South Side Railroad Modelers

The South Side and Rio Mesa is a freelance 1950s era HO scale model railroad with a Texas look and feel. The railroad captures a time when the nation still moved by rail and steam was king but was already being seriously threatened by dieselization. The railroad is still under construction with 50 % of the scenery and virtually all of the track work complete. The railroad occupies a room 20’ by 85’ (approximately 1600 sq. ft.) on the first floor of the old Sears Catalog warehouse on Lamar Street in downtown Dallas. The layout is specifically designed for operations and, for the most part, follows typical prototype practices. We use digital command and control (DCC) with the Digitrax system being our choice. We use a program called RailOp to schedule trains, print manifests and switch lists, and to maintain the database of locomotives and rolling stock. At least 80% of the club owned locomotives are equipped with sound and most of the member owned locomotives are also sound equipped. There is about 600 ft. of mainline and more than 200 turnouts. Features include the South Side on Lamar building-the former Sears Warehouse, Dallas Union Station, Dealy Plaza with the triple underpass and book depository, a major city area, large steel mill complex, and a wharf scene representing Galveston complete with car ferry and underwater detail. Don’t miss the full size replica of a control tower that houses the dispatcher. --- While you are visiting the HO club, be sure to check the progress of the O scale division of the South Side Club, the Texas Midland Railway, located one level below the HO railroad. This railroad is in the early construction stage and is approximately 20x45 feet. Trains will be running on the permanent railroad as well as the new modular layout of the DFW O scalers.