Photos: Gadsden Pacific Division Toy Train Museum in Tucson
Age is certainly a state of mind for the volunteers who work at the Gadsden Pacific Division Toy Train Museum. The museum, at 3975 N. Miller Ave., will have its final open house from 12:30-4:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 26, before closing for Summer.
The first museum started as a 19' x 35' model train layout inside the Foothills Mall in 1988. By 1998, the non-profit museum had outgrown their mall space and constructed the current, stand-alone building as their new home.
The museum features the tiniest N-gauge trains to a full-size Rio Grande RR caboose outside the building. Inside are several layouts in several gauges: N, HO, O, G and S. Outside, there's a Garden Railroad and a Large Scale Railroad under construction.
For a gallery of photos of the museum, go to tucson.com/gallery
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
Justin Appel, right, lifts up his sone Finnian, 4, for a better view of the O-gauge layout during an open house at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
Dan Cover, left, and Paul Waugaman work on the museum's HO scale layout during a Wednesday night work session at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum president Tony Kavanage, left, and member Brian Scott, swap out aluminum rails on the outdoor 7.5-inch gauge track during an open house at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
Mark Stegeman holds his son, Patrick, as they admire the colors and movement of the O-gauge train layout during an open house at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
Scenery on the O-gauge train layout provides a big-city feel during an open house at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
Characters at the station on the O-gauge layout during an open house at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
Electric train layouts seem to run just about everywhere, high and low, at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
A museum volunteer adjusts an N-scale locomotive on the rails, which are only 9mm wide, during an open house at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
Ted Soderholm, with his daughters Chloe, 3, in pink, and Kate, 6, bottom left, locate an interactive feature Chloe triggered with a button on the S-gauge layout during an open house at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum president Tony Kanavage lines up an O-scale locomotive on the tracks during a Wednesday night work session at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
A variety of characters populate the station on the O-scale layout during a Wednesday night work session at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
Dan Cover, top, and Paul Waugaman admire the HO scale trains running on the layout during a Wednesday night work session at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
Lucy Rodriguez, visiting the museum for the first time while on a trip from Yuma to visit family here, peers over the plexiglas to observe the HO scale layout during an open house at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
Ricky Higgerson, 12, moves some of the miniatures around on the HO-scale train layout during a Wednesday night work session at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
From left, Pavithra Murugesan, husband Prabhu and their 4-year-old son Maddy, admire the O-gauge train layout during an open house at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum
A newsie hawks papers at the station on the O-scale tracks during a Wednesday night work session at the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Operating Museum.
Rick Wiley
Photo editor
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