Model Railroading > Central Texas MR info wanted

I've been transplanted from the NW(Portland) to Austin Texas😢(It's terrible, flat, hot, humid and did I mention it's flat, hot, humid,etc) worst of all you can't find anything to do with Trains as far as model train stores go, clubs, swap meets, etc. they got nothing.   I'm hoping some people can prove me wrong on here and give me some stores to check out or something. But won't be holding my breath. Appreciate everything you have up there in Oregon cuz I for sure didn't.   Staring to forget what trees and mountains look like. Although one thing Portland and Austin do have in common....drum roll........ TERRIBLE TRAFFIC.  IM OUT✌️

AUstin has a fantastic store called  First Hobby. How do I know? I live here, and I go there all the time. The local NMRA division is the Bluebonnet Chapter. Also, if you are an N-scaler, there is a club called AustNtrak that does modular N scale (I do N scale T-Trak). If you are in O guage, we have the Tinplate Trackers. As far as HO, while there are no clubs in Austin, there is a club called SAMRA in San Antonio, and CentraMod in Temple. However, both of these places are an hour or so drive if you take the backroads. If I were you, I'd avoid the store Kings Hobby at all costs. They charge retail for everything, and barely have any trains in store, and have had the same sad few locos and freight cars for the last 3 years. There is a train show coming up on April 9-10 in nearby New Braunfels, which I'd recommend going (despite it not being a huge show) to meet some people like Terry Nathan, David Nicastro, and all the local model railroad people. Welcome to Austin! PM me if you have any questions.

Austin is flat?  I guess you haven't been southeast of there to see what flat really means.  Austin is considered to be on the edge the hill country!

And the Texas State RR isn't that far away.  Their website needs a refresh, and there is no posted info on the usual annual railfan day or the upcoming 40th anniversary....

I know a number of folks from Oregon that now live in Texas and they all pretty much
are ready to move back, but their jobs are here.  Do a trainorders.com search for member
NoMoSantaFe for an example.  Conversely just about all of us native Texans 
would not consider living anywhere else.   It's hard to believe now, but in the 60's and 70's
Austin was a wonderful, magical place and one of the least expensive places to live in Tx.
All that is in the past and in my opinion, Austin is a total mess now (I live in Tyler, Tx).

There are some really neat home layouts in Austin and I have operated on a few of them,
but the owners tightly control the visitors and operators that attend.  The actions of a few
idiots have made access to these layouts tightly closed to the public.  

Attend the the train show in New Braunfels and there is a fall show in Temple and perhaps
you will meet folks there that can open doors for you, however I recommend you avoid trashing
Texas as that will alienate you from those of us that are proud of the Lone Star State.  That goes
not only for the model train community but in the business world even more so.  

You Would be wise to embrace your new surroundings.  If you choose to fight it,
you may as well look for work back home where you will be more content.
 

Ha ha well, at least it is not raining ALL THE TIME like up in Oregon. That is tongue in cheek, but seriously, Austin humid? Make a trip down here to Corpus Christi and I will show you humid! Anyway, welcome to Texas, I agree that if your job is here, then just go with it no matter what the culture shock. Model trains in Texas are, as mentioned in an earlier post, what you make of it. I would definitely suggest attending the upcoming New Braunfels show, nice friendly little town, and the show, while small, is usually a good one. My group has set up there many times with our modules, though we will not be set up this year. I am planning on helping Dave and Deb Zucker set up their Spring Creek Model Trains vendor booth, and should be there most of the day Saturday. (They of course will be there the whole show) They are from Nebraska (and you thought TEXAS was flat) but we are friends of theirs and are going to try to help out as much as we can. Come by and say hi....... or I guess I should say come say howdy! lol
Chris Grote
Gulf Western Modular Railroad Society
Corpus Christi, Texas

Chris,
Did your club come to the National show in Atlanta a couple of years ago?

Paul B
Canton, GA

Mopac3240 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ha ha well, at least it is not raining ALL THE
> TIME like up in Oregon. That is tongue in cheek,
> but seriously, Austin humid? Make a trip down here
> to Corpus Christi and I will show you humid!
> Anyway, welcome to Texas, I agree that if your job
> is here, then just go with it no matter what the
> culture shock. Model trains in Texas are, as
> mentioned in an earlier post, what you make of it.
> I would definitely suggest attending the upcoming
> New Braunfels show, nice friendly little town, and
> the show, while small, is usually a good one. My
> group has set up there many times with our
> modules, though we will not be set up this year. I
> am planning on helping Dave and Deb Zucker set up
> their Spring Creek Model Trains vendor booth, and
> should be there most of the day Saturday. (They
> of course will be there the whole show) They are
> from Nebraska (and you thought TEXAS was flat) but
> we are friends of theirs and are going to try to
> help out as much as we can. Come by and say
> hi....... or I guess I should say come say howdy!
> lol
> Chris Grote
> Gulf Western Modular Railroad Society
> Corpus Christi, Texas

There is no humidity on the West Coast. We leave that to you guys who are East of the Rockies!

Thanks guys I'll definitely check out the NB show in April.  

Hey, Paul,
Yes we set up in Atlanta. Great trip and great show.
Chris