Welcome to the NASG Web Site

The National Association of S Gaugers is a non-profit corporation that supports all "S" (1:64) modelers, manufacturers & vendors.

SCALE MODELING
standard-gauge
narrow-gauge
HI-RAIL MODELING
AMERICAN FLYER

To Get You Started...

Happy Birthday to Us!

The NASG is now 65 years old!

By the middle of 1959, the "circuit letters" related to S-scale topics (~30) generated a desire to form an informal and voluntary association. The eventual choice for the name was "National Association of S Gaugers" despite protests from the Canadians who participated. But, the majority of "members" were in the United States. The formation happened at the 1960 NMRA convention (NMRA membership was strongly encouraged at that time). Claud Wade was the founder, and he became the first General Director of the organization. Many well-known names were involved in the founding, such as Frank Titman, Hansel Main, Wallace Collins, and even a couple of teenagers, such as Donald Heimburger (14), and a college student Richard "Dick" Karnes. Dick is the only member of the founding group who is still alive. In 1964 Frank Titman was the one who came up with the clasped-couplers in our logo. The NASG as a formal organization happened on July 1, 1966. In 1976 the NASG, Inc. was formally made into a legal entity in New York. All of these years later, we are still going strong with over 1,600 active members.

This is The S-scale Web Site

We cover everything related to 1:64 modeling on this web site, whether toy, scale, or a mixture of both. We have a ton of content, so enjoy exploring this site. If it is 1:64, it is here!

77,000+ pages of S content.
19,000+ products documented, many with photographs, and some with videos.
600+ "S" layouts.
575+ manufacturers and retailers carrying S-scale products, today!
Listing of many local events where you can see S in person.
Updated daily! Yes, S is alive and thriving! Join us!

The Premier S-only Event of the Year is Here!

You are invited to the 2025 NASG Convention to be held in Norwich, Connecticut in August. You have the option to enjoy area tours, examine vendors' wares in person, sit in on informative clinics, and view contest models and layouts. Get inspired and enthused about modeling and about S! Bring your spouse, your children, your grandchildren, and your display or contest models. Spend time with old friends and make new ones. Make a vacation out of it! Visit a beautiful part of our country.
Click here to learn more!

About the Home Page Photos

Below is a bit more detailed information about the photos shown in our home page's rotation. Click the photo to see the larger version used on the home page. To help keep this listing fresh, please consider sending the webmaster a photo of your layout, diorama, module, model, or an S-scale event.

Photo #1

A New Haven EP-3 passenger motor leads a train from Troy, NY to New Haven, CT along the scratchbuilt double-track right-of-way on Dick Karnes' layout. Rocks are hydrocal castings made from rubber molds. Catenary spans are from Model Memories; catenary bridges were scratchbuilt. The locomotive is one of only two in S-scale. An American Models PRR GG1 chassis, modified with plain journal lids, brake rigging, and 3rd rail shoes, carries a superstructure designed by the late Doug Miller who used original General Electric erection drawings. The 3D-printed resin components are clearly beta-test shots; you can see their roughness if you look closely. Doug passed away before he could make a run of production-quality parts. The Hew Haven baggage car behind the EP-3 was built by the late Vic Roseman. Dick's layout was dismantled two years ago and moved to the Miniature Railway Institute and Museum in Hopkins, MN. The rebuild of the layout is fully underway at that location.

View Dick's layout

Photo #2

UP SD70ACe Heritage unit #1989 crosses Price River at Castle Gate just west of Helper, Utah. A ubiquitous Rio Grande Tunnel Motor (SD40-2T) trails. The 1989 is a reworked Lionel SD70ACe. The pilot was removed from the trucks and screwed into the frame. The pilot openings were filled in and Kadee couplers installed. A light weathering was applied. The trailing SD40-2T is an Overland Models brass import with added details and custom paint, and DCC sound and lights installed. The Southern Pacific box car is an S Scale America model of an FMC double-door box car, which has also been lightly weathered. The track on Craig's layout is code 100 by Custom Trax. Additional track ballast was special-ordered (N-scale Woodland Scenics cinders) for the track to reflect the Rio Grande's use of slag and cinders from the Geneva Steel mill at Provo, Utah. The signals were produced by South Bend Signal Company (out of business) and are used to indicate turnout position only. The bridges are Central Valley HO-scale plate girders, and the bridge abutments are Chooch (also HO-scale). Scenery is hardshell gypsolite with dental plaster rock castings. The stream is EnviroTex Lite® shaded blue/green with Alclad paint. The photo was taken using a Samsung cellphone. Craig's photo appears on the inside cover of the July 2025 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman in the NASG promotional ad campaign.

Photo #3

Jeff Madden has managed to squeeze a lot into just this scene alone. In addition to three visible tracks, there are roads, an intersection, many vehicles, road signs, a gas station, a depot, and on the line in the back there appears to be a branch line passenger shelter. This is one of those photos where, the longer you look, the more you see.

View Photos of Jeff's layout

Photo #4

Two rail fans check out the Texas Southern transfer caboose parked at the rear of a cut of cars at the Arlen rice mill. Joe Coen kitbashed the caboose.

View Joe's layout

Photo #5

Bill Winans took this photo on his layout, the Saint Louis Eastern and Pacific. This coal mine scene consists of kitbashed and scratchbuilt structures. Bill's layout is in a 20' x 20' space and features his private-name railroad "Saint Louis Eastern and Pacific (SLE&P)" and the narrow-gauge line "Coal Creek Central (CCC)".

View Bill's layout

Photo #6

Truckee, on Bob Hogan's "Sierra Northern" layout, is a joint yard facility servicing both Southern Pacific and Western Pacific railroad locomotives after their runs over the Sierra Nevada mountains. Here we see a modified and detailed Overland Models brass Southern Pacific F7 pair in the foreground and a River Raisin Models brass SP SD9 emerging from the roundhouse lead. At the sanding facility is a brass River Raisin Models (imported via Overland Models) Western Pacific FT pair, an American Models GP9, and a brass Overland Models Alco S-4 switcher. Each locomotive has been detailed specific to the Western Pacific. On the far sanding track are four additional American Models GP9 engines. All are detailed and modified for specific Southern Pacific prototypes. The first two are passenger train locomotives. Bob's photo appears on the inside cover of the June 2025 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman in the NASG promotional ad campaign.

June RMC Issue (includes an article by Brooks Stover about creating a chopped-nose GP9)
View Bob's layout
American Models' S diesels
Overland Models' S diesels
River Raisin Models' S diesels
Share your photo in an upcoming NASG RMC ad!

Photo #7

Jeff took this photo on his Elk Creek & Gauley layout, showing a modified Overland Models USRA 2-8-2 (B&O Q3) on an arch bridge over a tributary leading to the Elk River. The bridge is a modified HO-scale arch bridge.

View Photos of Jeff's layout

Photo #8

This scene on Chuck Kemper's layout captures a nostalgic setting in the early evening hours. A suburban home with a wrap-around covered porch filled with rocking chairs. A little boy in his riding car. The dog on the porch. A couple hugging their baby with another couple looking on. The house is one by Branchline Trains, kit #552 "Deluxe Farm House". Chuck does not recall who the manufacturer is of the boy's car, but he believes it was from a seller on eBay.

Photos and videos of Chuck's layout (the back of this home is visible in the last photo on that page)
Branchline Trains structures

Photo #9

Bill Lane shows his current collection of SW1 switcher engines. General Motors, via their Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC) started building SW diesel switchers in February of 1935. The company was later renamed to Electro-Motive Division (EMD). In 1938 they started producing the SW1. The main difference between the SW and SW1 was that the former used the Winton 201-A engine, while the SW1 was the start of EMD using their own 567 (600hp) engine. Later versions of the SW1 got the 567A engines. The "W" in the name came from the fact that these locomotives had welded frames (the earlier "SC" locomotives had one-piece cast frames). While EMD continued to produce the SW1 until November 1953, they actually didn't make any during WWII. This was because the U.S. government restricted (due to materials shortages) which companies could produce which types of engines. Alco was designated to continue to produce their switcher engines, and EMD was to produce only their road diesels. Over the years, EMD produced several SW models, concurrently. For example, the SW7 (1,200hp) was started in 1949, and the SW9 (1,200hp) was started in 1950. The SW1 was replaced in 1954 by the SW600. By that time "SW" simply stood for "Switcher" and the number indicated the horsepower. It used the 567C engine. Among the distinguishing features of the SW1 separating it from the other SWx engines, is that it had a sandbox up front and a "half" grill radiator (as opposed to a full-grill one), it had one stack (older SC ones had two stacks), and a short flat surface at the top of the engine just in front of the cab (as opposed to an immediately-sloping surface). These engines could be found performing yard switching as well as road switching duties. In S-scale, SW1 models were produced by Locomotive Workshop (~1970s; kit), Oriental Limited (1985; brass), and S-Helper Service (2000; ready-to-run plastic).

All S-scale SW1 models ever produced
Bill Lane's SW1 web page (more photos; modifications made; DCC)

Featured Video

We want to reward you for scrolling all the way down to the bottom of this page by offering a featured video. This video will be replaced from time to time as S-scale modelers make new ones available, so scroll down here every so often! Contact the webmaster if you would like to nominate a video.

Fred van der Lubbe lives in The Netherlands where interior home space is at a premium. Nevertheless, he came up with a beautiful design that allows him to run his trains. His layout is in the backyard, raised for ease of access, and using concrete steps to allow full-size humans to walk over the tracks. His layout has a very unique feature in that he used the same concept we see in S/Sn3 dual-gauge track, in that he laid his track with multiple gauges. This allows him to run both G, G narrow-gauge, and S trains. This video shows him running a short passenger train, first led by an A.C. Gilbert streamlined 4-6-2, and then an American Models PRR streamlined 4-6-2.