MILAM COUNTY RAILROAD MUSEUM

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shelter-in-place activities!!!!!!!!

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LINKS AND ACTIVITIES TO GET YOU THROUGH “SHELTERING-IN-PLACE”
Week of Jul 19 thru Jul 25

Our virtual Railroad trip this week is to the Cotton Belt Depot Museum in Tyler, Texas. They have a treasure trove of Cotton Belt equipment to explore.  Here’s the link to their museum.
 
https://www.cottonbeltdepotmuseum.com
 
You can view several historic pictures of the Depot and Tyler area from this website as well.  

Milam County Railroad History-  Cameron Santa Fe Tower # 52
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A Crossing of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway and the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway
Unlike many small towns that saw significant railroad service, Cameron was founded some 35 years before the railroad arrived. The first line through town was the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe (GC&SF) Railway in 1881, building from Galveston to Temple. The arrival of the railroad was critical to Cameron retaining the county seat of Milam County. Rockdale had gained rail service in 1873 and there had been elections in 1874 and 1880 to try to relocate the county seat. Without rail service, Cameron would eventually lose out to Rockdale. In 1891, the San Antonio & Aransas Pass (SA&AP) Railway built north through Cameron, extending its line from Yoakum and Flatonia toward Waco. With railroad service in four directions, Cameron prospered, reaching 2,000 population in 1892. Tower 52 was established as an electric interlocker for the crossing on July 21, 1904.
The SA&AP line from Cameron south to Rockdale was abandoned by Southern Pacific (SP) in 1959, resulting in the decommissioning of Tower 52. SP retained the north line to Waco until 1977 when it, too, was abandoned except for some local trackage within Cameron used as an industrial spur. The Santa Fe line remains in active use as a major route of Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
Modeling scenes/trains
You don’t have to have great artistic skills to build a model train empire.  If you have a tiny bit of imagination and resourcefulness you can create your model on a budget with simple things found around the house and your yard, or shoot the works and spend a small fortune.  Most of us that enjoy building layouts, hit the middle of those extremes.  Hills and mountains can be created out of newspaper, masking tape, cardboard and plaster cloth.  Add a little paint and trees made from lichen and sticks or pre-made trees and you have a scene.  Deserts, mountains, rivers, lakes, roads, farm crops and landscape yards can be made of what ever you can imagine.  
Here is a great YouTube channel from Britain that goes through lots of different techniques if you are modeling on a budget.  We hope you enjoy their ideas.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjSNSTxSC-YZM_i9dqCZLOw


AND Finally - What You Have Been Waiting For!!!!!...

Today's coloring page



Week of Jul 19 thru Jul 25

The TEXAS RAILROADING AND HERITAGE MUSEUM is being developed in Tomball.  Take a look at what is being planned.
 
http://texasrrmuseum.org/
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MILAM COUNTY RAILROAD HISTORY
 
Before there was coal, Alcoa and a football rivalry with Cameron, early Rockdale became the economic driver in Milam County.  Forward thinking city leaders brought the International and Great Northern Railroad west from Hearne and helped begin a vibrant community.  https://www.rockdaledepot.com/depot.html​
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One of the fun aspects of model railroading is adding landscaping to your layout.  Realism in the form of trees, hills, valleys, rivers and mountains make layouts have great “eye appeal”.  One of the techniques we like doing is carving mountains out of insulation foam.  It’s easy and you really can’t make a mistake.  Enjoy this video on forming mountains.  Next week we’ll show you how to paint your mountains with acrylic washes to add realism.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axahkodAk-g
 
 
And to make it through the week, here’s your coloring page!  Enjoy.
 

 
Week of Jul 5 thru Jul 11


Our Museum trip this week is to Tyler, Texas and the Cotton Belt Railroad Museum.
Cotton Belt Depot Museum Tyler Texas

210 East Oakwood Street, Tyler, TX 
903-595-7232 

                                           Open 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM 
                                          Thursday, Friday & Saturday

We recommend that you call or check their webpage for dates and time due to the Corona 19 shutdowns.
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http://www.cottonbeltdepotmuseum.com


MILAM COUNTY RAILROAD HISTORY
 
We are lucky to have pictures of all of the Depots that served our Railroad communities in Milam County.  Some were more photogenic than others.  Milano had lots of activity because of the I&GN (Missouri Pacific later) and the Santa Fe crossing.  Here are some pictures from around the tracks in Milano.
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​  ​The I&GN and Missouri Pacific (and now Union Pacific) also came through Gause.  
The depot is long gone, but luckily, we have a picture.

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​​Buckholts had a Santa Fe Depot in the early part of the 20th century.  There was a section house as well.  This is the only known photograph of the Buckholts Depot.  There is a painting on the Buckholts community building of the Depot and scenes of early life in Buckholts.

More Milam County pictures next week.
 
We thought we’d show you something different for our Modeling segment of our Covid 19 pages.
 
Even with the shutdown, social distancing and masks some of our Milam County Railroad Club members have been working on the construction of the Rockdale Model layout.  There will actually be two layouts in the I&GN Depot’s baggage room.  One is an O gauge layout, which will represent the I&GN (Missouri Pacific) route that went through Thorndale, Rockdale Sandow & Southern, Rockdale, Milano, and Gause.  The other layout is an N scale layout of Rockdale.  Rockdale resident, Nolan Bland, built it in the 80’s.  Here are some pictures of our progress.
 
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The O gauge layout goes around the walls of the baggage room. Club members are in the process of laying track.
We’ve built new benchwork for the N scale to sit on.  All of the pieces of this layout haven’t been reassembled yet.  We will be adding to the layout so that the SAAP and the I&GN train routes that went through Rockdale will be represented.
 
Our weekly offering would not be complete without a coloring page!  Download it and print it.  Have fun!
 


 

​Week of Jun 28 thru Jul 4


Our Museum of the week is the Elmendorf Railroad Heritage Museum in Elmendorf, Texas.  It is a division of the San Antonio Railroad Heritage Museum.  Cameron and Rockdale are tied to Elmendorf through the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad and share a great deal of history.  They are very active and are in the midst of a major renovation of the “Alamo” Business Car.  Check them out here:

Elmendorf Railroad Heritage Museum
Milam County Railroad History  
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One of our essential goals has been to find pictures and as much information about the railroad activity in the county as possible.  That has not been an easy task and one that we will continue to work on.  We do have pictures or at least partial pictures of every Depot in Milam County.  Here’s a sampling.
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Inside View of Ben Arnold SAAP Depot
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Thorndale I&GN Depot in 1930's
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Milano, TX Depot
​We’ll share more next week.
Here are your modeling tips for this week.
 
Have you ever wondered where and how do our model trains get built?
You will enjoy this video of the Rapido train factory.

​Rapido Train Factory

And last but not least is our weekly coloring page.  Enjoy!!




​Week of May 31 - June 6

Our Railroad Museum trip takes us to New Braunfels.  It’s a beautiful town with lots of great ethnic restaurants, old homes and of course the New Braunfels Historic Railroad Museum and Modelers Society (NBHRMS).  They host TWO train shows each year.  There is lots to see and there is a lot of train activity right next to the museum.  In fact, it’s one of the busiest rail lines in Texas.​
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newbraunfelsrailroadmuseum.org/nbrr/

​Enjoy these pictures of our OLD TOWN CAMERON TRAIN EXHIBIT...
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Milam County History:
 
BURLINGTON, TEXAS. Burlington is on U.S. Highway 77 ten miles north of Cameron in northern Milam County. John and Michael Jones, who were among the first settlers in the area, built cabins as early as 1867. The community was first called Irish Settlement. Itinerant priests ministered there until the construction of a Catholic church in the mid-1880s. The name of the town was changed to Waterford when a post office was opened at the home of Timothy Gleason in 1884. In 1889 Gleason renamed the town after Burlington, Vermont. When the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway was built through Burlington in 1891, residents got easier access to markets. Stock pens were set up to hold longhorn cattle for shipment to St. Louis, Chicago, and Kansas City. Cotton and lumber were also important products. The population of Burlington increased from fifty in the mid-1890s to 362 in 1904. The town reached its peak about 1914, when it reported two churches, a bank, a cotton gin, a weekly newspaper, and 600 residents. The population was listed as 200 in the 1930s and 1940s. Burlington reached a post depression high of 326 residents in the late 1960s, but that number fell to 125 in the 1970s. The town lost its rail service in 1977, when the Southern Pacific abandoned the section of track between Cameron and Rosebud. Burlington had a population of 140 in 1990 and in 2000.  The Depot was torn down.

Your modeling tips link is again from Ron’s Trains and Things. Be inspired by a tour of his layout, the Texas Colorado and Western RR.​

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb57IH_pg0I&list=PL05wIKjXooC3Inkrcnjfw8DQtrXkL1yXW

AND...You KNOW you've been waiting for it...here’s our coloring page for our Junior Engineers.  Enjoy!

​OK, everybody...have a GREAT week.


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Week of May 24 - May 30

Our Museum trip this week is way, way up in the Texas panhandle.  After you take a look around their website, you will want to hit the trail to visit.  You will spend a full day, maybe two looking at all they have to offer.  There are lots of great places to stay, visit and restaurants to eat at too.  Palo Duro Canyon and the Panhandle Plains Historic Museum (the largest in the State of Texas) is just 14 miles down the road in the town of Canyon.
 
Here is the Amarillo Railroad Museum:
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​BUCKHOLTS, TEXAS. Buckholts is at the intersection of Farm Road 1915, State Highway 36, and U.S. Highway 190, by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway nine miles northwest of Cameron in northwestern Milam County. The community, established in 1881 when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built through the area, was named for John A. Buckholts, who donated land for the site. A post office opened there in 1882, and by 1884 Buckholts comprised sixty-one residents, two general stores, two hotels, a dry-goods store, and a lumber dealer. Farmers, including a number of immigrants from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, were attracted to the blackland soils of the area; cotton became the community's principal shipment in the 1880s and 1890s. The Hope Lutheran Church was organized at Buckholts in 1890, and the congregation erected a building in 1899. Methodist and Baptist churches were also built in the community during the 1890s. A school was built by 1896. In 1900 Buckholts reported a population of 182. In 1903 the Buckholts school had two teachers and eighty-five pupils. By 1914 the community had a bank, telephone service, and a newspaper, the weekly Bulletin. The population of Buckholts was estimated at 800 from the 1920s through the 1940s. In 1948 the community had a school, three churches, three factories, and some thirty other businesses. Though exact estimates vary, the population of the town has slowly declined after the 1960s, reaching 362 in 1980 and 335 in the early 1990s. In 2000, however, the population rose to 387.
 
We found these photos in the Buckholts City offices where they also have a small museum. 
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​Members of the community banded together to paint a beautiful mural on the Senior Citizen Hall.  This is a scene depicting the Santa Fe Depot.

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​The Buckholts Santa Fe Depot in the 1920’s.  A railroad work crew is pictured here with a group of citizens dressed to travel.

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​Closer view of the citizens.

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This is the official Santa Fe schematic for a #3 Depot which was built for Buckholts.

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​The Bill of Materials to construct a #3 Depot.  Everything was listed including the nails, screws, door handles and  paint colors.

Our modeling tip this week is about making decisions about your track base.  Should you use cork or foam?  This is a great video where you can see how easy model railroading can be.   www.youtube.com/watch?v=J71L61WvpFU

And of course…we have another coloring page for our young railroaders.  We hope you enjoy it!


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Week of May 17 - May 23

This week we will find another super railroading opportunity at the Hearne Depot.
​hearnedepot.org/


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Be sure to check the Hearne Depot Facebook page for their hours.
Bob Batson and his wife are the museum Directors and have a wealth of knowledge.  
 
MILAM COUNTY RAILROAD HISTORY
 
The Rockdale I&GN Depot is one of the most well preserved Depot’s from the early 1900’s you may ever see.  A few years ago however, you might not have recognized it as a Railroad Depot other than it was a building next to railroad tracks.  The Rockdale Historical Society has done a magnificent job of creating an important venue to instruct and entertain railroad enthusiasts.  In addition to the Depot, you will see a Missouri Pacific Caboose and Dining Car, Blacksmith shop, operating semaphore and more.  The baggage room is being transformed into a model train area.

www.rockdaledepot.com/depot.html
Your modeling tips this week come from Ron’s Trains & Things.  Lets put down our base on our layouts so we can begin landscaping.  This is a great video. Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvwG68-blNs


And our weekly packets wouldn’t be complete unless we had our coloring page.  Get out those Crayola’s and get with it!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

​       LINKS AND ACTIVITIES TO GET YOU THROUGH “SHELTERING-IN-PLACE”

​                                         Week of May 10 - May 16


This week we travel to the city of Teague to visit the B-Ri (Burllington-Rock Island) Railroad Museum and Heritage Center.  The Depot is beside a very active rail yard so there is good railfanning here.  Be sure to check ahead of time for their hours of operation.  There is lots to see and walking up stairs so wear good walking shoes.  ​

                    therailroadmuseum.wordpress.com

The Milam County Railroad Museum will continue to be closed until social distancing has been eliminated. Space inside our museum does not allow for good distancing and all of our volunteers are 65 or older.  However, some of us have been working individually on creating new displays, organizing our new library of railroad book and magazines and catching up on “chores”.  Here is a sneak peak at some of our thousands of photographs we have received.
International and Great Northern 4-4-0 Locomotive in Palestine, TX 1900:
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​   ​ Missouri Pacific #902 coming into the Marshall Depot 1930’s:
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​ATSF 1554 a 4-4-0 in the yard in Temple, Texas:
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Here’s some Custom Model Bridge Abutments with Ron’s Trains and Things that might help with your trestles from last week.

​www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=1omOUk2eY_E&feature=emb_title

And of course, our weekly coloring page and activity is ready!

​HAVE A GREAT WEEK!


Week of May 3 - May 9

The Marshall Texas Depot was recently renovated and is now an Amtrak station and Museum.  It is worth the time to visit. You will see a beautiful old Texas and Pacific Train Depot in one of Texas most charming towns.  
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http://www.greatamericanstations.com/stations/marshall-tx-mhl/
http://marshalltxdepot.com

And here are some of the best restaurants in Marshall according to Trip Advisor:​

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g56236-Marshall_Texas.html
John Johnson and his wife Frances worked tirelessly on the Old Town Cameron layout for nearly 40 years.  Each building was researched, drawn out and constructed so the model would recreate the town of Cameron. John and Frances wanted it to look like it did in the 1940’s. The end result is a marvel.  Now that Milam County is the caretaker of OTC, the volunteers that look after the layout have accepted the responsibility of preserving its beauty, history and opportunities.  The town layout will never change, but John still sees the countryside of Cameron and the other towns of Milam County eventually becoming additions to his creation.   

​Last year, one of our very skilled craftsmen, accepted an opportunity of recreating the Gause Depot.  All he had to work from was two black and white photos and the memories of some of the long time residents of the town of Gause.  I think George did a great job (and so does John Johnson!).  Here are the two photos and the end result.  Well done George.


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For our instruction video this week, we became inspired by one of our member’s home layout.  He is currently installing trestles.  Before he began installation he first had to build them.  Here is a start to finish video on how to build trestle bridges. We would love to see pictures of your home layout construction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIRZRLwZGu4
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Finally, here is this weeks coloring page for our young railroaders.  You know who this guy is!

Week of April 26 - May 2

Keeping with our theme of visiting Texas Railroad Museums and Depots, here’s a trip down to Rosenberg.  This museum has been a great help to us as we were trying to open our doors.  They have just finished some major renovations to their education building where they also have their model train displays.  We hope you put this gem on your travel list.  Hint…just a block away is the Ol Railroad Café
https://www.olrailroadcafe.com. They have a great menu and prices.
 
Link to the Railroad Museum: http://www.rosenbergrrmuseum.org/#about
 
Bring your camera!  You will see lots of operating trains.  You can view them on their Railfanning platform or from Tower 17.  There is fun for the whole family.
HISTORY LESSON
 
Milam County is overflowing with history.  One of our towns has had more than their share starting from its earliest beginnings.  From the railroading side of history, Milano has been the crossing point of the I&GN (later the Missouri Pacific and today Union Pacific) running east and west.  On the north and south crossing, Milano has seen the Gulf Colorado & Santa Fe (later the ATSF and today BNSF).  The town itself has moved twice and at one time had a Country and Western recording studio.  
 
We display Milano Junction on the Old Town Cameron layout as our staging yard.  We’ve built it’s own console to control all of the switches in the yard. 

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​Here is a picture of the Milano Depot and tower at the crossing of the I&GN RR and the SF.
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Your link to Milano Junction: 
http://texasescapes.com/CentralTexasTownsSouth/Milano-Texas.htm

We hope you are enjoying the “How To” videos.  Our next YouTube video might help your wiring techniques.  We’ve used lots of these techniques on the Old Town Cameron layout. 
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=YouTube+model+railroad+Rons+trains+and+things+wiring+techniques#id=2&vid=1143e9d6a1be46153fb9c4d1fa1e6bca&action=view
  
An of course, here’s our weekly coloring page.  We would love to have your page displayed on our Milam County Railroad Museum webpage!


​Week of April 19-25
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​The Museum of the American Railroad is a absolute “must see” experience. 

Take a virtual tour on their website.  


http://www.museumoftheamericanrailroad.org/

So, let's see some photos from the Old Town Cameron layout...
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                                 Milano Junction                                                                            4-6-0 Chugging through Cameron
Ron’s Trains and Things

YouTube Video about tools you will need when building your model railroad empire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkSPl7SSWbY


Free coloring page for the younger set...  If you will let your child color it, then, if you wish, you can take a crisp photo of it and email that to us, we will post it on the website!


So, there you have it... Activities for the week. Tune in next week for another week's worth of railroad activities!

We hope you enjoyed this and found it useful.  Please give us some feed back.

WEEK OF APRIL 12-18

San Antonio has so much to offer.  There are great restaurants, museums, art, music, culture and shopping.  But, did you know San Antonio was home to one of the best Transportation Museums in the United States?
Texas Transportation Museum
 Here is a ride on our Santa Fe War Bonnet around the Old Town Cameron layout’s Santa Fe route.

Enjoy a unique view of the Old Town Cameron layout!

And next is part 2 of building your home model train layout by “Ron’s Trains and Things”. CHECK IT OUT!
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5 Important decision to make first.

Free coloring page for the younger set...  If you will let your child color it, then, if you wish, you can take a crisp photo of it and email that to us, we will post it on the website!

WE HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU!
If you enjoyed this and found it useful.  
Please give us some feed back.

       LINKS AND ACTIVITIES TO GET YOU THROUGH “SHELTERING IN PLACE”

WEEK OF APRIL 5-11

Want to build your own train layout at home?  Here is a video to get you started.  Try it...you WILL like it!
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From “Ron’s Trains and Things”
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​Check this out!  Hear from the master himself...John Johnson...
​Video from interview done by Austin American Statesman.

Free coloring page for the younger set...  If you will let your child color it, then, if you wish, you can take a crisp photo of it and email that to us, we will post it on the website!

When we are finally set free from quarantine, here are some rides you might like to go on to “stretch your legs”.  So, take a look at them and start planning your trips!
Texas Five Best Train Rides

So, there you have it... Activities for the week. Tune in next week for another week's worth of railroad activities!

We hope you enjoyed this and found it useful.  Please give us some feed back.
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