Visit the Vasona Branch... and Maker Faire!

If you've been meaning to visit the Vasona Branch, this weekend is your chance.

The NMRA Pacific Coast Region's Coast Fall meet will be at the Santa Clara depot on Sunday, September 27, 2026. There will be clinics at the depot in the morning, and layout tours in the afternoon. The clinics should be fun and interesting - Ed Gibrovan talking about useful tools for model building, Guy Cantwell sharing how to build a fleet of freight cars quickly, and Seth Neumann giving his tutorial on layout design.

I'll have the Vasona Branch open as part of the afternoon layout tours from 1:00 to 4:00. There's at least a couple other great layouts in the San Jose area that will also be open. Come on down for a fun afternoon!

For full details, check your e-mail for the "COAST EXTRA" update. Alternatively, look at the NMRA Pacific Coast Region's calendar for times and location.

Note that this will be the same weekend (September 26-27, 2026) as Maker Faire Bay Area on Mare Island in Vallejo - "the world's largest show and tell". Maker Faire is a wonderful experience - a chance to see all the crazy things that other people make and do, and a great source of inspiration for new tools and new artistic outlets. Tickets are available online.

If you're curious what Maker Faire is like, check out the Maker Faire 2025 Virtual Field Trip showing off some of the things you can see and do.