1173. Visit the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale

We had time to kill before meeting some friends for dinner. I told the hubby we might as well check out the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park as we will going right by it. I grabbed the address 7301 E Indian School Road which we were on. After driving past where the park should be, I look it up in Googlemaps and turns out it was on Indian Bend Road and we were only a short distance away.

McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park is a huge public park that as the name suggests has trains. Besides trains, there is a carousel, several play grounds, and plenty of green space in the middle of the desert. There is a nominal fee for the carousel, some of the trains, and buildings. However, what we wanted we wanted to see was the Model Railroads which was free.

We headed over the Model Railroad building which was a short walk from the visitor center. There are signs pointing you to the different areas of the park which was nice. Inside this large exhibit hall are three giant model railroad displays. Each display is ran by volunteers from different area model railroad clubs.

Each exhibit is a different gauge of model railroad -- N scale, HO scale, and O scale. Unlike the Paper Valley Model Railroad Open Houses, you can actually walk completely around each display. Each display is over 1000 square feet of model railroad designs.... and boy are the set ups intricate and different.

Also on display is an itty-bitty Z-Scale railroad set up. Z scale is the smallest of the model railroad scales. It reminds me of the micro-machines my brother had growing up. It was the first time I've seen Z scale.

The hubby was absolutely floored by the sheer size of the model railroad. He could have spent hours in that building. I'm surprised I got him out as easily as I did.

The McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park is definitely on our list to return to when we come back next year. I would like to explore a little more of the grounds and see some of the trains. If you are ever in the Scottsdale/Phoenix area check it out. It is definitely worth the stop even if you are not a train enthusiast. The carousel and green space is great for kids of all ages.