South Texas Railroad Socials

The sixth Social was held on June 22nd, 2019 on the northside of San Antonio, in the Longhorn Cafe.
Plenty of material with two 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 list of the presentations and layout tour at the June 2019 Social.

The Early History of San Antonio Railroad Service  by Hugh Hemphill
San Antonio was the last major city in the US to achieve railroad service. The reason may not be what you think. No, there was not some conspiracy,
some cabal, that tried to keep the rails out. The answer is a lot more interesting than that!  And it goes all the way back to 1850.
Heard many details from Hugh, a local railroad historian and the author of “The Railroads of San Antonio".

Better Running with Clean Track by Tom Crosthwait
If you have a model railroad, did you ever wonder why your trains don’t run smoothly or if your DCC system is out of whack?
Besides good track work, the M&SW railroad has been running smoothly for 16 years using two main ingredients. Tom gave a short review
of his track cleaning methods he developed and uses on his model railroad.  The lead to some interesting discussions on the subject.

DCC Stuff  by Frolin Marek
A new series covering short DCC topics.  This time was a summary of the start and evolution of "command control" systems
over the years, leading up to the current "Digital Command Command" systems we use today.

Our program also included an area museum update, regional railroad events calendar, the LSR Div 6 update, history moments,
and some 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.
These "Socials" are around 3 hours of train fun with the lunch window,  plus the tour option afterwards.

Texas Transportation Museum   ( afternoon tour option )
Formed in 1964, the museum has various transportation exhibits. They have four locomotives, three are operating including
a 1925 Baldwin 0-4-0 (recently returned to steam). Train Rides on Saturdays and Sundays. Tour of a restored Santa Fe Business car
and a Pullman passenger car. Also the home of AMRE (an HO club and layout) and SAGRES (a large garden railroad),
plus O and N displays. The museum is located a short drive from the restaurant and offered free admission to those from the Social.

Here are some photos taken at the Social, held in the Meeting Room at the Longhorn Cafe...
( really need those attending to help here - to take pictures and send them in to share after )

The tour afterwards was to the  Texas Transporation Museum
which included free admission, touring the HO AMRE layout,
the G  SAGRES layout, the restored Business Car and Coach,
and rides on the museum's Longhorn & Western Railroad.

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

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