What a fun way to spend the weekend. We tried to come here as often as we could. They have free train ride once a month. Check their website on which dates are available. It is usually the third Saturday and Sunday of the month. Parking is free. Just be a little careful since the parking area is not paved. There is plenty of parking. Once parked, just head on over to the waiting queue. Don't worry, line moves fairly quickly. The staffs were friendly and they made sure we had a great time. The train rides were so fun and relaxing. They go around two times. I believe it was about 10 to 15 minutes ride. It's great for the whole family. If you have little ones, they will definitely enjoy this. Highly recommend. read more

Orange County Model Engineers - Social Clubs Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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This is one of the best places to take your kids on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Once a month the model engineer club opens up part of their track for free rides and it's such a fun enjoyable activity for all ages. Yes, the lines can get long, but it moves quickly depending on how many trains they have in operation. The ride itself lasts maybe 15 minutes or so but at the same time I feel like it's just the right amount of time. As you wander around a large field, you get great views of the surrounding area, but don't forget to look around at things closer to you. They've hidden a good amount of surprises like fairy doors all around the track. The monthly free rides day is one of our kids' favorite days of the month. If you are looking for a really unique experience in Orange County that is also very nice on the wallet, you don't need to look any further than here. read more

Free train rides Great thing to do with your family once a month on the weekend. I tell all visitors to oc to do this when they visit. You definitely can't get this experience everywhere, so you should enjoy it! read more

Amazingly fun experience. My wife and I took one of our adult kids here just to check it out. Lucky that we went early, the line got super long and it was pretty hot out there. We all thought the ride was really much more fun that we had expected. It was a pretty long ride and they had a fun little gift shop at the end. Definitely not necessary for me to go again, but I highly recommend going at least once. And if you have kids, more than once. The people running the free trains were super nice and seemed to genuinely be happy to be giving people rides. read more

Orange County Model Engineers - super fun train ride - Social Clubs Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

My son and I had an amazing experience! I highly recommend stopping by and checking it out. The staff is super friendly and knowledgeable on all things train! 5 stars! read more

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Loved this little train ride! Super family friendly, easy to park and the staff were all incredibly kind! The line moves fast and the ride itself is about 10-15 minutes. Great little excursion for young children. read more

Came here on a third weekend of the month when it's open to the public. There was a lot of free parking despite it being super crowded that day. The line was really long but they had a lot of trains running. It took us 45 minutes to get to the front of the line. Make sure you have water and sunscreen. The train ride itself I'm not sure how long it takes. Our train stalled on the uphill so we were stuck for a few minutes. It was pretty fun though. They didn't ask us for help but when people saw the staff get off and push the train everyone started pedaling with their feet flintstone style. With the style the ride was 16 minutes long. My little one usually throws a big fit wanting to go on train rides over and over again but this ride was plenty long to the point that I could convince him to leave. There is a suggestion for $2 donation per person which seems like a lot of people don't follow (but I bet it takes a lot of money to keep these trains going so it would be nice). The minimum height is supposed to be 31 inches long but that's with shoes on. This is such a great park and there were so many wildflowers right now. It was gorgeous! We will be back to explore the park. read more

Super fun place to bring little ones! You (adults too) can ride on the model trains! Lives in OC since the 80s and somehow I missed this place. It's a hidden treasure. read more

I took my family here on their free day and it was great! I was a bit hesitant because I'm not a huge fan of big crowds, but the day I went wasn't so bad. I only had to wait in line for about an hour. People were friendly; not pushy or loud. There were food vendors that followed the path where the line was forming so it was great to stay in line and order food while we waited to ride the model trains. The weather was nice and the kids enjoyed everything about it. read more

Plenty of free parking space. The train ride is free on the dates that I posted in this review. The line is fast. It took us around 5 minutes to wait. There were multiple trains available. The train ride lasted for about 15 minutes navigating two train tracks and enjoying the beautiful scenery on a California sunny day. No seatbelts but the train is slow and very safe. I also observed wildflowers within the vicinity, so it's an extra. Overall, you can be in and out of the place in less than one hour. I highly recommended this family activity for all ages. I will definitely come back here again. read more

Orange County Model Engineers - Train Station Sign - Social Clubs Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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My wife had heard about a place where you can get a free mini train car ride once a month. Could this really exist? http://www.ocmetrains.org/public_rides.html It does. To all the volunteers who help host the free train ride on 3rd weekend of the month, "Thank you so much". My kids loved it.. especially my oldest. The train ride is two round trips (slightly different each trip, one over the bridge and one under). The train ride I think takes about 5 min and wait time is probably 15-20 minutes worst case scenario, but by the time it was about to end (I think 3:30pm), there was no line at all. If you can donate, they $2 each person would be nice (we did donate..) There were a few benches to sit outside and eat. They were selling mexican food at one stall. My wife ordered some tamales (I think last two) and was about to eat them when a volunteer came to get the last order. She ended up forgoing her order so the volunteer could get their last meal. There was an outside station so kids could play with toy wooden trains (the similar kind you can get at ikea or online). The kids loved playing with the toy trains after playing with the real thing. It's october so they had a scarecrow contest on the grounds. That was nice and something to do for the kids. Finally, there is a small shop where you can buy toys and memorabilia. I definitely recommend coming down here to check out what our local orange county model engineers have to offer. Almost forgot, they had an electric train lego set that one of the volunteers had on display showing what he had done and he was there giving advice/recommendations about building lego trains. The kids enjoyed watching the lego trains too. The volunteer had a youtube channel "Time Star Production" which he was going to post more train videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYq-AWHWMA-SWTGRAx6zCOw Well, I think this is a great place to learn about trains and model trains. read more

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I took my kids here on a Saturday during one of the free rides weekends. My kids boys enjoyed riding on the mini trains and as a parent, you can't beat FREE! We got there at around 10:30AM and the wait in line was about 20-25 minutes, which is longer than the 10-15 minute ride itself. Most of the workers/engineers/volunteers are nice but our train conductor got very upset when someone tried to pull out their phone as we started the ride. They have signs stating that you are not allowed to use your phone (probably because people have dropped them on the train tracks causing delays), but it's a bit of a bummer that you can take pictures/videos of your kids on these adorable trains during the rides. read more

This is such a neat experience! The volunteers are all very friendly, our 2 year old (and us) loved it! They let our kiddo honk the horn on the train at the very end. It's so neat that folks volunteer to make this happen. They have donation boxes set up as they run solely off donations- highly recommend bringing cash to donate as that's what keeps this going for the community! They have a neat little shop where we got a couple of little knick knacks for stocking stuffers. We'll definitely be back. It's open the third weekend of each month and they also offer private birthday parties. read more

We came here in mid-September 2018 to check it out. What caught our attention was the FREE train rides for families! That's quite special, especially in the OC. We had just experienced these mini train rides at Tilden Park in Berkeley, so it was great to see that the OC had something similar too. What was so funny was that our train actually derailed from the tracks during our ride. They had to call 2 "volunteer" engineers to come by and fix it. It was quite an experience to see that happen right before our eyes! We look forward to returning in the future again when time permits. :) read more

Are you still a big kid at heart like I am? If so, you are sure to enjoy this, or if not, your kids or grand kids will! This short video pretty much says it all. https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select_video=MmJy4BDcyTczn5c3QyyQOA Located on the east side of Placentia Ave, across the street from Fairview Park, Orange County Model Engineers is a 1/8th scale railroad, which means they ride on rails with 7 1/2 inches between them. Line up at the Goathill Junction Station to ride the trains. Yes a lot of people bring their young kids to ride, but it's not only for kids! https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=tXDNSscDNloZnj13qkTYmw https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=D_XURlMe2vhdqSNN4gBgjA https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=GnF_486IjdyWnZhQqNOWSQ They will usually have scale model "diesel" locomotives operating to give people rides around some of the 40 acres of land they occupy. https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=hS95ZmnYTohKEyN4_C1Z3A https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=BYSkvvdV9BBtrfL9-J1jHw https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=k4F8T-wysMpVWlPK-rljNQ I really enjoy steam powered locomotives! Sometimes a real steam locomotive will be running, which is much more unique, interesting and fun (for me anyway)! https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=GvbiXPCUxW4pnejkd4YAtg https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=0w4deQTsNlg5murcJqgIjQ https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=97x0ofOxweleDONnTzkQsw Each ride goes twice around the property takea about 8 - 10 minutes. There are multiple tracks, plus a trestle (bridge) you'll go under, then over. Cool! https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=Uv_5PD9YlZUuUoIYQCaF6w https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=o5QxeUT9UWV7WXZLTE6CHg https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=TcL9qqTl_asDNGfqr3gUKg These trains are operated by the hobbyists that own them and volunteers as well. Their facility relies on donations to keep it operating, so please make sure you donate when you ride. https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=0S42gCZQRVQUeHZsh5uWUQ If you decide to have a party or make a day of it, there are plenty of picnic tables available. https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/orange-county-model-engineer-costa-mesa?select=6x7J05Tq3mUf7MUEC9SaXQ An Important Note: They only give rides to the public on the 3rd weekend (Sat & Sun) of each month, weather permitting, of course. OVERALL: A fun and unique thing to do in Costa Mesa with your kids, grand kids on just the big kid inside you! read more

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My 2 year old son loved it. Train goes about 5mph and for about 15 min. Get there early to avoid the lines.

FREE family fun!! Honestly, that's the best kind. We enjoyed our visit to OCME and our ride on their model trains. It's free parking, free rides, you could probably go on as many times as you liked! They have boxes for donations but don't bug you for money like some places. The engineer went over basic safety and ride info but there's no excessive lists of rules and requirements, they expect you to use common sense and not fall off. The bathrooms were clean. We will be back! read more

Orange County Model Engineers - Social Clubs Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Just discovered the place, even though they have been in existence since 1990. These are 1/8 scale trains that run on 1 1/2 foot wide tracks that are spread over 40 acres in Fairview Park on Placentia Ave near Estancia High--the map on this webpage is incorrect. On the third weekend of every month, they provide free rides to the public from 10-3:30. It's a fantastic gift to the community, as each ride is 2 loops and lasts 12-15 minutes. Kids have to be old enough to walk on their own in order to ride, but it's great fun for families. We loved it and will be back again. read more