Columbia Gorge
Model Railroad Club (HO Scale)
Portland
Oregon USA
Welcome to the Columbia Gorge Model
Railroad Club (CGMRRC), one of the
largest model railroad clubs in the
Western United States. Founded in 1947,
CGMRRC seeks to provide a home for the
HO Scale model railroad community in the
Greater Portland, OR area, as well as
provide education to youth groups and
others interested in railroads of all
sizes.
Columbia Gorge Model Railroad Club is
located at 2505 N Vancouver Ave,
Portland, Or 97227. We meet once a week
(Tuesdays starting at 7:30pm) to work on
the layout, handle club business, and
(most importantly) have fun operating
our trains. While the club’s layout is
devoted exclusively to DCC HO Scale
models, fans of all scales are welcome.
Origins
Organized in October 1947, the club’s
first layout was located in the basement
of a store building within sight of our
present location. Unfortunately, that
layout was short-lived, as the club lost
its lease and was forced to find new
quarters. The members decided then that
finding a permanent home for the club
was vital to the club’s longevity.
First Home
Their search yielded a vacant lot on
North Montana Avenue, on which the
members constructed a 30 x 80 foot
building with their own hands. The
building was completed in 1948 and
served as home for the club for 34
years. In 1982, expansion of the
adjacent hospital campus surrounded the
club and it was time for find a new home
for the club. In 1982, we sold the
original building and property to the
Kaiser Foundation. With the proceeds of
that sale, we were able to construct our
current home.
Current Home
This time around, we left the
construction of the building to
professionals so we could focus on
preparing the inside for the new layout.
After taking possession of the building
on January 1, 1983, we began
construction of the layout.
The main layout room is 58 by 70 feet
(nearly 2.5x bigger than our old layout)
with a 14 foot ceiling. We use all that
ceiling height to provide stand-up
access to the layout operations from
underneath, and plenty of vertical space
for the dramatic mountains along the
Columbia Gorge.
The building has a large meeting room
for the weekly club meetings, kitchen
facilities for events, large library,
board room, wood shop, and plenty of
specialized areas for working on
projects for the layout.
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