Monthly Membership Meetings - The Club meets once a month on the fourth Wednesday (meeting schedule) at 7 PM at either the SunTrust Bank's lower level conference room or at the Waystation, (a vacant store in the Warrenton Center shopping plaza).  Meetings typically consist of a short business session and a railroad related presentation to the members.  A social gathering, and if at the Waystation, a train operating session finishes out the evening.

 Operating Sessions - Weekly operating sessions on one or more of the several model railroad layouts located in the Waystation are informal and allow the members to run and/or work on their trains.  The HO scale modular layout is typically operated using a Digitrax Digital Command Control (DCC) system.

On select occasions, prototype operating conditions are simulated on the HO scale modular layout operating under the control of a central dispatcher using Track Warrant permits typically used in dark (unsignalled) territory.  Various freight car movement authority systems using car cards and clearance card/switch lists have been tried.

Each year the Club usually participates in several train shows away from the waystation.  One or more of the modular layouts is disassembled and then transported to the show location where it is re-assembled in a size/shape to fit the space available.  At the end of the show, the layout(s) are again disassembled and transported back to the waystation in Warrenton.

The HO scale modular layout is constructed to an NMRA compatible Club specification.  This allows Club modules to be interconnected with modules provided by other clubs in the area based upon the amount of space available at a train show.

The following shows are typically supported by the Piedmont Railroaders each year:
-  Prince William Boy Scout Troop #964 - (Scout photos) a multi-scale model train show held in March.  The Piedmont Railroaders combine their HO scale modules with those from other clubs to form a large layout. 
-  Manassas Railway Festival -  (Manassas photos) a street festival held on the first Saturday in June in the area of the Amtrak Station in downtown Manassas featuring multiple train layouts, railroad equipment on display, excursion train and railroadiana dealers.
-  Culpeper Rail Days - (Culpeper photos) a town festival held in September in the area the Amtrak Station in downtown Culpeper with multiple railroad layouts and displays.
-  Greenberg Train Shows - (Greenberg photos) held in both the Summer and winter at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Va.
-  Chantilly Bible Church Train Show - (Chantilly Church photos) held in December at the Church located in Chantilly, Va.
-  Piedmont Railroaders Holiday Season Train Show - held at the Waystation in Warrenton, Va. on weekends in December (assuming space is available).  Open to the public free of charge; the show, with multiple operating layouts, demonstrates the various railroad hobby related interests of our members. 

Please visit our Upcoming Events page for the details of future shows.

A monthly hard-copy newsletter, "The Piedmont Local", is mailed to members homes as a reminder of the next upcoming membership meeting and to announce the program to be presented at the meeting and any significant business matters  to be discussed.