Big Texas Train Show, October 8 - 9, 2011

The show went well, with only some early, minor electrical problems. Attendance was reported at 7,800 people, which was less than the 10,000+ people who attended last year. Vendors reported a good day on Saturday and a slower day on Sunday. In general, it seemed like attendance was about even across both days, but there were times when there were few people around our layout. I guess they came in waves. Several people expressed strong interest in S-scale, and we welcomed a new member to our club thanks to the show! One couple mentioned that their two sons had been looking forward to the show for months now, despite the heavy rains on Sunday. Early Saturday, this is a view of the long side of the layout. It measured 60 feet long!

The short edge of the layout measured 20 feet long. We had quite a layout, with trains taking several minutes to cover the entire layout. Daryl made some more backdrops for the layout, which really add to the overall effect.

Our always-jovial Bob posing for a photo. Ron and Jerry in the background (upper, left).

Ria operating Peter's new American Models' FA-2 A-B-A freight train.

The new addition to the layout was the set of three modules making up the third leg of the wye. The double-track wye was introduced at this show last year.

Jack (left) and Rusty (right) preparing for some switching work for an upcoming train on Bill's modules.

Steve (center) is admiring a long train of reefers pulled by his two Black Widows (the train closest to Steve passing the freight yard).

During a moment of relative quiet around our layout, I was able to take this overall photo. Sandi and her grandson are inside the layout.

Bob built two new 6-foot modules for this show. This is the first one.

Here's the second one.

A recent addition is the small farm scene on one of the corner modules. Ria built the farm house in the foreground, along with the small cow pasture and veggie farm land. Behind the farm house is a rural post office, also built by Ria.