Red River Railroading

The Red River Railroad was formed in 1982 as a local club for the Texoma area. At one time the club maintained and showed a large HO modular layout. We currently have a smaller sectional layout that we show at the 2 Dallas train shows, and we occasionally travel to other area shows as well. We are also expanding into N Scale with the building of several T-trak modules.

Our main goal is to maintain an active club and promote the hobby in our community. We have weekly working and operating sessions that are open to anyone with an interest in trains. Our project for the current year is to continue to improve our existing layout. After the current show season is over ending in January, we will be focusing on our expansion into N scale. Our goal is to have a small independent layout ready for small shows, with the ability to connect with larger modular clubs by the start of the next show season. We are also looking into the possibility of hosting a local train show in the Texoma.

Scales

HO Scale is the most popular scale for the railroad hobbyist, with N Scale a close second. Both scales allow for correct operations in confined areas without reducing the size of the models to a point that detail is lost. There is also a great amount of equipment available in both N & HO scale.

Just to compare the different scales, here are Santa Fe War Bonnet F units in each scale. Starting on the left, the smallest locomotive is in Z scale (1:220 proportion). Next from the left is N scale (1:160 proportion), then HO scale (1:87 proportion), and S scale (1:64 proportion). The next largest locomotive is O scale (1:48 proportion) and the largest is in G scale (approximately a 1:29 proportion).

Layout Types

Both modular and sectional layouts are design to be broken down for transport. Its about the only way to build a club layout without a large location for a fixed layout. These layouts allow members to build a small portion of a layout, and then connect it to other sections to create the full layout.

The difference in a sectional layout is that the individual sections of the layout are designed to be assembled in a specific pattern. This does limit the flexibility of the layout, but greatly increases the prototypical nature of the layout.

T-trak is a special type of N scale modular layout. It is designed to allow for modeling in the most cofined of spaces. follow these links to find better explanations T-trak.org & Unofficial T-trak Handbook

Meetings

Our club meets weekly, currently (Jan 2010) every Thursday night after 7:00 PM near the rail yard in Sherman. The meetings are dedicated to rail work and having a good time together. Anyone is welcome to come to the meetings, and we currently have an open membership policy with no dues. See the Activities page for a map to the meetings and more information about the local shows.