A few pics

I'm so jealous!  I live in the DFW area but don't have that kind of space.

I wish Texas houses had basements!!!

Very cool layout, though.  Thanks for sharing

Superpower:

Very nice. Who's layout is that? It's nicely done. Like the bridge work, especially the entrance duck-under.

Martin:

I feel your pain. Sadly, basements were hunted to near extinction after WW2 in several parts of the country.   Ironically, from what I've heard about the red clay soil in the DFW area, I'm thinking some houses might have benefited from having basements cut beneath the clay layer.

The Pennsy in Texas! A transplanted easterner no doubt.

Matt, red clay is all we have here in central NJ. At my house to at least a depth of 6'. Undisturbed clay is a great foundation bearing surface.

Matt,

This gent like PRR Man says is definitely a transplanted easterner living in Sherman Texas which is about an hour drive north of Dallas.

He has a large metal building in his backyard that measures somewhere in the range of 40' by 70' which is a great size for O scale. The DFW modular club layout is also housed within this building and I believe they hold operating sessions each Tuesday evening. The layout is usually open during most of the local train shows that occur in October, November and January. When I last visited, I was told to BYOL(Bring your own loco). I had fun running two of my loco's for several hours.

Most of his PRR memorabilia came from his uncle who worked for the PRR back in the day. I enjoyed the memorabilia as much as the layout just because of the history behind the stuff.

I'm looking forward to visiting this layout soon to run some equipment and enjoy some O scale companionship and camaraderie. Here's a few pics of the modular club section of the layout.

Very impressive layout.

DFW Modular Club? That wouldn't be the guys involved with the DFW O Scalers, would it? I met a few of them a couple of years ago when I was down in Dallas. Hopefully I'll be down in the area when the layout's open. Since I've acquired several scale-wheeled MTH locomotives of late (most recently Proto-3/DCC,) I'll try to bring one down if I get the opportunity.

I looked at a really nice house in Arlington that had severe foundation problems because of the contraction/expansion of the clay beneath. I talked to a local geologist about it and he said clay's fine if you can maintain a fairly consistent moisture level. The problem in some areas hit by drought and watering restrictions is that the clay dries out and shrinks, then expands again when the moisture comes back. The geologist jokingly referred to it as the Texas version of earthquakes.

Wow,

Some great photos!  Thanks for sharing.

I really like that first bridge-duckunder!

Matt,

Yes these are the DFW O Scalers. I've met a few of them over the last several years also. I think they also have a layout in the downtown Dallas area which I need to make time to visit. The gentleman in Sherman is pretty open to visitors if his schedule permits and with adequate notice. I've got a few pieces that I want to run too. I've got to get the wife down there in a few weeks so I can have a reason to buy more stuff. Let me know when you'll be in the area, I can put you in touch with the division officer.

A short video of some fast loop running, loop running only allowed during non-operating sessions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLilROihEHo

DFW O Scalers' permanent layout is downtown in a Sears Warehouse that has been converted to lofts. If I recall correctly, it's over on Lamar across from the police station. The address 1405 comes to mind, but I can't remember (the building had an entrance on Belleview Street.) There's also an H.O. layout in the building. Both are on the ground floor. When I was down there (three years ago as I recall) they were working on the layout, making additions, etc. Right now, they're running conventional DC. My contact was Stan Schwartz. Nice group.

Nice video, BTW.

Nice looking layout. Nice photos and videos. Looking forward to seeing more as it progresses.

Thanks guys, certainly happy to share this experience.

Matt: You're correct about the layout in the old Sears warehouse on Lamar. I met Stan at the Southwest O scale meet in 2010 and purchased several items from him that he had for sale. This year the Southwest O scale meet will be held in the Fort Worth area in conjunction with the Lockheed Martin train show which will be held on October 13th-14th. I'm sure both the layout in Sherman and Dallas will be open especially since the O scale meet will be taking place here for the first time in many years, moving from Oklahoma City. Certainly a nice group with a lot of nice equipment.