Website Updated:
April 17th, 2009
 The Mesquite Belt Railroad is based on the Katy Railroad's Houston
to Ft. Worth line. The MB also purchased the Katy's Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas
also known as the OKT route northward.
The modeled portion is the MKT's Houston to Ft. Worth route, with operational
considerations of South of Houston, North of Ft. Worth, Georgetown Sub-Division and
LCRA coal traffic. These considerations allow trains from "outside" the modeled
portion to influence traffic flows and train movements. The Mesquite Belt's HO layout
is housed in a 20'x40' depot. The layout's plan has over 800 linear feet of trackage,
including a 14' curve and a 32' classification yard. The Mesquite Belt also has a M-9
Fairmont speeder!
 The depot was built from the M-K-T (KATY) Standard Plans Book, available from the
Colorado State Railroad Museum.
I could not have built the depot without help from my wife Melanie & kids Aaron, Caryn & Matthew, father-in-law John Walther, Geary Johnson, and Mike Ellis.
The modeled railroad was designed with a lot of help from my good friend Jeff Ford, and built
primarily by myself and Steve Gohman, with help from Mike Ellis and Geary Johnson.
The layout is controlled by Digitrax DCC, with radio throttles maximizing the linear walk-around
design of the layout. Train movement is controlled by the dispatcher, and CTC is planned,
with computer controlled signal logic.
 There are 6 Sub-Divisions on the Mesquite Belt:
The Houston Sub Houston - Smithville
The Texas Sub Smithville - Waco
The Ft. Worth Sub Waco - Ft. Worth
The Duncan Sub Ft. Worth - Points North of Tower 55 (Staging)
The Georgetown Sub Granger - Georgetown (Staging)
The GH&H Sub Houston - Port of Houston / Galveston (Staging)
This model railroad is THAT dream layout most
modelers always dream of, but seldom build. This depot and layout have been possible
by a lot of fellow modelers, who where always willing to answer a question, letter,
phone call or email. To all who have helped me become the modeler I am, Thank You!
Those modelers and their layouts who have influenced me are: David Barrow's Cat Mountain
& Santa Fe; Eric Brooman's Utah Belt; Bruce Carpenter's BNSF Chili Sub Division;
Ken Caulking's Casey Lines; Doyle Davis' South Western Pacific; Mike Ellis' Teague, Mexia, Rock Island & Gulf;
Jeff Ford's Texas, Oklahoma & Gulf; Gil Frietag's Stoney Creek & Western;
Steve Gohman's Chicago, Omaha & St. Louis; Gary Hoover's Missouri, Kansas & Quincy;
Bryan Kanis' Utah Western; Tony Koester's Allegheny Midland;
Allen McClelland's Virginian & Ohio; & Stephen Priest's Santa Fe Emporia Sub Division.
The Mesquite Belt Model Railroad is based in Palestine, Texas, home of the
The Texas State Railroad now under
American Heritage Railroads operational control, and is running a full schedule of trains!
This historic train travels through the scenic piney woods and hardwood creek bottoms of
East Texas where rolling hills, nature and wildlife abound.
The Mesquite Belt can handle group outings and hosting other model railroad
clubs for guest operating sessions, as well as active involvement with the
Piney Woods Model RR Club, NMRA & Katy Railroad Historical Society.
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