Wayne LeCompte, Scotty Frost, Charly Mikeska, Jim Bohot, Jim Williams, Mark Sanchez

The Brazos Valley Railroad Society (BVRS) was formed on February 23, 1993, and construction of 4-foot modular tables began at that time.   Two months later the first set of twelve tables was constructed and connected together.   By June 1993 the tracks were powered up and trains began to run.   The modelling theme of the layout was the Brazosport area.   At the time the modular tables were stored at members' homes and brought to meetings and assembled together to run trains.

In January 1994 the Club (BVRS) transported the layout to a Great American Train Show in Houston.   The Club layout won 2nd place in the show.

In March 1994 the Club layout was displayed at the Brazoria County Historical Museum in Angleton.

In June 1994 the Club moved into an empty store (former Barons Jewelry) in a shopping center in Lake Jackson.   The layout had its first home at 518 Plantation Blvd.   After three months of construction and repairs they had a grand opening on September 17, 1994.   The Club now had space for a museum too.

In September 2002 the Club moved to a different store unit the same shopping center in Lake Jackson, 452 Plantation Blvd.   In 2005 a duck under table was replaced with a walk through gate, and was dedicated to the memory of Richard "Sailor" Veatch, a club member that had passed away in 2003.   In 2006 the layout was converted from DC block control to digital computer control with three power districts.

In April 2007 the Club lost the use of the store in Lake Jackson and moved the layout and museum items into storage space provided by the Lions Club in Brazoria.   In September 2007 the Club began refurbishing the old library room in the Principal;s wing of the old elementary school in Brazoria.   The space is part of the Brazoria Heritage Foundation (BHF) facility on Smith Street in Brazoria.   The room renovation came to an end when new carpeting was installed and the Club began to move items from storage into the new space.

When the Club moved the layout tables from storage into the new space, during May 2008, the table legs were lengthened by 10" to raise the table height to an overall 41.5 in.   The table legs and frames were painted black before reassembly to the original 28'x12' size.   In November 2008 the layout size was increased when it was lengthened by two feet and widened by one foot.   The new table additions were added to provide clearance for a proposed wye at the east end of the Angleton yard scene.

The Club had its first public opening in the new space as part of the BHF Christmas Festival on December 6, 2008.

In January 2010 a track wye was added that provided connection for additional tables in the interior of the layout.   By the end of December 2010 a new control panel for the Angleton yard scene was finished.   The digital command control system was expanded to four power districts.

In 2011 two tables in the middle of the layout were added with additional yard track.   The yard track switches were operable from both sides of the tables.   The Club began preparations for lengthening the layout by 8'.   In order to free up floor space in the train room furniture was moved out of the train room into a storage room next to the BHF library room.   This created a library room out of the storage room for The Club's collection of books, magazines and documents.

In 2012 five new tables (two 2' and three 4') were constructed to lengthen the layout by 8' and inserted into the layout.   A phone line was connected to the old crank phone and made functional.   A third wall-mounted air conditioner was added to the train room in September.   The Brazos River Bridge was rebuilt with bridge ties, new scale-appropriate girder sections and weathering.   Next to the Sweeny depot building new yard tracks were constructed on one of the new 4' tables and completed the end of the year.

In 2013 the Brazoria depot scene was constructed on one of the new 4' tables next to the Brazos River Bridge scene.   This scene includes a passenger depot, some other rail road support buildings, and the siding track behind the depot.   In addition, two spur tracks were added, one to Clemens State Farm and the other to a livestock pen and on to Jefferson Lakes Sulfur Company site (not yet modelled).   The travelling circus scene was removed and stored.   The Clemens State Farm scene was relocated to one of the other new 4' tables and expanded to a total length of 8'.   A small rail yard was created for servicing the Clemens State Farm which, in 1955, produced agricultural products.   The electronics for the grade crossing signal at Sweeny were upgraded to be DCC-friendly, and two new grade crossing signals were added to the Brazoria scene.   A fishing pier and a bait shop were added on one bank of the Brazos River Scene.

In 2014 the first nine months was mostly used to refresh and upgrade scenery details, including more prototypically correct utility lines, power transformers, and utility meters.   At the Brazoria depot scene the hay barn was added, also an adjacent farm scene was added.   A siding for livestock was added on one of the new 4-foot tables nearby the Clemens scene.   LED lights were added to numerous buildings at the Brazoria scene.   The Mahegan Produce building at the Angleton yard was refreshed with new paint, seven LED lights replaced the burned out incandescent lights, and renamed Pattie Produce.   At the Angleton wye the track to Anchor was added, which included a new switch, double crossing tracks, and clearance lights.   The last two tables were added to the middle tables which are planned to be used for a new Dow Chemical scene.   The Hoskins Mound scene was added along with three tracks for inbound/outbound loads and a passenger stop.   In support of the annual Brazoria Christmas holiday the club temporarily set up a large O scale train layout in the hall by the train room.   Jimmy Pitts provided his O scale engines and freight cars, passenger cars, and Riverview Trains provided a bunch of buildings, motorcycles, cars, and scenery for the Christmas layout.   Long time BVRS Club member Scotty Frost lost an arm from cancer.

In 2015 a pair of working telegraph stations was installed on opposite corners of the train room so they can 'talk' to each other.   A small grocery store across from the tracks from cotton gin and next to a gas station was added to the layout.   The farm scene between the cotton gin and the refinery was refurbished and a car garage was added.   LED lights were added to both the new grocery store and the refurbished farm scene.   The sensors for the three grade crossing signalling systems were changed from photo cells to infra-red transmitters/receivers to allow for operating the layout in the dark.   In June the water level in the Brazos River reached flood stage.   Club member Charlie Mikeska passed away in June.   Research and planning for new scenes on the layout continued throughout the year.   Plans for the business track and Stauffer chemical plant in Freeport were completed.   Photos of the Dow Plant A were obtained from the Lake Jackson Historical Museum.   These photos will be the basis for the scene at the end of the middle table.   Newly found web sites containing old aerial photos and old topographical maps were used to review the accuracy of the scenes on the club layout as well as proposed new scenes.   In the BHF Conference Center the Club set up a large " O " scale layout for the Christmas in Brazoria event.   Santa Claus was spotted on the layout taking a rest just after Christmas near the Stratton Ridge stock pen.

In 2016 the Stratton ridge stock-pens and surrounding scenery were completed.   A model of the small Texaco gas station next to the Anderson Lumber in Sweeny was added.   A large barn was added to the layout next to the Stratton Ridge stock pen.   In May the Club members travelled to Rusk, Texas, to ride the Texas State RR excursion train to Palestine and back.   In October the Club made a presentation of the Hoskins Mound Sulfur Plant at the 50th anniversary of the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge.   On the loading track at Hoskins a rail car weigh scale and gauntlet track were added.   The Clemens prison farm scene was removed and replaced with the beginnings of the HBVRR Freeport depot and business office scene.   In the Lions Club pavilion the Club set up a large " O " scale layout for the Christmas in Brazoria event.

In 2017 a model of the freight loading ramp and storage building, IGN RR, at East Columbia was added to the layout.   In February the club travelled to Stafford to attend the train show put on by the San Jacinto RR club.   In March the BVRS club set up an O scale layout in the hallway outside of the club's layout room as part of the Brazoria March celebration.   The first few months of the year was spent preparing several portable layouts to be displayed at the annual fly-in at the Gulf Coast Regional airport (April 29th).   This was the first time the club attended the fly-in event and was received very well, it was a huge success.   Starting in the summer a Freeport scene was developed for the club's layout.   This scene will replace the Clemens prison farm, and add four more new businesses to the operations.   The new scene includes the Freeport passenger depot, the HBVRR business office, the Sinclair bulk fuel distributor, the Pearl Beer warehouse, the Texas Co consignee fuel and oil distributor, and the Stauffer Chemical Company.   By the end of 2017 the first four businesses were added to the layout.   On December 2nd club members Jimmy Pitts, Caleb Griffith, and Paul Hermonat, set up three layout displays at the Angleton Library.   In December the club set up displays in the gym as part of the Christmas in Brazoria event.

In 2018 the club travelled to Houston to attend the Worlds Greatest Hobby train show in February.   Also in February the club travelled to Stafford to attend the train show put on by the San Jacinto RR club.   At this show the club had three vendor tables where 26 boxes and three large tubs of excess train supplies were sold.   The Texas Co consignee oil distributor scene, in Freeport, was completed in April.   In May a functioning automobile lift was added to the Sweeny gas station scene.   The Rosharon Rice Dryer scene was modified to be more realistic for 1955.   The grain elevator and storage bins were reversed to put the railroad track in proper location.  In December club members set up three layout displays at the Angleton Library.   The four Freeport business building models were completed.   A double slip switch was added to the Clute yard to reduce rail traffic congestion.   An LED panel was added to indicate the route selected through the double slip switch and an Arduino computer was added to turn on the appropriate panel LED's.

In February of 2019 the club travelled to the annual train show in Stafford where the club had two vendor tables to sell acquisitions and consignments from the past year.   Two of the club members attended the NMRA train show in Salt Lake City.   Models of the 1950's era train depot and maintenance shed at Velasco were added to the middle of the peninsula table.   Track was laid for the Dow PLant scene.   A Wi-Fi hub was added to the layout for cell phone throttle users.   Construction of a model of one of the large Stauffer Chemical buildings in Freeport was started.   In the fall the club travelled to Eagle Lake to observe the Union Pacific Big Boy engine on tour.   The club set up a one day display in the Angleton library in December.

In 2020 the club members once again took surplus train items from storage to the Stafford train show to sell in their annual event.   Construction of models of the DOW chemical plant "A" in Freeport was started.   Most of the model train events during the summer were cancelled due to covid-19.

— —Jim Williams, Chief Engineer, July 2020.