www.welcomehomergv.com
•••
Welcome Home WINTER TEXAN • • • February 17, 2021
1
We’re just connecting the dots.
VOLUME 6 • ISSUE 18 • February 17, 2021 • • • your official connection to the rio grande valley • • •
hello FROM KRISTI
S urprisingly,
this season is very much like last in that it seems to be flying by. I’m not quite sure how that’s possible, although I will say our time has been filled cleaning things up, organizing, and strategizing for next season. It’s something we do every year, just not this time of year. I have to admit it has been nice to slow down a bit, but as we put the finishing touches on what we hope we’ll be able to do next season, I’m ready to move on fast forward! I’m hopefully optimistic about next season. There’s no doubt that by then things will have changed-likely not to what we were used to, but certainly different than the way things have been this season. I’ll contradict myself and say that things are now changing at a faster rate, and yet it still seems like they’re moving along at a snail’s pace. It’s very hard to plan six months out without a crystal ball, that’s for sure.
The Rio Grande Valley Rails Club operates an HO model railroad at the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse Museum in Hidalgo.
IMPRESSIVE LOCAL MODEL RAILROAD SERVES AS EDUCATION TOOL STORY AND PHOTOS BY ERYN REDDELL WINGERT
Either way, we’re planning ahead, making modifications and thinking about how we’ll continue to grow, serve, and, most of all, have fun! • We’re just connecting the dots,
Kristi
THANK YOU TO OUR
2020-2021
SEASON SPONSORS
T
he moment I met locals Art Nemes and Frank Jacobson in the parking lot of the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse in Hidalgo, Texas, I began recording our conversation. Their passion for all things railroad was immediately apparent, and they were eager to share. What I initially thought was going to be a show-and-tell of a model-train set-up actually turned into a full-on lesson in the history and importance of the railway system to the Rio Grande Valley. “This is the best-kept secret in the whole Valley!” Art excitedly shares, his arms gesturing wide as we walk toward the entrance. We enter the museum, and the two direct me over to a map on the wall where I
Larry Toerber and Art Nemes are seated as Red Knepfler holds pieces from his billboard boxcar collection.
RIO GRANDE VALLEY RAILS CLUB CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 >>