News: Recent News
This page shows a listing of news entries from the past month or so. Click photos to visit the web sites.
Ertl Ford Tri-Motor Airplane
Bill Lane shares a photo of his recently-discovered Ford Tri-Motor model made by Ertl. He mentioned that it is a heavy model.
New Tractors by Ertl
3000toys.com announces these models, which includes:
John Deere A with Man represents the 1940s
John Deere 430 represents the 1950s
John Deere 4010 represents the 1960s
John Deere 4430 represents the 1970s
John Deere 4455 represents the 1980s
John Deere 4960 represents the 1990s
John Deere 8530 represents the 2000s
John Deere 7250R represents the 2010s
John Deere 8370R represents the 2020s
Perma-Bilt Models Freight Car Instructions
Bill Roberts provided the 1952 instruction sheets for a Perma-Bilt box car and reefer.
1:64 Diorama by Kathy Millatt
Kathy, who is an NMRA MMR from Great Britain, has a fantastic YouTube channel with tons of how-to videos. She models the NH in HO-scale, but this particular video is centered around a 1:64 model. In the description of the video, she states, "It is in S-scale (1/64) which is a lovely model railroad scale if you haven't seen it".
Brass GP30 by Greenbrier Models
Geoffrey Graeber, of Greenbrier Models, has an announcement in the latest S Scale Resource magazine that he is starting to make available professionally-painted brass GP30 locomotives. The Union Pacific version is planned for this summer, and the Southern Pacific and Cotton Belt ones in the fall. The UP can consist of both the A- and B-unit, or can be had individually. The engines will come with standard DC power and directional headlights. If DCC is desired, the model can be ordered with that pre-installed for you. Decals are also planned to be available separately. A web site is in the works. Click to send an e-mail.
Etched-brass Kits, Parts, Details by Mark's Model Works
Recently-discovered New Zealand manufacturer makes a variety of unique etched-brass kits and parts that can be used by those not necessarily modeling the New Zealand Railways. Most of the products listed on their web site are available in S. Be sure to check out the Gallery page for some very impressive modeling.
Rough Cut Lumber Stacks by Rail Scale Models
This item represents a stack of rough-cut lumber. Typically, rough-cut lumber comes from a sawmill and is ready to be dried in a kiln. Pieces of lumber have yet to be cut to size or graded, so you'll see a stack of similar thickness but variable widths and lengths. This kit includes two (2) sheets approximately 10.5" long x 4.5" wide on 3/64" basswood - simulating ~3" wide lumber at ~12' (also available at ~10') lengths. It includes enough material to create two (2) four foot (4') tall lumber stacks.
Be sure to check out the rest of their web site, as the company has a lot of interesting details available in S.
ZYX Creative
This company manufactures a wide variety of products. They primarily focus on HO-scale, but they state that they can produce anything you see in S-scale.
Gondola Retaining Clips by Archer Fine Transfers
The company has made available a sheet of 99 gondola retaining clips using their raised surface details technique.
NASG Mobley Library
The NASG's Mobley Library is still in a state of transition, but current Librarian, Dale Minard, has made available the updated listing of magazine articles. In addition to listing which magazines the NASG Mobley Library has, he has also created magazine article indexes, which you can download for your own perusal. Active NASG members can request PDF copies of articles that are held in the Library. See the linked to page for all the details.
NASG A.F. Commemorative Cars Are Back
The sale of the remaining inventory of the NASG American Flyer Commemorative Cars has been on hold for a while. Dave Blum ran the program for a good number of years and wanted to scale back. Clay Buckage, owner of Dave's Twacks & Twains, volunteered to take over the program, but needed time to retrieve the inventory from back east. So, we temporarily halted their sale. These cars are now ready to be shipped.
The 2015 NASG Convention Cars Are Back
The sale of the remaining inventory of the 2015 NASG Convention Cars has been on hold for a while. Dave Blum hosted that Convention and continued to sell these cars, but wanted to scale back. Clay Buckage, owner of Dave's Twacks & Twains, volunteered to take over the sale of these cars, but needed time to retrieve the inventory from back east. So, we temporarily halted their sale. These cars are now ready to be shipped.
Layouts Page Updated
Mark Charles and Dan Navarre provided us with photos taken of Tom Hess' layout, which was dismantled about two weeks ago.
Narrow-gauge Decals by Republic Locomotive Works
Once on their web site, select "S" in the "Scale" field and press the Search button to view their S-scale offerings.
Added MTH NW2, SW8 Listing to Product Gallery
With MTH having completed their delivery schedule of the NW2 and SW8 locomotives, the Product Gallery section of this web site has been updated with the actual models that they produced as part of their 2019 catalog.
Updates by Port Lines Hobby Supply
Doug Peck announces that he will be closed the first half of April to take a mini vacation. Shipping of orders, in the order received, will continue after he returns.
He also mentioned that he will no longer allow direct purchases via PayPal, but rather he will send you a PayPal invoice, if you so request, for the final total when your order is ready to be shipped. Therefore, note that there may be some time between when you request a PayPal invoice and Doug actually gets around to processing your order and invoicing you. When you do receive your PayPal invoice, you can then pay as you would normally do when using PayPal.
He requests that you hold off on sending him any more repair work, as he has quite a backlog as of now.
Doug notifies us that American Models has re-run their NH and NYC heavyweight passenger car sets and these are available to order or purchase now (see the first two photos).
He mentioned that all of the promised diesel locomotives that MTH was going to manufacture from their 2019 catalog have now been delivered. Doug is currently shipping the pre-orders he has received (some may be delayed until after his vacation). MTH informed Doug that they have delivered all the S-scale products they were going to deliver (the EVC cabooses had previously already been canceled, and the S-TRAX system speculated re-run was never started). This means that no more MTH/SHS track components are available for the time-being, other than what retailers such as Doug have on hand.
Doug announces the availability of the following AF reproduction items:
- the leather piston rim for the chugger mechanism in some prewar O-gauge tenders
- brass handrail sets for the Franklin and Washington engines
- the smoke worm gear and smoke piston lever for the Franklin and Washington engines
- the Single-Axle Quartering Tool for any standard S-gauge steam engine, plus optional substitute plates for 0-8-0 use (see third photo)
- plated drawbars for all prewar Gilbert engines
- water-decals for most AF "S" tenders, for use instead of dry-transfers
- "332" and "336" cab number water-decals for those Northerns.
Street Surface Sheet Goods by Larkspur LaserArt
The company is making available S-scale street surface sheets. These are interlocking sheets, so that you can use a number of these to complete your entire road length-wise and width-wise. Sold in packs of two 9-1/2" x 4-1/2" sheets. These unpainted sheets can be glued down to virtually any surface, and then painted and weathered afterwards. The material is 0.025" lazerboard.
Have Your Parts Printed by Smoky Mountain Model Works
Jim King offered to print anyone's .stl or .obj CAD-designed files on his Form3 SLA printer, if possible. Contact him to start the conversation. Click to send an e-mail.
1978, 1979, 1980 Dispatches Available
The NASG Dispatch issues and the original NASG Newsletters have been scanned into PDF, starting from the very first issue in 1978 through 1980 (i.e. all the ones that were still missing). Indexing of the articles for the 1978 and 1979 issues will be done soon.
2021 NASG Convention Postponed to 2022
The group that runs the 2021 NASG Convention has unanimously decided to postpone the 2021 NASG Convention to 2022.
Airplane Cardstock Kits by Reviresco
Recently discovered, Reviresco released, in 2020, two sets of Fokker D-VII World War I airplane kits. These are pre-decorated cardstock kits that create models which are about 5-1/2" square. These could be used for a static display of a period or old-planes display on a layout, or, due to their light weight, be hung from thin fishing wire to make look like they are flying over your layout. The company has 12 models available, which can be bought individually for $5 each, or a set of 6 (two sets available) for $25 for a set. Also, if you have access to a color printer, the company sells some of them for $3 each in PDF form so that you can print them yourself.
John Armstrong's Model of Nighthawks
The link to the external web site takes you to an O-scale announcement and product review of the kits that make up a version of the John Armstrong's model of Nighthawks, which John based on the Edward Hopper's painting by that name. The O-scale version (shown in the photo) has already been produced, and the S-scale version are now also available (see second photo). The kits are designed and produced by Right On Track Models (on commission, so not listed on their site), and sold by Wit and Wisdom Models (no web site), which is owned by David Vaughn (see e-mail link -->). Click to send an e-mail.
New Animated Signs by Miller Engineering
These new signs are expected to be shipping in May. They also announced that their October 2020-release signs are now in stock (delayed due to delays by their source suppliers).
Train Shows
Train Show Inc. has been closed permanently. Operations of the "Great Train Show", "Greenberg Train and Toy Show", "Great Midwest Train Show", and "the World's Greatest Hobby on Tour Show" will be taken over by a new organization in April, 2021. The new organization will include much of the previous train shows' staff. The following are planned as of now:
- The Greenberg Train & Toy Shows will resume in July, 2021.
- The Great Train Shows will resume in August, 2021.
- The Great Midwest Train Show will resume in August, 2021.
- The World's Greatest Hobby on tour will resume in January 2022
Details about the shows will be posted on the web site linked to below starting on April 19, 2021. The new offices for these shows will open on April 20th, 2021.
John Wickham Turnouts
John Wickham hand-makes S-scale turnouts using the Fast Tracks jigs. John does this on a part-time basis, so expect delays, although he does carry an inventory. He also makes HO-scale turnouts, so be sure to ask for S-scale ones. Contact him for current pricing. No web site. Click to send an e-mail.
The 2021 Annual Member Car Announced
The NASG is pleased to announce the 2021 car for the "Annual Member Car" program (formerly the "Annual Commemorative Car" program). It is a 50-foot, three-bay covered hopper, to be manufactured by American Models. Click on the photo to read more about this car, and to place your pre-order.
Note that the 2020 car (the 50-foot MNS box car) is selling well, and we are getting low in stock on those. So, if you have been thinking about getting one of those, now is the time.
These cars are only available to active NASG members.
Mar/Apr 2020, 2021 Dispatch PDFs Available
The digital file of the March/April 2021 Dispatch issue arrived, so it is now available on this web site. Also, the March/April 2020 Dispatch issue is now publicly available (its articles are also indexed).
Multi-car Dioramas by Johnny Lightning
3000toys.com announces these models. Includes the James Bond 1976 Lotus Espirit, and the 1987 Aston Martin V8.
Structure Kits by Larkspur LaserArt
The company re-releases two kits they had previously released under their Monster Model Works name.
