AMROC, The Associated Model Railroads of Columbia, is an organization of approximately 30 members who build and operate the G, O and S, HO, and N scale club layouts. Some members confine their efforts to one gauge; others participate in the construction and operation of several gauges.
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1800 Lincoln St. Columbia, SC 29201
Associated Model Railroads of Columbia
Above is the home of The Associated Model Railroads of Columbia: 1800 Lincoln Street, Columbia, SC 29201. That's Lincoln Street on the porch side of the building.
Our clubroom is beyond the door into the lower floor of the building. We meet to work and run trains every Thursday evening from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. On any Thursday, some of our 30 or so members are available to answer visitors' questions, to help them solve their equipment and layout problems, and to help them get their trains running on one of our layouts.
The brick and glass building to the right is an office building; the tall concrete structure behind our home is a parking garage. Across Lincoln Street out of the picture to the left is a block square area which houses the governor's mansion and two large ante-bellum homes that are tourist attractions. Out of the picture to the right are the Columbia Chamber of Commerce parking lot and the Strom Thurmond Federal Building. Across the other street in the picture is Finlay Park.
The building is officially the Arsenal Hill Park. The original structure was built in 1850 as an arsenal to manufacture guns and bladed weapons--initially for the state militia and later for the Confederate armies. After its destruction in 1865 by General Sherman, the arsenal was rebuilt and housed the Palmetto Iron Works.
Community organizations use the main floor of the building for meetings, dances, luncheons, and even pot-lucks. We use it for our monthly business meetings and as a place to set up our modular layouts for the Open Houses which we hold on the Columbia Action Council sponsored Kids' Day scheduled for the last Saturday in March (suspended for now) and on the first Saturday in December which coincides with the governor's open house and the Christmas parade.