1649 El Prado, Balboa Park

Hours: Tues.–Fri. 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Sat.–Sun. 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Admission: adults $6, seniors $5, students $3, military $2.50, children 15 and under free

Info: 619 696-0199, www.sdmrm.org

Unleash your inner child at the world’s largest operating model railroad museum, encompassing 28,000 square feet of exhibition space. A truly unique experience for young and old alike, the San Diego Model Railroad Museum presents four enormous scale model layouts that recreate the Southwest’s rich history of railroading. Built by volunteer club members, the realistic models feature trains, landscapes, and architecture reproduced in painstaking and historically accurate detail.

In addition, the Toy Train gallery gives children an opportunity to play engineer on an interactive Lionel train set, dramatically lit with theater lighting.