Coastal Rail Buffs

Coastal Rail Buffs Coastal Rail Buffs, is a model railroad club where membership is open to the general public. Weekly meetings are every Thursday of the month at 6:30pm

This organization is dedicated to providing education to the general public in all areas of model railroading. This is a broad area that embraces the preservation of historic and modern day railroading through prototypical accurate miniatures. Beyond this the organization attempts to preserve artifacts, memorabilia, and other items that link Savannah's railroad heritage to present day railroading.

The Coastal Rail Buffs, Inc. is also part of the worldwide organization of the National Model Railroad Association with a membership of over 24,000. We also have membership in the Southeastern Region of the NMRA. activities include model and prototype railroading discussions, railroad movies, video and slide shows, lectures, demonstrations, model building projects, public shows, and open houses to help educate the public. The club now has in operation an 14 x 44 foot HO layout, and an 8 x 12 foot N layout which is open to the public 7 days a week at the Historic Railroad Shops, the Official State of Georgia Railroad Museum.

09/04/2026

Model Railfan Friday.

Its pretty easy. Pretend you are a railfan on your own model railroad.

It needs to be a model. Any scale. Any level of completion. And it needs to be yours. Don't use someone else's stuff.

Just post the result in the comments.

Easy peasy? We are primarily a model group so this should be fun. :)

Here's a trackside video of the infamous AC/DC train from the Marklin booth at the NMRA Convention in Chattanooga.

- Raymond

Chris put on a great presentation on his DCC-EX open source digital controller.You can buy a complete unit or if you tin...
09/04/2026

Chris put on a great presentation on his DCC-EX open source digital controller.

You can buy a complete unit or if you tinker, you can build your own.

More info can be found at their website.

https://dcc-ex.com/ .tab=0

** Note: a bit of business...Meetings at Ed's place are moving to Friday nights. So, next week Friday instead of Thursday. We are doing this so the kids can stay later. Roundhouse meetings will continue on Thursday nights.

09/02/2026

It's Workbench Wednesday.

Its pretty easy. Just post a pic of something you have on the workbench or layout. Or something you recently acquired.

It needs to be a model. Any scale. Any level of completion. And it needs to be your pic. Don't use someone else's stuff. Don't post manufacturer pics of something you want.

Easy peasy? We are primarily a model group so this should be fun. :)

09/01/2026

Much has been published about the once in forever event at the North Carolina Transportation Museum this past weekend. The America 250 Parade of Locomotives.

CRB will not be left out. ;) Club members Damon and Joseph made the journey to Spencer and captured many feet of digital tape recording everything in sight.

Upcoming events this week.• Regular Thursday club meeting will be at the Steam Center at the Roundhouse Complex in beaut...
08/31/2026

Upcoming events this week.

• Regular Thursday club meeting will be at the Steam Center at the Roundhouse Complex in beautiful downtown Savannah.

• Come electronics geek out with us while Chris goes over his Arduino and Raspberry Pi controller set up. Maybe a 15-20 minute presentation with Q&A afterwards. Its really geeky cool.

• It's inside and has A/C. ;)

• This is open to the public. The main parking lot will be open.

• The kids will set up an HO scale oval to run some trains. DC or DCC if you want to bring something to run. They always have fun doing this and don't mind teaching everyone the fun part.

• If we get enough HOT-Trak modules to show up we will put up a layout.

• Upcoming Train Shows
• Informational only. Research the details
• These are a "reasonable" drive from the Savannah area.

September 12 - Acworth, GA TCA TOY & MODEL TRAIN SHOW - Acworth VFW Post 5408

September 26 - Rock Hill, SC Winthrop University

October 17 - Columbia, SC Seven Oaks Park

October 25 - Frogwarts event at the Roundhouse. This is not a sales event. We will have train layouts set up.

08/28/2026

Ed acquired a TGV trainset. So we transformed his layout from the Appalachians to the French countryside for a minute.

Continuing with the theme that model railroading is fun. ;)

Railfan Friday.

But with a twist. :) Its a Model Railfan Friday.

Its pretty easy. Pretend you are a railfan on your own model railroad.

All modern cell phones come with a built in camera. It takes pictures and videos. Just stuff it down into your model railroad about where a scale railfan would be and take some pics or videos.

It doesn't have to be art gallery quality. It doesn't need to be particularly interesting either. Railroading is a business. They move freight cars to and fro. Try to capture some of the everyday activities going on in your miniature world. ;)

It needs to be a model. Any scale. Any level of completion. And it needs to be yours. Don't use someone else's stuff.

Just post the result in the comments.

Easy peasy? We are primarily a model group so this should be fun. :)

- Raymond

We had a great turnout last night at Ed's place. :) Trains were ran. Conversations were had. Model railroading is fun. :...
08/28/2026

We had a great turnout last night at Ed's place. :)

Trains were ran. Conversations were had. Model railroading is fun. :)

08/25/2026

CRB member Damon captured a trio of the America 250 locos, CSX 250, CSX 2026 and Florida Central 1776 on a regular stack train passing through Richmond Hill, GA.

CSX 5305 ES40DC
CSX 3292 ET44AH
CSX 250 CM44AH "Stars and Stripes"
CSX 2026 CM44AH "United We Stand"
FC 1776 GP9RM "America 250"

They are on their way to Spencer, NC for a meet up with other America 250 locos.

08/24/2026

Upcoming events this week.

• Regular Thursday club meeting will be at Ed's place in Port Wentworth at 6:30.

• This is not open to the public. You can always become a member. ;)

• Bring a model to show off...or something. Ed's layout is HO scale DCC. But, you can always show off anything. Ed has just about every scale there is. :)

• We will talk some more about the HO scale T-Trak modules.

• Upcoming Train Shows
• Informational only. Research the details
• These are a "reasonable" drive from the Savannah area

September 12 - Acworth, GA TCA TOY & MODEL TRAIN SHOW - Acworth VFW Post 5408

September 26 - Rock Hill, SC Winthrop University

October 17 - Columbia, SC Seven Oaks Park

October 25 - CRB supporting the Frogwarts Event at the Savannah Roundhouse. This is a public operating event, not a sales show.

Address

655 Louisville Road
Savannah, GA
31401

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

(404) 502-6307

Website

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