This page highlights changes made to this web site.
The public version of the November/December 2023 issue of the NASG's Dispatch is now available. Also, the members-only issue of the November/December 2024 Dispatch PDF can now be downloaded via the "Members Only" portal.
Gregg Mummert sent in a handful of photos showing the progress he has been making on his "Grand Funk RR" layout.
Brooks Stover provided details and photos of his 1970s long-dismantled A.C. Gilbert-based layout, the "Lexington & Webster RR".
The Lionel switcher engines were mis-categorized in the Product Gallery. I had erroneously labeled them as Baldwin S-12 locomotives, but Rich Gajnak pointed out that these are actually modeled after the Baldwin DS-4-4-660 engines. Since Lionel based their models after the original A.C. Gilbert engines, upon comparing them again, those engines, too, were mis-categorized.
As with anything related to technology, things are always changing. The Battery Power article on this web site has been updated with the addition and updates of the available systems (about half-way down that page). Micro Flier Radio, Soundtraxx, and Wifitrax have been added.
Tom Lennon provided several photos of a #8 turnout produced by Whiteoak Models. We had no photos of these before.
John Mann acquired a Pope Imagineering CTA 6000 car, and shares a photo of it with us.
Bill Roberts shares a photo of an Old Pullman double-slip and a curved turnout that he has installed on his layout. Both of these track component types were missing from our Product Gallery listing.
Tom Lennon also provided photos of a Robert L Miller Laboratory turnout tie strip he recently discovered.
The gondola section of the Product Gallery has been completely updated and changed to the new formatting. Despite the corrections of some mis-classified cars and the removal of duplicates, the final count of the number of S gondolas has been increased by more than 40, which were missing from our previous listing. Note that this listing does not cover gondolas used in maintenance-of-way service, as those will be listed in the M.O.W. category (and currently remain available via the "Old Listing" section). New photos have been added, existing photos have been upgraded to higher-resolution versions (where available), and many additional bits of information have been added to most entries.
Bill Hawk provided photos of the Lionel PRR GP9 from 1988, an entry that was missing from our listing altogether.
Found another 24 missing flat cars, mostly by Lionel, that have been added to the listing.
Ken Garber discovered that we have Old Pullman Model Railroads turnouts listed but didn't have a representative photo to show for them. So, he dug around a bit in his stash and found one, as sold by American Models at the time, and shared a photo of a #4 turnout with us. What you see on the pages is all we have, so if you remember any information about these (e.g. during which year period were these actively being sold), feel free to contact me at webmaster@nasg.org.
The listing of all known flat cars ever produced in S-scale have now been migrated over to the new format in the Product Gallery section of this web site. Every individual entry has been thoroughly reviewed, adding missing data, making corrections, adding missing photos, and/or switching to higher-resolution photos (where available). In doing the extensive research, 70 entries have been added that were missing in the previous listing. Note that this section includes the following types of flat cars: general service, Trailer On Flat Car (TOFC), intermodal spine, bulkhead, centerbeam, and depressed-center flat cars. Maintenance-of-way, milk cars, and well cars are a separate category to be processed later.
About a third of the entries do not have a photo. If you happen to have that model in your collection, and you are willing and able to take a digital photo of that car, please contact me, the webmaster (webmaster@nasg.org), so that I may be able to add it, with proper photo credit, of course. Also, a number of entries that do have photos have ones that are of extremely low resolution to the point where you can hardly make out what it is. If you have that model and can take a digital photo of the car, please contact me.
The public version of the September/October 2023 issue of the NASG's Dispatch is now available. Also, the members-only issue of the September/October 2024 Dispatch PDF can now be downloaded via the "Members Only" portal.
Thanks to a very observant modeler, I had completely forgotten to add the Fast Tracks jigs to the Track Components Product Gallery entries back when I created that.
Also, I completely forgot to include the new product line by Empire Trackworks into that section. That's now been added. Sorry about that!
While making those changes, I separated out from the rather large "Turnout" sub-category, the "Slip Switch" and "Wye" turnouts.
The 2024 NASG Convention Cars can now be ordered by anyone; membership is not required for the remaining cars we have available.
Helen Robichaud provided a report on what the ladies did at the Convention.
Jeff Madden provided a number of additional photos.
Jeff Madden sent in a large number of photos of his layout to show how it is progressing.
Bruce Heald shares photos and layout information about his very large A.C. Gilbert-based layout. The layout is operations-oriented.
Rusty Paulus provided a number of updated photos of his layout, which is in a dedicated building.
The 2024 NASG Convention ended last night. A Convention Summary page has been added to this web site to provide a historical record of this event. What you see on that page is all that I have so far, and I will be adding to that page as new content comes to me. For those who were able to attend this event, whenever it is convenient and if you are OK with it, I am looking for any of these:
- photos taken during the tours.
- photos of the vendor hall.
- photos taken of the layouts at the hotel.
- photos taken during a clinic.
- contest model photos.
- any new-product announcements.
You will, of course, receive proper credit for your photos. Try to send the original photo, i.e. high-resolution, so that I can more easily edit it, if necessary. You can send photos as attachments to one or more e-mails to webmaster@nasg.org, or use the file-submission form (see below).
If you presented a clinic and you have a presentation file (preferrably in PDF format, but I might be able to convert other file formats into PDF) and you are OK with sharing it, I can post it on this web page for all to enjoy. We have plenty of space on the server.
The Store section of this web site has been redesigned to lay things out in a more store-like arrangement. All of the items that were in the Store section are still there, available for sale. Since we now have almost 90 items for sale, a redesign was necessary to better manage that portion of our web site.
Rich Gajnak found a PRS GN box car in his collection for which we didn't have a photo yet.
Tom Roell shared a photo of the Lionel 1993 TCA convention box car, a Great Northern car as well.
Thanks to Tom Gerbasi's information, 5 missing Lionel dump cars have been added to our recently-revised list.
As the webmaster, I have been thinking about how to deal with the closure of Shapeways. A large amount of S-scale products were available via Shapeways, and so we have a ton of links to their site. Almost all of these are individuals and some small companies who produce one or more items for S, and simply used Shapeways to have the product produced. I did not want to lose the information about those individuals and companies, as we already know that they are capable of creating S-scale items. In the "Resources" section of this web site, there were right at about 100 companies listed that only sold via Shapeways.
I have kept them on the "active" list, but have removed the links to their Shapeways web site. Shapeways still shows all the items and you can actually still go through the process of "buying" items, but there will be no one on the other end who will actually process your order. So, to avoid confusion, removing the links to their site is the correct thing to do.
It is my hope that, over time, these individuals and companies will find an alternative method to bringing their S-scale products back to market, and if that happens, I will make the appropriate links then. By keeping them on the "active" list, I will be reminded to routinely search the Web to see if they are active again, elsewhere.
If you are the owner of a (now-former) Shapeways store, and you have created an alternative means by which people can order your products, please contact me at webmaster@nasg.org, and I will be happy to update your information.
(please note that links to Shapeways from the various pages in the "Product Gallery" section will be removed in due time)
The entire (small) listing of S-scale dump cars has been thoroughly reviewed and updated.
Terry O'Kelly provided a missing photo for the S-Helper Service UP F3 A-B set.
Rich Gajnak provided a photo for an American Models KCS box car, the entry for which was missing from our listing (part of the 1989 NASG Convention car set).
Tom Roell provided photos for the American Models See's Candies box cars produced for the 2014 Flyer Fest West.
The public version of the July/August 2023 issue of the NASG's Dispatch is now available. Also, the members-only issue of the July/August 2024 Dispatch PDF can now be downloaded via the "Members Only" portal.
Rich Gajnak provided a photo of the "S Gaugian 25th Anniversary" car produced by American Models. He also provided photos of the 2010 Fall S Fest car that S Scale America (owned by Des Plaines Hobbies by that time) produced.
There were a number of box cars (~10) that were done for special events that weren't listed in the new reports, so they have added.
Our entire listing of S-scale box cars has been thoroughly reviewed. There were just over 1,200 in the listing when I started this review process in the first week of January, and we now we have just shy of 1,400 of them! In addition to researching each individual entry we had before, duplicates were removed, the American Models 2200-series cars were removed (they are now classified as "reefers"), and around 200 entries that were previously missing have been added (predominantly for A.C. Gilbert, Lionel, Jim Sutter, and Seltzers, but there were others, too). We now have, quite literally, a complete listing of every single S-scale box car ever produced and sold to the general public (please prove me wrong, as I will be happy to add any that I might have missed). For each entry, more data has been added where available, mistakes were found and corrected, and photos have been upgraded to higher-resolution ones, where available, as well as new photos found and added (please send me better or missing photos!). I had received requests that items produced as special runs by S-Helper Service for another company should also be listed under "S-Helper Service", so that has been done. This does produce a number of duplicate entries, but makes it easier to find an entry, given its manufacturer's product ID or road name, as sometimes the name of the company that requested the special run may not be known to the person doing the research. All known box cars commissioned by clubs have been added as well. This has been a fun, several-months' long project for me, to not only learn more about S-scale's box cars, but also learning more about box cars in general. A lot of what I have come across has been captured on the "home page" of the new Box Cars section in the Product Gallery, if you are interested in doing your own research. And now..., on to the next category of freight cars!
Since ScaleTrains only provides a 2D drawing of their undecorated extended-vision caboose, Michael Osweiler was kind enough to take photos of his car as he received it. He also took photos of the various parts bags that come in the box. While the model is built, the details are kept separate with the intent being that the modeler paints the parts as desired, and then assembles them into the final model. It is an innovative approach that ScaleTrains has taken to their undecorated models, as other manufacturers typically sell fully-built models that the modeler then has to disassemble or mask-off in preparation for painting. These photos also provide an insight into how the Chinese factory assembled the ready-to-run models that ScaleTrains produced.
Kevin Brewton provided photos of the P-B-L D&RGW caboose #0586, an entry for which we didn't have photos yet.
Rich Maurer contributed information, photos, and a video of his nicely-finished A.C. Gilbert-based layout.
Phil Scandura provided updated photos of his layout's progress. Several buildings received signage, and he also adjusted the animation of his fire station (updated video is available showing the latest sequence).
John Agnew made available a copy of the instruction sheets that accompanied the Railmaster Exports RS-2 and RS-3 kits.
Bob Werre provided photos of the S-Helper Service F7 set, and custom-decorated Omnicon 2-8-0.
Bill Winans and Bob Farmer provided photos of Bob's Sn3 layout.
Geoff Hamway and Bill Winans provided photos of Geoff's Sn3 layout. Geoff also provided track plans for his multi-level layout.
The 2024 NASG Convention Car can now be ordered via the Convention's web site.
If you have already registered to attend the Convention and you wish to purchase one or more of the cars, you will see a special page when you log in to the Convention site via the "Register" button.
If you have not yet registered, you can do so now and order the Convention car at the same time.
(ed: this has been the reason for why this web site hasn't been updated in a while, because retrofitting being able to order the Convention Car, after we had already enabled registration, proved to be more difficult than initially anticipated; if you encounter any difficulties, be sure to contact me, the webmaster)
Chris Crnich announces the latest addition to the NASG's Company Store. We now have two 18-inch rulers available. One is a flat ruler, and the other is an architect-type ruler. Both can measure up to 96 scale feet. These are great for when the 12-inch ruler comes up short, such as measuring steam locomotives with tenders, structures, and straight track. Like all of our other rulers, these have been verified and approved by the NASG's Engineering & Standards committee.
The following items have been added to the Product Gallery section of this web site.
1. Bob Werre provided photos of one of the three brass passenger car trucks that River Raisin Models produced (their last product). These entries were missing from the Product Gallery. If you have a photo of the other two versions produced, let me know.
2. Andy Malette scanned the instruction sheets for the 61-foot Kinsman passenger car kit (see the "Model Online Article" links for the two PDF files).
3. Karl Johnson completes his Train & Trooper New England Barn diorama, and provided us with some photos.
Paul Washburn recently kitbashed a PRS box car into one that used plywood sides. The linked-to page provides info about what he did, and two photos of the final model.
Bill Winans provided a few photos showing the progress he has made in a coal tipple scene on his Coal Creek branch line (narrow-gauge). Bill is excited as this is the first time, in all of the layouts he has built, that one is actually getting scenery. Check out the photos at the bottom of the linked-to page.
Bill Lane had an opportunity to visit Mike Berus' layout recently. He shares with us a handful of photos showing the progress Mike has been able to make on his very large basement empire. Bill also took a couple of short videos, which are shown on the page.
The digital PDF file of the May/June 2024 Dispatch issue is now available on this web site via the "Members Only" portal. Also, the May/June 2023 Dispatch issue is now publicly available (its articles have also been indexed).
John Degnan provided extensive photos of his S-Helper Service FEC SW9.
Hugh Sinn provided a missing photo of the American Models Northern Pacific lightweight dome passenger car.
Rich Gajnak continues to build his Kinsman caboose kit.
Karl Johnson provides photos and the instruction sheets for the Train & Trooper New England Barn kit. This was an item that was completely missing from the Product Gallery.
Bill Lane shares a photo of the BTS Green Springs Depot model as built by Mike Berus and shown at the recent 2024 Valley Forge RPM. This model was also never listed in the Product Gallery.
Mark Mugnai provides missing photo of an Enhorning Industries NYC F-unit.
Mike Marmer sent in a number of updated photos of his beautiful and completed island-style layout.
Alan Balma shared a photo of a portion of his layout that is now scenicked, in a scene near Aloquin, New York.
Phil Scandura sent in some photos of his layout's construction progress. One building includes sound and lights, and Phil describes how he built the circuitry. He also sent along a video showing the animation in action.
John Quilter recently had the opportunity to photograph father-and-son Jim and Jason Dull's all-A.C. Gilbert layout.
A couple of years ago, Jeff Jundt built a module to get his feet wet in the S-scale world, as he had a large 1:64 farm collection that needed to be displayed. After spending some time preparing a very nice space for a full-fledged layout, he has created a web site to feature his new layout. A sketch of his initial track plan can be found there, as well as photos of his layout space. Start of construction of the layout-proper is planned for 2024.
Gaylord Gill recently completed a small diorama, photos of which he shared on the S-scale mailing list of the Groups.io site.
Chris Crnich, NASG Company Store Manager, has been able to update the stock of NASG shirts and t-shirts. In addition to replenishing back-ordered items, additional sizes are now available for some of the items that were listed before, and two new shirts have been added, as shown here.
The public version of the March/April 2023 issue of the NASG's Dispatch is now available. Also, the members-only issue of the March/April 2024 Dispatch PDF can now be downloaded via the "Members Only" portal.
In the Resources section of the web site ("The Full Listing" or the categorized listings), where a company has a phone number listed, if you are viewing that page using a mobile device, you can now click the phone number to immediately dial that number. While this feature is not part of the official web standard, most web sites do that now. Note that if you are using a regular computer, clicking on the phone number will likely not do anything or ask you to select an software application that can make the phone call for you, which you will likely not have. This is only a convenience feature for those who use mobile devices to view this web site, where it is cumbersome to both view the page and make a phone call at the same time.
Continuing on with the upgrades of the Product Gallery, the new Autoracks section has been completed.
The public version of the January/February 2023 issue of the NASG's Dispatch is now available. Also, the members-only issue of the January/February 2024 Dispatch PDF can now be downloaded via the "Members Only" portal.
The products listed in Lionel's 2022 catalog have been added to the Product Gallery (I apologize for completely forgetting about that). Also, the ScaleTrains steel rebuilt box cars have been added to the Product Gallery, now that they are actually shipping.
As a general note, when I post new product announcements to this page, if the items are available (i.e. not pre-orders, per-se), they are added to the Product Gallery at the same time as when I make an announcement here.
In the continuing effort to improve the Product Gallery section of the web site, the Cabooses listing is now updated. This includes the new formatting used, more and/or better photos, addition information (model and prototype), additional links to external web sites including available parts for a particular model, and general corrections and typos fixed.
About 70 previously undocumented models have been added as well. This represents a listing of all known S cabooses, so if you find one that is missing, please contact the webmaster.
Also, we have almost 90 models for which we don't have any photos. For some manufacturers we have no, or almost no, photos of their caboose models, which include "S Scale America", Overland's Colorado & Southern, and Mullet River Model Works. So, if you have the model and can take a photo of it, please contact the webmaster.
Michael McConnell forwarded two photos of Joe Kimber's layout that show the full layout in one shot.
As has become customary, Jay Mellon has provided his report of what he saw in the vendor hall at this year's Convention in Harrisburg, PA. Due to space constraints in the NASG's Dispatch, Jay's report has been added to the 2023 NASG Convention summary page of this web site, and the link will take you directly to his report.
The listing of couplers and coupler-related products has been migrated over to the new Product Gallery format. This includes both more data, more photos, and in some cases higher-resolution photos. Also, about 20 new entries have been added.
Be sure to see all, or other, products announced over the past year via the main News page.