South Texas Railroad Socials

The seventh Social was held on September 28th, 2019 on the northside of San Antonio in the Longhorn Cafe.
Plenty of material with three presentations, the LSR Division update and award presented, the Show-n-Tell, video clips
and other stuff, plus social time with lunch beforehand and more visiting afterwards.  Then a museum layout tour!

Here is a summary of what folks saw at the September 2019 Social.

Railway Express Agency  by  Doug Lowe
The Railway Express Agency was “the” way to ship for the first half of the 20th century, which encompasses the era that many of us choose to model. It was the FedEx or UPS of its day, and it pioneered may techniques for package handling in use today. REA had worldwide operations, that included shipments by rail, airplane and truck. It had terminals in most major US cities, and REA express shipments often had priority over passengers.

Layout Design Elements  by  Raymond Bennett

Based on his home town of Alexandria, Va, which had Potomac Yard and various industries. It was served by railroads that accessed DC including the C&O, RF&P, SAL, SCL, FEC, and ACL. The presentation will cover information sources such as Sanborn Maps, historical society newsletters, potential model track plans and ideas on how industrial sites varied over time.

San Antonio Model Railroad Association  by  Doug Lowe
This is the oldest and largest model railroad club in the San Antonio area. Established in 1948, the club initially met in members homes until buying land in 1997 and building a large 4000sq ft building after.  Today this is the home of the San Antonio & Northern Railroad, a large HO model railroad layout. The club has regular operating sessions durnig the month while member continue to work on and advance this layout.  Check their website (link on our 'Links' page) for more details and public visitation days.

SAMRA Club Layout   ( layout tour )
After the Social, we are invited to visit the San Antonio Model Railroad Association and tour their club layout. The layout is approxiamtely 40ft by 80ft and based on railroads that traveled in and around San Antonio. This layout is worked on weekly and you can see progress between visits. They also host monthly operating sessions. Plan to drop by after the Social.

Plus, our program often includes an area museum update, regional railroad events calendar, LSR Div 6 update, history moments, and those funny video clips too. This ain’t no sit and listen thing, we have Q&A, Show-n-Tell, news and fun stuff all mixed in. It is around 3 hours of train fun with lunch option, plus often a museum or layout tour afterwards.

Here are some photos taken at the September Social, for an idea of what folks saw...
( we really need those attending to help here - to take pictures and send them in to share after )
Click the first picture,  then you can scroll thru each one after that  -  or select and open just one.

Click any thumbnail to expand – you can scroll thru them after. Pictures taken by  Craig Brantley and Frolin Marek.

The  San Antonio Model Railroad Association  opened it's doors for an open house after the  Social.
Folks went to their club layout located just a few miles away to visit, see their large railroad, talk to membes,
see trains run and even run some trains while there touring this very nice large model railroad.

Click any thumbnail to expand – you can scroll thru them after. Pictures taken by Frolin Marek.

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