The purpose of the River City Modelers club is to promote interest in railroad history, rail fanning, and model railroading.
River City Modelers (RCM) was informally organized in 1982 and had its original layout in Hillyard, near the old Great Northern facilities. The layout progressed for about two years when we were forced to move. Since then we moved a few more times, growing and improving with each move. In 1986 we became officially organized as a non-profit corporation in Washington State.
Today’s layout is our largest to date. We are located on the top floor of a building near downtown Spokane. The current layout is about 41 by 48 feet on two levels supported by a helix at mid point.
Our HO scale layout utilizes code 83 track of which we have over nineteen scale miles over the two levels. The theme represents a modern bridge railroad with the main lines, sidings, and yards representing terrain and industry from the Cascade Mountains through Central and Eastern Washington into the Idaho panhandle. The timeline and setting are adaptable for steam or diesel operation.
Operational based design criteria were chosen to appeal to the widest possible cross section of modelers by allowing operation of “out of the box” model railroad equipment, as well as detailed rolling stock for those who wish to run such equipment.
Our layout is designed for state of the art digital command control (DCC) operation involving long trains, and many trains in operation at once on mainlines, branch lines, and yards.
RCM is a 100% National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) club.