Welcome to the NASG Web Site

copyright © Gaylord Gill; used by permission.

Gaylord Gill decided to attend the Prototype Rails 2026 in Cocoa Beach, Florida this year. On a whim, he brought with him this gas station diorama scene he had recently built. It features a gas station structure kit that Jamie Bothwell developed. Gaylord displayed a ScaleTrains hopper and a Pacific Rail Shops box car on the spur track (code 100 Tomalco flex track). He wasn't sure if any other S-scale modelers would be there, but his diorama was placed next to Scott Lister's home-under-construction model. This board-by-board model is very similar to another one Scott built for which he won the Best-of-Show award at the 2023 NASG Convention in Harrisburg, PA. So, this was a great opportunity to meet fellow S modelers in person. Prototype Rails is a RPM-style meet where modelers share their models, in all scales, with fellow modelers. They are a great opportunity to ask questions, and to take an opportunity to showcase S-scale. Gaylord says that this year's event drew around 200 people, and several manufacturers were there who carry S-scale products, including ScaleTrains who had a few S-scale items on their table. Gaylord said that the clinics were abundant and educational. So, check out a local RPM-style in your area, bring some S-scale items for display, and ask the event's organizers where to set up. Don't forget, we have handouts available via the NASG.

copyright © Sam Powell; used by permission.

This photo shows one of, if not, the last project that Sam Powell completed before his sudden passing in early 2016. It is #700, a 4-6-0 painted and decorated for his private railroad, the Penn Creek Valley. The "Penn Creek Valley #2" was an around-the-room, two-level layout measuring about 16' x 27'. The layout was started in 2003 and was featured in the Model Railroader's Great Model Railroads 2015 edition. After Sam's passing (all of you shoveling snow up north, please be very careful!), Sam's wife, Elaine, donated the layout to the Tri-Town Area Historical Society museum in Dawson, PA, where it has been restored. Members of the Pittsburgh S-Gaugers club have been instrumental in making this happen and continuing to maintain it. If you are in the area (southeast of Pittsburgh, PA) and wish to visit the layout, contact a member of the Pittsburgh S-Gaugers club to get details about visiting the layout.

• View Sam's Layout
• NASG Dispatch, Sept. 2020, pg 18 (read about the layout's move)

copyright © Bob Werre; used by permission.

Bob Werre took this photo on his layout after he had a local modeler help him diagnose and fix the turntable's ability to actually rotate. Bob is a retired professional photographer. He stated that it took him several nights to get this shot, as it required after-dusk settings. He used six LED lights, some blue gels for the "mood", and then photo-stacked five shots in Photoshop to bring the whole scene into focus. The 2-8-2 is a custom-built model of Southern Railway heritage, but Bob decorated it for his Milwaukee Road. Bob's photo appears on the inside cover of the January 2026 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman magazine in the NASG promotional ad campaign.

• January RMC Issue
• Learn more about Bob's Layout

copyright © John Beck; used by permission.

John Beck's "The Kentucky Road" (Winchester, Lexington and Frankfort) is a two-level, around-the-room layout measuring 19' x 29'. He has been working on it for over 25 years, but he is also into G-gauge and Live Steam model railroading. The bottom level of John's S-scale layout has the Lexington staging yard and the rest is a permanent winter scene. The upper level passes through Akron, Ohio, which is the setting of this photo. The F3 engine in the photo is by S-Helper Service of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (DL&W) #803-A and B-unit. The cars in the train are a mixture of S-Helper Service, American Models, and modified A.C. Gilbert cars. John's layout was last covered in the May 2021 issue of the NASG's Dispatch magazine.

• View John's Layout (includes track plan, and new photos)

copyright © Peter Vanvliet; used by permission.

Since I, as the webmaster, have run out of photo contributions for the home page rotation (hint, hint!), I hope you don't mind if I share a photo of my own "layout", such as it is. Many of us grew up seeing magnificent, basement-filling, large layouts and wanting to build something similar "one day". While I initially had that same plan, for most of us reality sets in when we don't have the space (no basement, for example), and limited hobby funds and limited time to be able to devote to the hobby. With that reality in mind, I built several layouts over the decades, each getting smaller and smaller, especially as I learned what I enjoy most out of the hobby. For me that is the act of creating and building. So, the scene shown in this photo, which took me three years to build, is one module of my planned four-module layout, which is centered around the coal mine tipple of the Hazel mine as found in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1924. The tipple was built in the year 1900 and the mine is in the Buffalo hill across the Chartiers creek. The down/up incline in the background, which spans the creek, is for the mine carts. It has two Sn42 tracks, one for pulling up the carts (the system was housed in the back end of the tipple) and the other for lowering the carts. Yes, I know, the engine and cabin car (caboose) don't fit that time period, but they are just "props". This module is four feet deep and two feet wide. Other than for the equipment, the figures, and the track, nearly everything is scratchbuilt. The scene is an exact 1:64 replica of the real thing. The module is built out of Gatorfoam board, to keep it light. I still need to add more vegetation to the hill in the back, and build a good number of mine carts for the ramp. If you wish to learn more about this layout and the second module currently under construction, come by my personal web site.

• View Peter's Layout

copyright © Phil Scandura; used by permission.

Phil Scandura took this photo of a scene on his previous layout. He modeled the Santa Fe in the area around Flagstaff, Arizona in the 1950s. The Flagstaff Roofing & Supply company structure was scratchbuilt by Phil to fit the spur on the shelf layout. There are many details visible in this photo, such as the figures talking and working, the weeds growing under the dock, the truck being unloaded, and the hobo on the right-hand side. There is a lot of modeling that can be packed into a skinny scene depth-wise.

copyright © Ron Kemp; used by permission.

Taken on Ron Kemp's home layout, the slightly modified American Models GP9, pulling a hot box car, is entering the southbound S curve on the New York Central belt line in Buffalo, NY. Nearby are a number of the NYC's customers, most notability the multi-story Niagara Machine and Tool which had two sidings that kept the railroad busy picking up heavy loads. The company was sold and subsequently closed and has been repurposed. Interestingly, the owner requested CSX to reconnect one siding. CSX declined, citing an unsafe grade that did not meet modern code.

• View Ron's Layout
• American Models GP9

copyright © Bob Stelmach; used by permission.

Pere Marquette Berkshire #1225 is returning to Detroit from Chicago with a mixed freight in 1947 on Bob Stelmach's Red Pine & Oxville Railroad, 18' x 24' layout. The Berkshire locomotive, a Lima-built 2-8-4, is a brass River Raisin model. The distinctive New York Central watchman shanty in the foreground is a laser-cut model (out of production) assembled for Bob by a fellow Southeastern Michigan S Gaugers club member. The yard shack is a modified Bachmann Plasticville structure. The large through-truss bridge in the background is a Plasticville model which Bob detailed with Central Valley beams and trusses. The B&O wagontop M-15K box car was built from a Smoky Mountain Model Works kit. The New York Central mainline uses code 137 rail and all other mainline and sidings on the RP&O use code 100 rail. Bob built all the turnouts on the layout using Fast Tracks jigs. The layout is surrounded by photo backdrops from Backdrop Warehouse. A small portion of one of them is visible in the upper left corner. Bob's photo appears on the inside cover of the December 2025 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman in the NASG promotional ad campaign.

• December RMC Issue
• View Bob's Layout
• RRM 2-8-4
• SMMW B&O box car

copyright © Bill Lane; used by permission.

The owners of Micro Engineering stopped by Bill Lane's place on their way to the Great Scale Model Train Show in Maryland in late October. Jon and Jack Dwiggins had a good time running trains on Bill's layout. They became the owners of Micro Engineering in 2022 and have been working hard to ramp up their production of track in various scales. In February 2025, they bought out Tomalco Track owned by Shane Lambert. This means that Micro Engineering is now the owner of S-scale's code 70, 83, and 100 flextrack. In the past, the previous version of Micro Engineering made our flextrack on commission by Tomalco Track.

• View Bill's Layout
• Micro Engineering's Web Site