Our Location
Our building is located just inside the north gate of the W. H. Lyon Fairgrounds in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The address of the fairgrounds is:
4000 West 12th Street
Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57107
Specifically, we're west and slightly north of the fair administration offices, which is located in a former armory building.
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Contacting SVMES
Our contact information can be found on the following page.
Our History
The Sioux Valley Engineer's Society was originally formed in
1948. The first layout was constructed in the basement of the old
Hobby Shoppe on l0th Street.
About three years later we moved to the basement of the Old Egyptian
Theater and then a few years later to a back room of the downtown Brown's
Cleaner Shop. Each of these moves meant the complete dismantling of the
existing layout and building an entirely new one and a new location.
All layouts through this point had been in the HO scale.
The third project was vacated in 1955. For the next several years the
society carried out a round robin plan. This meant the group would
work around on the different layouts and share the pleasures of such
operations. Good experience in the many problems of construction and
operation were the benefits of such a plan.
In 1964, the Sioux Empire Fair Board invited the Society to build a
layout in one of their buildings at the Fairgrounds. This was in O gauge,
1/4 inch to the foot scale. Built in a space 12 ft. by 40 ft. and being a
larger size made the layout a popular feature of the Fair. It followed the
general theme of the Sioux River Valley in scenery and the five local
railroads were modeled. This layout was dismantled in 1967 to make way for
fair program expansion.
The Board, however, arranged for other space and funds for the
construction of a new model railroad for Fair viewers. The Club members
set out immediately to construct the present building where this layout is
displayed. After a major expansion and rebuilding project in the
80's and 90's, the layout has gradually evolved into what you see today.
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Our Future
As you might guess, the relationship that SVMES has had with the Sioux
Empire Fair Board has been important. We have been pleased that the
relationship has been mutually beneficial to the Board and the Society.
Future expansion plans for the W. H. Lyons Fairgrounds indicate that
the club may have to move one more time. These plans however, are subject
to funding restrictions and may be delayed for some time. The SVMES
looks forward to working with the Board to accomplish a successful move to
a different location when plans are finalized.
Until that time, watch for various improvements that will be taking
place in scenery on the west end of the layout. Also, members are
constantly working to improve the reliability and ease of operation of the
layout.
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Events and Meetings
Regular business meetings are the second Tuesday of the month at 7:30PM at the clubhouse.
Other Tuesday evenings are run/work/bull sesssion times as determined by the membership and board of directors.
We sponsor the Trains at Christmas show in Sioux Falls every year the weekend before Thanksgiving. Sign up here to receive a reminder about the next Trains at Christmas show in Sioux Falls.
We typically sponsor an open house in the spring and one in conjunction with the Trains Christmas show in November. A third open house was scheduled in December of 2009, and more additional open house events will be scheduled in the near future.
Special events and events sponsored out of town and by other organizations are updated regularly on our model railroad events calendar.
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Our HO Scale Model Railroad Layout
Our HO Scale Model Railroad is based loosely on scenes from around the upper midwest and eastern high plains areas of the United States. Consequently, we tend to model many agriculture related industries. We also focus on aggregates and other building materials. The era of the layout is primarily modern with scenes suggesting that the date is sometime in the late 1970's through the present. Of course there are some notable exceptions - like the working narrow guage freight operation that the layout features and the many passenger facilities that the layout features.
| Scale: |
HO and HOn3. both are 1:87 proportion. |
| DCC System: |
Digitrax Super Chief / RF- segmented in to six power districts. |
| Switches |
Mostly Walthers/Shinohara controlled by Tortise slow motion switch machines. Several places in the off mainline areas feature caboose industries ground throw switches. |
| Track: |
Mostly handlaid code 100 and code 83. More recently rebuilt areas feature Atlas code 83 flextrack. |
| Layout Dimensions: |
|
| Ownership |
SVMES owns the track, scenery, and all structures. Most of the trains are owned by members. |
| Percent Completion: |
70% |
See our projects section for a view of what is currently being worked on on the layout.
Also see our members section for what some of our members have going on at the club.
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Leadership
Our leadership consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and three board members. All three year terms elected by the membership.
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Membership
There are currently about 26 dues-paying members of Sioux Valley Model Engineers Society. There is currently a cap of 30 members, but we're currently looking for capable people that are proficient or willing to learn the hobby along with us. We're in need of folks to help improve scenery and operate trains for the Sioux Empire Fair, the Trains at Christmas Event and assist with other special events and functions the club offers.
Very reasonable dues are payable annually or semi-annually.
Applications are taken with a $10.00 non-refundable application fee. The club membership approves new members by a vote after a 90 day introductory period. The new member is then inducted as an associate member for twelve months.
If you are interested in becoming a member, please stop by our location on a Tuesday night to inquire.
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Yard Masters - Courtesy of SDPTV
Watch a segment from South Dakota Public Broadcasting's Dakota Life titled "Yard
Masters". This segment was taped at the club's December 2000 open
house. View the segment in Real
Player 
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