The auditorium is located at 221 East Kiowa, Kiowa and Weber streets, in downtown

Colorado Springs, across the street from Municipal Court. All visitors are welcome and

club members will be present to explain the operation and to answer any questions. We

will be operating the trains during this time.

The PikeMasters Club, founded in 1988, currently is the only model railroad club

operating a permanent layout in Colorado Springs. The PikeMasters have been in the

City Auditorium site since 1996. The current facility at one time housed the Colorado

Springs indoor police pistol firing range.

The PikeMasters Club, an affiliated NMRA club, meets every Thursday evening at 7:00

PM. New members are welcome. Although the meetings are used to improve and

maintain the layout, at least one meeting per month is devoted to operating the railroad.

We operate the trains like the prototypical railroads.

The PikeMasters layout covers the periods from early steam through modern diesel

power. Both standard gauge and narrow gauge trains are modeled. The standard gauge

trains are operating on the popular HO model railroad scale. The prototype is the everpresent

four feet 8.5 inch wide tracks found throughout Colorado Springs and the United

States. The narrow gauge section operates on the HOn3 scale. This narrow gauge scale

has the prototype track that was three feet wide and was common during the late nineteen

and early twentieth century Rocky Mountain region. The Durango-Silverton, Cumbres

and Toltec and the Georgetown Loop lines still operate a three-foot wide rail.

Many of the clubs locomotives are equipped for sound. You hear the steam engines chuff

as they begin to move, as well as the chug-chug as the engine reaches running speed.

Listen closely you can hear the steam engines whistle and their clanging bells. You hear

the diesel locomotives as their engines increase and decrease speed. You hear the air

compressors, the clanging bell, and the diesel’s horn. You can even hear the engineer

open and close the door to the cab, as he is entering or leaving.

The PikeMasters layout models many different facilities. The layout includes a large

circus. This circus has many operating rides. A ferris wheel, tilt a-whirl, an ice rink with

skaters moving around and lots more. There is a big-top and even an airplane circling

above.

There is a cattle-loading pen. There are several stations for boarding and de-boarding

passengers. There are freight stations. There is a large yard where trains are assembled

and disassembled for their movement from one shipping point to another.

The layout also has a turn of the century mine where you can have a look at a crosssection

of the underground operation. There is even a cemetery, where a burial is in

progress.