Announcing the Greater Sioux Falls Model Railroad Open House Tour

The Dakota Southeastern Division (DSED) of the NMRA invites you to the GREATER SIOUX FALLS MODEL RAILROAD OPEN HOUSE TOUR

PLEASE NOTE that many of the layouts on this tour are situated in the basements of private homes. This will necessitate that participants descend and climb stairs to view most of the layouts.


Saturday, September 26th, 2026 10am – 5pm

SUGGESTED DONATION OF $10 PER FAMILY – GOOD FOR ALL LOCATIONS

Detailed layout descriptions available here.

For more information contact us at:

Email:dakotasoutheastern@gmail.com

Facebook: Dakota Southeastern Division of NMRA+

Layout Descriptions

400 Jesse James Circle – Garretson

Mike – HO Scale, BNSF Marshall Subdivision

Scale: HO

Based on prototype BNSF Marshall Subdivision

Permanent basement layout

This full basement sized layout features HO modern day freight car operations based on the prototype which operates from Garretson, South Dakota to Willmar, Minnesota. The branch line from Garretson to Sioux Falls is also represented. There’s lots of detail and realistic modeling of industries along the way, including rock loading at Granite Falls, the corn syrup plant and other industries at Marshall, industries at Pipestone and the yard and other trackage at Garretson.

609 N Main Avenue – Garretson

Garretson Historical Museum – N Scale, Small town Garretson

Scale: N

Based on a childhood vision of Garretson

Established in 2022

The Garretson Museum layout is an N scale diorama of the small town of Garretson as I remember it from my childhood in the early sixties.

It’s a Great Northern layout as the Great Northern railway moved the town from the Palisades to where it is now. The layout highlights the three major attractions of the Garretson area, The Palisades (now a state park), Split Rock Park, (the city park, built by the CCC in 1936) and The Devil’s Gulch, (a cliff lined backwater of the Split Rock Creek whereas legend has it Jesse James jumped his horse across the gulch to get away from a posse after the Northfield bank robbery). The three places are surrounded by rolling farmland and main street of Garretson. Be sure to look for the recent travelers who have just arrived in the Palisades. Sometimes there’s even a storm brewing. Enjoy!

109 Milwaukee Ave – Harrisburg

Terry – HO Scale, DM&E

Name of the Railroad – DM&E (Darla, Mark & Emma)

Established in 1984
HO scale. Overall dimension(s) 24′ x30’ish

The DM&E is a freelance railroad based on scenery and industries that are and have been in the Southeastern South Dakota area. On this railroad you will find the Illinois Central, The Milwaukee Road, Burlington Northern, Union Pacific and the DM&E. The railroads haul various commodities found in the Midwest. Rock, grain, ethanol, cement and other general freight shipments. Several of the locomotives are sound equipped. The electrical system is DCC, with computer and wireless control by JMRI.

1208 W Murphy Drive – Sioux Falls

Dave – HO Scale, C&NW

HO Scale

approximately 20’ x 50’

This layout features the Chicago & Northwestern and Milwaukee Road.  These are the two systems that served my hometown of Groton, SD.  It is a freelance layout build by David Feller and Gray Johnson.  This railroad was covered by the Argus Leader in October 2010. Lots of scenery and interesting features. Look for the beautiful canyon and rock quarry.

6305 W Westminster Dr – Sioux Falls

Jim – N Scale, C&NW

GMM RAILRAOAD

N Scale

Multi-deck railroad with 600’ of track

An N scale free-lance railroad build for operations to move multiple trains from one town to another and businesses within each town. During an operating session we have can have up to 4 different operators at one time. The primary railroad in the Chicago and Northwestern with 1970 to current theming. The railroad follows the outline of a room that has multiple corners so there are unique views within the same room. With Over 600’ of track on two levels this provides for plenty of opportunities to view multiple trains.

7100 W Stoney Creek St – Sioux Falls

Jay – N and HO Scale

Multiple scales

Jay’s N scale modular layout is built to international standards. The modules were built to be used in train shows around the world. This heavily scenic layout features a corner with 12 bridges, a wedding scene complete with chimes, a modern grain elevator operation, and lots of small industries. There are 4 operating mainline tracks and one scenic railroad in operation. Both Marion and Jay hold Master Builder of Scenery certificates from the National Model Railroad Association. When asked, Jay will tell you that he does not model an era, he models “bright colors” because children and adults see bright colors. Jay has the “dentist’s nightmare train” a train of all candy and soda pop cars. There is also an operating HO modular layout at their house.

W H Lyon Fairgrounds (North End) – Sioux Falls

Sioux Valley Model Engineers Society Bldg.

HO Scale – SD Largest Display

Visit South Dakota’s largest HO scale railroad display. The Sioux Valley Model Engineers Society recently expanded their building for their growing railroad. See Mt Rushmore and its fireworks display, the falls of Sioux Falls, a circus train, amusement park and many other unique features of local industries. See the Sioux Valley Model Engineers Society website for more information on their model railroad: svmes.net.

Keeping it “In the Family”

I’m working on a Kato HO scale Milwaukee Road SD40-2 that I picked up from late DSED member Rich Phillips estate sold by DSED at a SVMES Trains at Christmas show a few years ago. Project got a boost the next TAC later from another member who is pairing down his collection, with an HO scale Kato SD38-2 chassis. I used that for the smaller, more correct fuel tank that the MILW SD40-2s had.

Added metal lift rings, wire grab irons, a rotary beacon and plows and MU hose clusters on both ends. Also added an all-weather window on the engineer’s side of the cab. Painted step edges and handrail ends as well as the aftermarket detail parts.

Added a Digitrax DH163P silent decoder and used the green wire to power the rotary beacon.

The engine looks like this and now is ready for coupler installation and a light coat of weathering.

Will be placed into service on my HO scale Black Hills & Eastern Railroad as run through power, used interchangeably with my green Burlington Northern SD40-2s.

Introducing the NMRA Interchange

As discussed at our July 2026 division meeting.

CALLING NMRA MEMBERS of DSED & DIVISIONS NATIONWIDE!

The NMRA Interchange is a new place to ask questions, provide answers, post events, share ideas and make friends.

It is implemented as a Discord server and contains categories for welcoming members, a help area, the NMRA worldwide community, the NMRA Board of Directors, each of the Departments, the Achievement Program, Special Interest Groups, the basics (of modeling), the prototype (railroads), general interest groups and then each of the 17 regions. Discord also provides, free of charge, the ability to have online meetings with up to 100 people in a “room”, sharing screens and up to 25 people showing their camera feeds. 

When you join the Interchange Server, the “Automated Bot” will greet you with a message and some instructions on how to get your roles assigned.  Without roles, you will only see #the-lobby, #rules and #how-to-guides.  Please spend some time in the #rules and #how-to-guides during the /onboard process while your are waiting for the email with your personal command and code to paste in.

Familiarize yourself with the process of gaining access to the NMRA Interchange here:

NMRA National Convention 2026 – Chattanooga, TN

2026 Scenic City Express Chattanooga TN – NMRA National Convention and T-Trak World Record Attempt

The NMRA National Convention is coming to Chattanooga, TN, for the first time in 2026! The Southeastern Region is excited to host NMRA members from around the world in the Scenic City. We have a week full of fun activities planned, including:

  • Layout Tours
  • Prototype Tours
  • Steam-Powered Excursions and Dinner Train
  • Non-Rail Tours and other Activities
  • Operating Sessions
  • Special Interest Groups
  • Railroad Historical Societies
  • Modeling with the Masters(r)
  • Celebration of Models
  • Train Show

Click here for more info: https://www.nmra2026.org/

Dates: July 27 to August 2 2026

Summer 2026 Thousand Lakes Region Fusee

Summer 2026 Thousand Lakes Region Fusee

The Fusee is a quarterly publication of the Thousand Lakes Region of the NMRA. DSED is a proud member of the TLR and a regular contributor to its pages. See inside this issue for a report from the Thousand Lakes Region convention in Thunder Bay Ontario, a good discussion on adhesives, an update from the Twin Cities Division and an introduction to DSED member Eric Carlson’s HO scale Black Hills & Eastern Railroad.

Click here for the Summer 2026 Fusee.

Model Railroad Community Education

Each spring (April) and fall (November) we host a community education class on ‘Model Railroad Module Building’. Each registrant has the opportunity to add track to a 2-foot T-Trak module, add some scenery and then run trains on the completed modules. We had a great time building the scenery on the modules and made some new friends of model railroading.

Our next class is scheduled for the four Tuesdays in November 2026.  Classes are from 6-8pm each evening. One of the classes is a tour of two of the instructor’s home model train layouts. Information and registration will be available sometime in August 2026 through the Sioux Falls Community Education program at https://sfsdcomed.myrec.com.

See our ComEd page for more photos.