Mike's Roundhouse

I can clearly remember going to the Sears and Roebuck store in downtown Tyler, Texas, and making my way down to the toy section, set up just for Christmas, in the basement of the store. I was 10 years old at the time. On display was a figure 8, over and under O27-gauge Marx steam engine with several cars in a set. Santa delivered a set like that on... Christmas morning. Little did I know that that train would start me on the road to a lifelong hobby and that would eventually turn into a business building models and layouts. Believe it or not, I still have that set and it still runs like new. Those are the words of Master Model Railroader Mike Mackey. A native of Texas, Mike grew up in East Texas and quickly became a fan of the St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt) Railroad and the Missouri Pacific Railroad. At the age of 22, he went to work for the Cotton Belt Railroad where he served them until a massive layoff after the purchase of the Cotton Rock. That didnt diminish his interest in model railroading, however. At 17 years old, Mike had purchased his first Athearn locomotive and started his life as a scale railroader. Growing up in East Texas, there werent many clubs for him to associate with, and the nearest mecca for railroading was Dallas. As luck would have it, he ended up taking a job there years later and joined a club based in Garland, Texas, where he met several friends who he is still modeling with today, nearly 30 years later. After taking a hiatus from the hobby for a few years, Mike joined a club in Fort Worth where he was living and rekindled his love of model railroading. It was during a train show held by the club in 2012 that he joined the National Model Railroad Association. He immersed himself into the NMRA and started working on the regional membership team and regional conventions. In 2016, he served as co-chair of the regional convention held in Arlington, Texas. In 2017, he was elected division director of the Cowcatcher Division, division one, of the Lone Star Region. He serves in that ...Read More