 2023 and full status as a 501(c)3 achieved in February 2024.

The original charter of PWMRC included three objectives:
(1) Promote the hobby of model railroading.
(2) Educate the public in the hobby of model railroading.
(3) Provide a forum for members to learn and participate in model railroading.

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.