Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The Michael Berry Show. I gotan email from a fellow named Dale Frick
ramon subject where to eat in TexasCity Zar. I'm going to read it
as he wrote it. I ama member of the Houston Template t E
M P l A t E.I'm a member of the Houston Template Operator
(00:20):
Society, and we always eat atREGOs whenever we're in town for a train
show at the Texas City Museum.They have comfort food and excellent service,
and they are great people. Goodpeople on Sixth Street enjoy your show every
day. So I looked up Templatet E M P l A t E
(00:41):
using my Encyclopedia brown Sherlock Holmes powersof deduction. The train show just has
something to do with trains, SoI put in Template Operator Society Train show,
and it's the ten plate ti nDo you know about this ti n
(01:03):
plate? He might have dictated thisso that the word tenplate wouldn't pop up.
I bet you that's what happened.Anyway. That is these people,
that is the Houston Tenplate Society listsas their address memorials across from the Target
at Memorial City Mall. So Idon't know if they have an office there
(01:27):
or what But you know, thesepeople that build these elaborate toy train deals,
they probably don't like that language,but that's what it is. It
says the Houston ten Plate Tenplate OperatorSociety HTOS is an organization of O gauge
train modelers whose pri Let's see ifI can get to this whose it cuts
(01:53):
off. Oh my goodness, Ineed to be able to know what they
do. Trainweb dot org as that'sif we can get it off of their
website. Welcome to the Houston TenplateOperators Society website. There's a free train
Web e newsletter ramon you can signup for. There's ad space available if
(02:13):
you'd like to buy that. Whowe are here, We are an O
gauge model train club. So thisain't the other gauge train club. This
is just an old gauge whatever thatmeans. That's who they are. But
more importantly, all you other peoplethat don't come, don't call, don't
show up, don't ask questions,don't try to make a donation, don't
(02:36):
try to join the membership because wedon't want you. We are an old
gauge model train club whose goal ishere's the goal to present to the public
a family friendly atmosphere, because whatwas happening is you'd have these It was
like Caligula was putting on a trainshow and just crazy. I don't even
(03:00):
want to go into some of thejust sins of the flesh. I mean
drugs and nonsense and debauchery, thelikes of what you've ever seen. So
who we are is an old gaugemodel train club and you know what you
want to do all it take thatto the other gauge train clubs. Go
(03:20):
do that over there where they'll toleratethat nonsense, but not here. This
is not this not that kind ofoperation. Yeah, on the other side
of the track. Yeah, y'allgo over there. Okay, you go
down to Galveston. You know thatthey'll tolerate that nonsense with the Marty Gras
year round. This is this isnot that kind of place. We are
(03:42):
an old gauge model train club whosegoal is to present to the public a
family friendly atmosphere that promotes our hobbyand provides enjoyment and education to all who
visit. Now, that last partat the Constitutional Convention of the HTOS was
(04:02):
they had some people they weren't providingenjoyment and or education to all who it
was sort of somewhere and some work. Now I'm not really having a good
note. We're doing it for everybody. Our location is Memorial City Mall,
Sweet six seventeen, inside the mall, adjacent to Target. I will bet
you I have a sneaking suspicion thatJim Jard has some interest. It seems
(04:26):
like a kind of thing he'd beinto, and he probably cut them a
good deal on some office space.Weekly operating hours are Tuesday from six point
thirty to eight thirty pm and Saturdayfrom one to five except some holidays and
when attending local train shows. Soif you show up and they're not there
and you want to start bitching aboutit, you know what, go read
(04:47):
the website. It's very clear sometimesthey will not do. Let's see for
a list of upcoming train shows andexhibits in the Houston area and around Texas.
Here are the meats, but atlower rise to where the meets are.
Stuart is with the htos. Stuart, how you doing, Michael?
(05:10):
I'm good. So how did youget involved with the ten plate operators?
It's real cool and let me letme take the mystery out of o gauge.
With model railroads, there are generallysix common scales. And when you
grew up, and when I grewup, we probably had a Lionel train.
Wait, how old? How oldare you? I'm sixty six,
(05:31):
okay, a little older than you. And and Lionel trains, if you're
not familiar with them, they're big, they're heavy, they smell weird,
they burn a lot of electricity,and they are O gauge and O gauge,
like your previous caller said, isis the width of the track,
and O gauge is one and aquarter inch wide, and that is what
(05:55):
the primary train sets htos U uses. The other gauge that you might be
familiar with is HO. Its trackis only five eighths of an inch,
and in is even smaller than that, is three eighths of an inch.
So it's not that the club isdiscriminatory against certain gauges. That's just what
they work with. And the wayI got involved, it doesn't really being
(06:20):
inclusive, though, Stuart, itfeels like some of those out there in
the smaller gauge might like to joinin. Well, let me tell you
what. There are numerous train clubsin Houston it's it's amazing how many train
clubs there are, and they concentrateon different scales. And what's the way
I got involved. I became agrandpa and I said, you know what,
(06:41):
I remember lying l trains and Iwas walking through the mall by Target,
Memorial City Mall, and this placeis incredible. And like you said,
it's a bunch of old guys eatingdonuts and drinking coffee. About the
donuts. Oh yeah, you awhole different level. Oh yeah, and
you know, and I'm trying tointroduce beer, but the kind of frown
upon me, so I put itin it. Do you think they're there
right now? Is it no?Thursday? Oh? Somebody's there tinkering.
(07:09):
But here, here's the main deal. It is not a store. They
don't sell anything. And I loveGeorge's involvement, but I can tell you
this. There are physicists, electricalengineers. They they are the smartest human
beings in the world. And thistrain set that they've carried across the nation
to different shows is one of themost phenomenal feats of electrical engineering you'll ever
(07:33):
see. They can turn this thingon run seven trains at the same time
on the same track and not toucha thing. But it's not a store
that it does not compete with theothers. I love that. I love
that even more. Yeah, butwhat's cool when certain train shows happen in
Houston, and there are several,this group takes their mobile train exhibit to
(07:58):
those groups to promote trains and ifyou want to learn trains, this is
the place to go. It's freethat we host birthday parties for kids,
and it's all volunteer and it's justliterally a bunch of old guys. I'm
a young guy compared to the mostof them in there, and it's just
phenomenal. And I appreciate you highlightingthem well. I will, oh,
(08:22):
and I love I love Cogdale.I've known in since high school and went
to Texas with him and I'm fromBeaumont, so I love your Orange connection.
Oh what do you do for aliving, Stuart? I'm in the
bond business, not bail bonds.Don't call me tonight. So like tax
free bonds. We have a lotof mutual friends. Are you with Are
(08:43):
you with one of the big shops? I am? Do I know them?
Probably know a lot of people there, you bet, I probably know
you if you're in the if you'rein that side of the bond business.
Yeah, every time you talk aboutOrange, I remember the Zito family,
the Romano family, and the Danielsfamily. We all went to the University
(09:05):
of Texas together. And Orange isa cool place. How about that?
So do you bring your grandchild withyou to the train shop? Oh?
Yeah, actually have six of themnow. It's amazing. And what's amazing
about it, it's eye level withmost kids. And if some kids are
smaller, we have stools. Weeven have pop ups. And I'm talking
(09:26):
about mountains and gas stations and railroadcrossings and it's unbelievable. Somebody told me
that the reason it says family friendlyis because some places don't have things for
the kids to touch. And that'stheir code for saying this is very interactive.
The kids are going to be ableto touch them. If you like
(09:48):
the Michael Berry Show in podcast,please tell one friend, and if you're
so inclined, write a nice reviewof our podcast. Comments, suggestions,
questions, an interest in being acorporate sponsor and partner can be communicated directly
to the show at our email addressMichael at Michael Berryshow dot com. Or
(10:11):
simply by clicking on our website,Michael Berryshow dot com. The Michael Berry
Show and Podcast is produced by RamonRoeblis, The King of Ding. Executive
producer is Chad Knakanishi. Jim Muddis the creative director. Voices Jingles,
(10:35):
Tomfoolery and Shenanigans are provided by ChanceMcLain. Director of Research is Sandy Peterson.
Emily Bull is our assistant listener andsuperfan. Contributions are appreciated and often
incorporated into our production. Where possible, we give credit, Where not,
(10:56):
we take all the credit for ourselves. God bless the memory of Rush Limbaugh.
Long live Elvis, be a simpleman like Leonard Skinnard told you,
and God bless America. Finally,if you know a veteran suffering from PTSD,
call Camp Hope at eight seven sevenseven one seven PTSD and a combat
(11:22):
veteran will answer the phone to providefree counseling.
The Michael Berry Show. I gotan email from a fellow named Dale Frick
ramon subject where to eat in TexasCity Zar. I'm going to read it
as he wrote it. I ama member of the Houston Template t E
M P l A t E.I'm a member of the Houston Template Operator
(00:20):
Society, and we always eat atREGOs whenever we're in town for a train
show at the Texas City Museum.They have comfort food and excellent service,
and they are great people. Goodpeople on Sixth Street enjoy your show every
day. So I looked up Templatet E M P l A t E
(00:41):
using my Encyclopedia brown Sherlock Holmes powersof deduction. The train show just has
something to do with trains, SoI put in Template Operator Society Train show,
and it's the ten plate ti nDo you know about this ti n
(01:03):
plate? He might have dictated thisso that the word tenplate wouldn't pop up.
I bet you that's what happened.Anyway. That is these people,
that is the Houston Tenplate Society listsas their address memorials across from the Target
at Memorial City Mall. So Idon't know if they have an office there
(01:27):
or what But you know, thesepeople that build these elaborate toy train deals,
they probably don't like that language,but that's what it is. It
says the Houston ten Plate Tenplate OperatorSociety HTOS is an organization of O gauge
train modelers whose pri Let's see ifI can get to this whose it cuts
(01:53):
off. Oh my goodness, Ineed to be able to know what they
do. Trainweb dot org as that'sif we can get it off of their
website. Welcome to the Houston TenplateOperators Society website. There's a free train
Web e newsletter ramon you can signup for. There's ad space available if
(02:13):
you'd like to buy that. Whowe are here, We are an O
gauge model train club. So thisain't the other gauge train club. This
is just an old gauge whatever thatmeans. That's who they are. But
more importantly, all you other peoplethat don't come, don't call, don't
show up, don't ask questions,don't try to make a donation, don't
(02:36):
try to join the membership because wedon't want you. We are an old
gauge model train club whose goal ishere's the goal to present to the public
a family friendly atmosphere, because whatwas happening is you'd have these It was
like Caligula was putting on a trainshow and just crazy. I don't even
(03:00):
want to go into some of thejust sins of the flesh. I mean
drugs and nonsense and debauchery, thelikes of what you've ever seen. So
who we are is an old gaugemodel train club and you know what you
want to do all it take thatto the other gauge train clubs. Go
(03:20):
do that over there where they'll toleratethat nonsense, but not here. This
is not this not that kind ofoperation. Yeah, on the other side
of the track. Yeah, y'allgo over there. Okay, you go
down to Galveston. You know thatthey'll tolerate that nonsense with the Marty Gras
year round. This is this isnot that kind of place. We are
(03:42):
an old gauge model train club whosegoal is to present to the public a
family friendly atmosphere that promotes our hobbyand provides enjoyment and education to all who
visit. Now, that last partat the Constitutional Convention of the HTOS was
(04:02):
they had some people they weren't providingenjoyment and or education to all who it
was sort of somewhere and some work. Now I'm not really having a good
note. We're doing it for everybody. Our location is Memorial City Mall,
Sweet six seventeen, inside the mall, adjacent to Target. I will bet
you I have a sneaking suspicion thatJim Jard has some interest. It seems
(04:26):
like a kind of thing he'd beinto, and he probably cut them a
good deal on some office space.Weekly operating hours are Tuesday from six point
thirty to eight thirty pm and Saturdayfrom one to five except some holidays and
when attending local train shows. Soif you show up and they're not there
and you want to start bitching aboutit, you know what, go read
(04:47):
the website. It's very clear sometimesthey will not do. Let's see for
a list of upcoming train shows andexhibits in the Houston area and around Texas.
Here are the meats, but atlower rise to where the meets are.
Stuart is with the htos. Stuart, how you doing, Michael?
(05:10):
I'm good. So how did youget involved with the ten plate operators?
It's real cool and let me letme take the mystery out of o gauge.
With model railroads, there are generallysix common scales. And when you
grew up, and when I grewup, we probably had a Lionel train.
Wait, how old? How oldare you? I'm sixty six,
(05:31):
okay, a little older than you. And and Lionel trains, if you're
not familiar with them, they're big, they're heavy, they smell weird,
they burn a lot of electricity,and they are O gauge and O gauge,
like your previous caller said, isis the width of the track,
and O gauge is one and aquarter inch wide, and that is what
(05:55):
the primary train sets htos U uses. The other gauge that you might be
familiar with is HO. Its trackis only five eighths of an inch,
and in is even smaller than that, is three eighths of an inch.
So it's not that the club isdiscriminatory against certain gauges. That's just what
they work with. And the wayI got involved, it doesn't really being
(06:20):
inclusive, though, Stuart, itfeels like some of those out there in
the smaller gauge might like to joinin. Well, let me tell you
what. There are numerous train clubsin Houston it's it's amazing how many train
clubs there are, and they concentrateon different scales. And what's the way
I got involved. I became agrandpa and I said, you know what,
(06:41):
I remember lying l trains and Iwas walking through the mall by Target,
Memorial City Mall, and this placeis incredible. And like you said,
it's a bunch of old guys eatingdonuts and drinking coffee. About the
donuts. Oh yeah, you awhole different level. Oh yeah, and
you know, and I'm trying tointroduce beer, but the kind of frown
upon me, so I put itin it. Do you think they're there
right now? Is it no?Thursday? Oh? Somebody's there tinkering.
(07:09):
But here, here's the main deal. It is not a store. They
don't sell anything. And I loveGeorge's involvement, but I can tell you
this. There are physicists, electricalengineers. They they are the smartest human
beings in the world. And thistrain set that they've carried across the nation
to different shows is one of themost phenomenal feats of electrical engineering you'll ever
(07:33):
see. They can turn this thingon run seven trains at the same time
on the same track and not toucha thing. But it's not a store
that it does not compete with theothers. I love that. I love
that even more. Yeah, butwhat's cool when certain train shows happen in
Houston, and there are several,this group takes their mobile train exhibit to
(07:58):
those groups to promote trains and ifyou want to learn trains, this is
the place to go. It's freethat we host birthday parties for kids,
and it's all volunteer and it's justliterally a bunch of old guys. I'm
a young guy compared to the mostof them in there, and it's just
phenomenal. And I appreciate you highlightingthem well. I will, oh,
(08:22):
and I love I love Cogdale.I've known in since high school and went
to Texas with him and I'm fromBeaumont, so I love your Orange connection.
Oh what do you do for aliving, Stuart? I'm in the
bond business, not bail bonds.Don't call me tonight. So like tax
free bonds. We have a lotof mutual friends. Are you with Are
(08:43):
you with one of the big shops? I am? Do I know them?
Probably know a lot of people there, you bet, I probably know
you if you're in the if you'rein that side of the bond business.
Yeah, every time you talk aboutOrange, I remember the Zito family,
the Romano family, and the Danielsfamily. We all went to the University
(09:05):
of Texas together. And Orange isa cool place. How about that?
So do you bring your grandchild withyou to the train shop? Oh?
Yeah, actually have six of themnow. It's amazing. And what's amazing
about it, it's eye level withmost kids. And if some kids are
smaller, we have stools. Weeven have pop ups. And I'm talking
(09:26):
about mountains and gas stations and railroadcrossings and it's unbelievable. Somebody told me
that the reason it says family friendlyis because some places don't have things for
the kids to touch. And that'stheir code for saying this is very interactive.
The kids are going to be ableto touch them. If you like
(09:48):
the Michael Berry Show in podcast,please tell one friend, and if you're
so inclined, write a nice reviewof our podcast. Comments, suggestions,
questions, an interest in being acorporate sponsor and partner can be communicated directly
to the show at our email addressMichael at Michael Berryshow dot com. Or
(10:11):
simply by clicking on our website,Michael Berryshow dot com. The Michael Berry
Show and Podcast is produced by RamonRoeblis, The King of Ding. Executive
producer is Chad Knakanishi. Jim Muddis the creative director. Voices Jingles,
(10:35):
Tomfoolery and Shenanigans are provided by ChanceMcLain. Director of Research is Sandy Peterson.
Emily Bull is our assistant listener andsuperfan. Contributions are appreciated and often
incorporated into our production. Where possible, we give credit, Where not,
(10:56):
we take all the credit for ourselves. God bless the memory of Rush Limbaugh.
Long live Elvis, be a simpleman like Leonard Skinnard told you,
and God bless America. Finally,if you know a veteran suffering from PTSD,
call Camp Hope at eight seven sevenseven one seven PTSD and a combat
(11:22):
veteran will answer the phone to providefree counseling.
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