DISPA TCH

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

For those o-f you who attendedthe banquet at the DetroitNASG convention, this messagewill be old news. During theinevitable after-dinner speechit was announced that thiscoming year is the time -forNASG to become more aggressivein the recruitment o-f new mem-bers. While the past year wasspent tending to internal af-fairs, such as organizing anew DISPATCH, assigning newcommittee chairmen, and arran-ging for joint NMRA-NASG con-ventions, the time is now athand to tell the rest of theworld what a fine organizationNASG really is and to solicittheir membership. NASG's actis now together and increasedmembership is the primary goalon which we all should focusduring the forthcoming year.

To put membership figures inperspective, our growth overthe past year was about 10Om e m b e r s , or 25 percent.Growth from 4OO to 5OO membersis, at first glance, commend-able, especially consideringthat other organizations (suchas NMRA) are experiencing sub-stantial membership losses.Upon closer scrutiny, however,it becomes quite obvious thateven with 5OO members the NASG

has not really come very closeto its full potential. Nearlyevery S club has numerous mem-bers who haven't yet takentime to join NASG. At everyconvention, there are 2O to 3Oregistrants who haven't sentus their dues. I have yet tomeet an NASG member who does-n't have at least one closefriend who is a non-member.

Now to the heart of this mes-sage: Simply put, the goalfor our organization is toreach 1OOO members before theannual convention in Chicagonext year. The celebration ofS gauge's 5Oth anniversarywill hopefully be capped withthe announcement that NASG isnow 1OOO members strong. Bynow, some of you are asking"What's Ed been smoking? Howcan NASG possibly double itsmembership in just 12 shortmonths, considering how longit took us to reach the 5OOmark?"

Well, my friends, the answeris really quite simple. Ifevery single one of the exist-ing members recruits just onenew member, NASG will doublein size. Think about it andyou'll soon realize thatNASG's goal is really yourpersonal goal to recruit onenew member prior to the Chica-go convention. Since we all

know at least one non-member,the task really shouldn't beall that difficult. There islittle doubt that these goalsare achievable if we all putforth just a modicum of indi-vidual effort.

To help provide a little in-centive, NASG is hereby an-nouncing a contest: The grandprize will be awarded to theperson directly responsiblefor recruiting the most newmembers before the Chicagoconvention. Each person join-ing simply includes a state-ment with his dues check indi-cating who was primarily re-sponsible for convincing him/her to join NASG. The grandprize, to be awarded at theChicago banquet, is a freeNASG brass tank car. (Thewinner need not be present towin.)

W i t h an achievable goal, asubstantial incentive, and adesire by the existing member-ship to help, there is littledoubt in my mind that NASGw i l l reach the 1OOO mark.Let's do it, let's enjoy doingit, and let's reach for itwith full enthusiasm.

EDITORIAL

SPECIAL THEME ISSUE.

We have two special featuresin this issue which we thinkyou will enjoy. For the firstone, our Associate Editor, BobJackson, has done some fineresearch to come up with abeautiful history of the NASG.The first part appears in thisissue; the second and thirdparts will follow in consecu-tive issues. We also have aphoto story of this year'sDetroit NASG Convention, in-cluding the contest winners.Enjoy!!!

Many excellent tips and model-ing techniques were exhibitedat the convention. We w i l l bemaking use of these from timeto time in the issues to come.

The serialized features al-ready begun will resume in theDecember 1986 issue (Vol. IXNo. 4).

LETTERS

Editor:

I feel you have taken a stepbackwards with the DISPATCH.The printing should be donewith a typewriter or use abetter—quality printer withyour computer. I find it hardon the eyes, as the lettersseem to be moving because ofbeing chopped off on cornersby your printer. The DIS-PATCH has dropped back to thequality of a newsletter as faras the printing is concerned!Wish you good luck with futurei ssues.

John E. Steele

Meeting deadlines without ex-tensive typographical errors»ould be impossible with atypewriterf as Mould the vari-ety of type fonts, I use myowr/ computer and printer , andcannot in good conscience in-cur additional cost to theNASG by leasing a professionalprinter or purchasing a compu-terized typesetting service.Sorry, — Ed.

Editor:

Again, this year's NASG Con-vention host club did an out-standing job. Everyone whoattended surely had a treat toall the activities available.However, I would like to seehost clubs schedule a swapmeet d u r i n g the conventionthat would allow tinplaters,hi-railers, and sealers tooffer items to hungry buyers.Make it an open swap meet thatwould allow the general publicto attend. I feel this wouldincrease the revenue for thehost club and NASG, as well asprovide good coverage for Sgauge.

Hearing this same outcry fromothers at Novi , the avid tin-plater and hi—railer were lefthung out to dry without thispart of the activity. Knowingwell that this creates furtherburden on the host club toconduct a swap meet, I feelthat it brings all facets ofmodel railroading still closertogether. People can compareand see why we say that Sgauge is the most perfectscale!

Thank you. Charles A. Brown

D I ORDER Vol. IX No. 3 Sept. 1986

Official Publication of theNATIONAL ASSOCIATION

of S GAUGERS

DISPATCH w e 1 c o m e s a r t i -D i. o g r a p h s , a r t. , c a. r -

a n d o t. h e r S - q a u. q e - r e -- d m a t e r i a Is as c o n t. rib u -

•f r o m t h e m e mb er sh i p „t r i b u t. i on s an d c or r esp o n —

dence should be sent to theEdi tors

D i c I-:: K a r n & s4323 36** Ave« SE

M e r c e r I s 1 a n d , W A 9 S 0 4 0

G dues are $10 yearly, from/ through June of the fol-

1 ow ing year , Memb er sh :i. p i n •-eludes the -four issues of theDISPATCH p u. b 1 i s h e d d u r i n g t h em e m b e r s h i p y ear, regardle <:;> s o fe n r o 1 m e n t d a t. e . A 1 1 m e m b e r -sh i P quest i on s , ap plications,,r e n e w a .1 s ,, a n d a d d r e s s c: h a n g e s3 h o u. 1 d b e a d d r e s B e d t o ;

M i c hi a e? 1 R „ F e r r a r o1 4 1 B G o r d o n R o a d

Matawan , NJ 07747

T h e DISPATCH i s p u b 1 i s h e dq u a r"' t. e r 1 y b y t h e N a t i o n a 1 A s —s o c i a 1 1 o n o f S G a u. q e r s I n c « ,1418 Gordon Rd . , Matawan, NJ

as aA 1 1

i n c. 1 u. d i n gw h o 1 e o r inmission of

of membe:-?r —re s e r v e d ,

benefitr i g h t sr e p r o d u c t i on , i npa r" t , w i t h o u t p e r —National Associa-

tion of 5 Gangers Inc«

President's Message

Editorial

Letters

THE NASG STORY: A HISTORY (Part 1)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ed Loizeaux 2

Dick Karnes 2

2

Bob Jackson 4

8

THE MICHIGAN INTERCHANGE 1986 NASG CONVENTION

MODEL CONTEST WINNERS Kent Singer 9CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS Jim Kindraka 12LADIES' PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS Annette Navarre 18

MANUFACTURER NEWS

RAIL JOINERS

Helper Service

Dick KarnesBob JacksonTom NimelliSilas KayleKent SingerDon ThompsonTony PerlesChuck PorterDoug SmithBob WerreGary Jordan

Tony Perles 18

Silas Kayle 20

20

EditorAssociate EditorA. F. EditorClub News Editor

Contributing EditorContributing Editor

Reviewer and ConsultantFaci1itator

ArtworkPhotography

Publisher

The next deadline for articles is Oct. 15, 1986

COVER

Scenes from the 1986 NASG Convention at the Novi Hilton(center), Detroit Metropolitan area. See if you canspot your friends.

100

June 1986516 MEMBERSHIP

ELECTED OFFICIALS

President Edward M. Loizeaux2221 Via M a d e r o s

Los Aitos, CA 94022

Executive Vice C. Lee McCartyPresident 8727 Broadview Road

Broadview Hgts.. OH 44147

=s:-etary James A. K i n d r a k a44014 S. U m b e r l a n d C i r c l e

Canton, MI 48187

~ ' r i i _ r e r M i c h a e l R . Ferraro141B Gordon Road

Matawan, NJ 07747

E==:ern VicePresident

Don T h o m p 5 o n2 Roberts Road

B r u n s w i c k , NJ 08901

Central VicePresident

Pacific VicePresident

Thomas G. Hawley2311 Strathmore

Lansing, MI 48910

Lee M. Johnson2472 Lariat Lane

Walnut Creek, CA 94596

COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN

A, F.Enthusi asts'Committee

Tom N i m e l l i38564 French Creek

Avon, OH 44011

Constitution J. A. K i n d r a k aCommittee 44014 S. Umberland Cir.

Canton, MI 48187

Contest Kent SingerCommittee 105 H i g h l a n d Dr.

B a l d w i n s v i i l e , NY 13027

Convention Ken ZieskaCommittee 11810 52nd Ave. N.

Plymouth, MN 55442

Membership Michael R. Ferraro141B Gordon Road

Matawan, NJ 07747

Promotion! Don ThompsonCommittee 2 Roberts Rd.

New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Special Dick CataldiProjects 626 Welles St. SECommittee Vienna, VA 22180

Standards Wayne PierCommittee 2821 Asbury Ave.

Wayside, NJ 07712

THE IMASO STORYa

A History

by Bob Jackson

Like most or ganizations that grow out of aspecial need, the National Association of SGangers' exact origins are lost in the dimnessof receding time. Though many of us in theNASG have a general idea of the history of ourorganization, there does not exist anywhere acomplete record of eventsr trendsf and con-tributors. Stillf the general period of itsrising can be determined and those most re-sponsible can be identified, Fortunatelyfmost are still with us and their stories canbe collected and assimilated into a record,An attempt is being made to create such a re-cord and to archive it.

Three distinct eras are easily discernable inthe nearly 3O-year history of the NASG. Theseare characterized by the linkages of certainpersonalities as well as some fairly distinc-tive trends within each era, Hhat follows isthe first in a series of articles which re-flects the highlights and the spirit of eachof these three eras.

PART ONE — The Beginnings.

The beginnings o-f the National Association ofS Gaugers cannot be separated -from the historyof the A. C. Gilbert Company. Before AmericanFlyer S gauge there was 3/16—inch scale "CD"gauge, introduced by Cleveland Models in 1937.CD ("Cleveland-Designed") had lured a smallbut thriving band of craftsmen who labored onin 3/16—inch scale despite the lack of signif-icant support in the market. Then in 1946 A.C. Gilbert introduced its S gauge AmericanFlyer 3/16—inch scale line of toy trains. Bythe mid-fifties American Flyer had reached itsown peak of development and, though it wouldtake a while to realize it, was about to de-cline. Nevertheless, at that time A. F. wasclearly a force with which to be reckoned, andhad made S gauge highly visible. The numberof American Flyer operators was large. More-over, the generally high quality of AmericanFlyer and its closeness to scale was the basison which many of these operators chose it.

Scratch an American Flyer operator and youwill find an incurable tinkerer. He/she cantell you exactly how to repair anything evermade by A. C. Gilbert, and what's more, cantell you how to improve upon it. It is notmuch of a leap from there to superdetai 1 ingand conversion to scale. American Flyer Sgauge has surely been the object of scale con-version far more commonly than any other pro-duct. Initially, detailing and conversion ef-forts depended upon filching parts from otherscales or building parts from scratch, not theeasiest approach by any means. Still, the de-mand was there and growing. This demand in-cluded a hunger for information as to whatworked and what didn't. Kits and parts toconvert American Flyer S gauge to scale hadappeared on the market by the early 1950s.The wave of conversions that followed led to ademand for greater and more accurate detail.

The S gauge collectors, AF operators, hi-rail-ers, conversion nuts, and scale—hounds repre-sented a far more diverse lot than was charac-teristic of other gauges. These groups werethe fertile ground upon which the seeds of or-ganization fell. They were to put a particu-lar stamp on the organization that wouldemerge as the National Association of S Gaug-ers.

Although it does not appear possible to estab-lish an exact date for the beginning of theNASG, it most probably should be set in late1957 or early 1958. Jess Bennett remembersseeing a note in Model Railroader's "Bull Ses-sion" column indicating that someone namedClaude Made out in St. Louis was looking for Sgaugers interested in joining "circuits." Hebelieves that the notice appeared in the win-ter of 1957. In any case, he wrote to Madeand soon became a member of a ciruit which heremembers as having been started in January orFebruary 1958. The record shows that Jess wasdirector of circuit 172S4, the fourth circuitorganized around members operating on 172 railwith scale flanges. So, if that is the cir-cuit that Jess remembers, it was early but notthe first and thus others would likely havebeen organized in late 1957.

It had occurred to Claude Made that S gaugewas ready for something akin to round—robins,a type of organization in which members circu-late information to each other. However, hedid not feel that "round—robin" was an entire-ly suitable model railroading term, and there-fore came up with the notion of circuits. Acircuit is a group of model rails who sharesome common interest around which the circuithas been organized. Ideally, these groups aresmall, usually with six to eight members.Initially there were three basic types of cir-cuits, designated by "125," "172," and "AF,"which indicated the type of rail on which themembers operated. The rest of the designationindicated the type of flanges and the sequencenumber of the circuit. For example, circuit125S1 would be the first circuit organized inwhich the members operated on 125 rail withscale flanges. Similarly, circuit 172TP4would be the fourth circuit organized with themembers operating tinplate flanges on 172rail, while circuit AF2 would be the secondcircuit organized with members operating fullAmerican Flyer layouts.

The circuit letter is the means by which themembers communicate with each other. Eachletter contains the experience of the membersin regard to a particular project or problem.As it passes from one member to the next, eachmember is expected to add what he/she can. Inthis manner the collective experience growsand provides invaluable insight and assistanceto its members.

As he recalls, Claude's initial contact withother S gaugers came through advertisements inModel Railroader and Model Trains. Later mostcontacts came from the NMRA register. In aremarkably short time more than two hundredhad been recruited into the ranks and placedinto individual circuits with about seven mem-bers per circuit. A number of the earliestcircuits continue in operation today. Inter-estingly, one of them still has three of itsoriginal members, Jess Bennett, C. D. Lasley,and Gene Fletcher. It is known as the "old-timers" circuit because the youngest of itsseven members is 61 and the oldest is 85.

Each circuit had a director whose responsibil-ity it was to keep the circuit alive and -func-tioning. The earliest directors included JessBennett, Chester Bolly, Bill Craw-ford, WillEstes, Gene Fletcher, Leonard Giovannoli, Am-bie Hennek, Evert Hoffman, Robert Sha-fto, Wil-liam Sutli-f-f, Bernard Thomas, and o-f courseClaude Wade.

It was the rapid prol i-f eration o-f these cir-cuits that brought about the need -for a na-tional organization. By the middle o-f 1959there were as many as 3O circuits in operationwith members in every corner of the nation andsome in Canada. The national character o-f theorganization had become sel-f—evident, and aname reflecting that character was needed.Suggestions were submitted to the membershipand the name "National Association o-f S Gau-gers11 was chosen. The name had not been chos-en without some dissent. For obvious reasons,the Canadian members preferred "InternationalAssociation of S gaugers.11 However, beingfewer in number they did not prevail. ClaudeWade, the founder of the organization, was ap-propriately named its first General Director.

By I960 certain features were clearly charac-teristic of the NASG. It was informal andvoluntary. It did not collect periodic duesand it urged that all members belong to theNMRA. The duties of the General Director in-cluded collecting items of general interestfrom the circuit letters and elsewhere andpublishing them as "Notes, News and Flashes."They also included writing a regular column ina newly inaugurated publication called the SGauge Herald- This column contained news ofthe NASG and frequently included the "NN&F."

It was fascinating to go over the early listsof members with Claude. They read like aMho's Mho of S gauge: in addition to those al-ready mentioned, there were Frank Titman, Bar-ney Daehler, Hansel Main, Wallace Collins,Fred Schuster, Henry Sprague, Win Blakeand too many other familiar names to includehere. There were some youngsters listed too,a young college student named Richard Karnesand several teen-agers: 12 year old Tommy Rid-dle, 13 year old Gale Hall and 14 year oldDonald Heimburger.

By I960 two kinds of active membership hadevolved: the special—interest circuits and the"engineers." The latter group reflected thegrowing interest in making castings in S scaleand included those whose capabilities andequipment permitted them to make patterns orcastings. By this time many Flyer fans hadmade a full transition from detailing and con-version to building in scale and were hungryfor a source of true S scale parts. Moreover,S scale had always attracted a number ofcraftsmen who preferred it to the more popularHO and O scales. Some of these, like KellyBryant, had actually entered S scale by build-ing CD kits as early as 1938. Together thosegroups formed a nucleus of interest that be-came one of the strongest determinants of theNASG character of the early Sixties. Here arethe roots of the NASG lost-wax castings pro-gram with its eventual offering of completeengine kits.

As the first General Director, Claude Wade wasthe guiding light of this period. A review ofdocuments of that period makes it clear thatClaude personally embodied much that distin-guished S gaugers of that time. He was ac-

tion—oriented, individualistic, resourceful,and full of energy. He saw to the coordina-tion of the circuits, developing new ones asthe membership grew. Moreover, he wrote andcirculated the "News, Notes and Flashes." Healso authored the NASG column in the S GaugeHerald- And, not having enough to do, he at-tempted to respond to the wishes of S gaugersby seeking new and different sources of supplyfor the scale. It is surprising to realize,in 1986, that efforts to import S scale brassengines go back more than 25 years; yet it istrue that Claude, on behalf of the NASG, wasinvolved in discussions as early as I960 withCleveland Models to determine the feasibiltyof importing such engines. Then as now, in-terest in steam engines centered on the small-er more common types such as ten-wheelers,consolidations, and mikados.

It was also under Claude's leadership thatmovement toward the selection of the NASG sym-bol with clasped couplers indicating unity gotunder way. The idea that the organizationshould have a distinctive symbol or emblemarose early, probably in 1959. In a circuitletter dated January 2, I960 the idea wasclearly set forth and suggestions were re-quested. Eventually the idea o-f a contestemerged and a total of 13 entries were submit-ted. Those who submitted entries includedGeorge Bergman, Gene Berry, Martin Daly, PeteHarmon, Herbert King, Bernard Thomas, FrankTitman, Tom True, Claude Wade and four "un-knowns." Four finalists were selected by thedirectors. These were George Bergman, GeneBerry, Bernard Thomas, and Frank Titman.Their designs were published in the circuitletters and later appeared in the March 1964 SGauge Herald. Members of the NASG were askedto vote on their preference and, as we know,Frank Tit man's clasped couplers design waschosen.

When asked how the design occured to him andwhether it was conceived over time following anumber of sketches, Frank replied that theidea came as an inspiration. He was watchinga train go by and suddenly the symbol of unityin the couplers occured to him and he sketchedout the idea without much effort. He stillretains the original drawing which Claude re-turned to him after the contest.

Without question Claude's greatest contribu-tion is found in the lost—wax casting projectand the ultimate development of complete en-gine kits. The magnitude of this undertakingcan only be appreciated in retrospect. Pres-ently there are castings -from 195 differentpatterns available from Claude Wade. Many arecomprised of several separate pieces whichhave been soldered together, thus several hun-dred parts actually had to be made in order tohave all the parts to a single engine. Thiswould have been a very considerable task foreven a sizable group of skilled techniciansworking in a Japanese factory. However, no-thing even comparable to such a group workedon making the patterns. Claude himself madethe vast majority of the parts. In addition,several of the best modelers in S scale con-tributed patterns. When members contributedpatterns they were given credit toward theeventual purchase of parts or kits. A partiallist of contributors includes Chester Bolly,Kelly Bryant, Dave Engle, David Felmley, EdFiler, Jack Fisher, Fritz Gemeinhardt, EvertHoffman, Dr. Charles Johnson, Richard Karnes,C. D. Lasley, Joe Scales, Dr. Fred Schuster,

David W. Smith, Henry Sprague, and Joe Swift.Grant Magee machined a number of the split-frames. A compiled list o-f all contributorsdoes not appear to exist, but it would notinclude many more than the above. All Merevolunteers. It was on the backs o-f thisdoughty band that the whole project rested.

The amazing nature o-f this project can't be•fully appreciated without realizing that itnever had significant financial backing andthat it was undertaken by a man who never hadany special training in machine work. Listento Claude Made: "I had my American Flyer lay-out set up in a spare bedroom, but as my chil-dren grew up I had to give the bedroom up. Ithen became more interested in the scale it-self and when I saw a Max Gray O scale NickelPlate Berkshire I began investigating how tobuild one for myself in S scale. I had notraining in machine work except a little bitin high school. I think I knew enough to setup a lathe but nothing more. I simply taughtmyself. I figured out how things worked as Iwent along. I made lots of mistakes but Ilearned from them all. I also talked to a lotof people who had much experience and usedthat to good advantage. One of my best advis-ors was Dr. Charles Johnson here in St. Louis.I gradually turned my basement into a shopwhere I had an industrial lathe, a m i l l i n g ma-chine, a punch press, a small smelting fur-nace, and all the capabilities to do solderingand sand casting. I still have all the cast-ing patterns and cores used in producing thecast boilers that were originally used. Weinitially experimented with zamac instead ofbrass because it gave such a smooth finishbut, of course, you can't solder to it so wegave that up. I can't remember when the ideaof building my own engine got transformed intomaking kits for everybody else's use. It justseemed to take hold and became the most impor-tant goal .

"When it came to financing the project itseemed to me that the NASG ought to finance itwhile I did most of the work. Financing cameabout in several ways. Some people simply do-nated money. These donations were acknowlegedin the circuit letters and were gratefully re-ceived. Others made loans which I paid backwith interest within about six months of re-ceiving. A few donated patterns. In somecases I financed some things out of my ownpocket."

Gradually the project took shape and the firstcastings were announced in "News Notes andFlashes" in late 1961. The good news was alsobroadcast in the NASG column in the S gaugeHerald of December 1961. The cast boilerswere first, appearing on Sept. 1, 1961. Sixdays later the first lost-wax castings werereceived. Claude called Dr. Johnson and theycelebrated. "They looked like gold to us."These first castings proved to be a boon tosuperdetailers and scratch-builders alike.American Flyer engines began sprouting lost-wax casting on hi-rail pikes all over thecountry. The appearance of a full line ofcastings took several years to complete. Thefirst full engine kit did not make its debutuntil early 1963.

The importance of the castings project to thefuture of S gauge should not be underestimat-ed. A. C. Gilbert was moribund at the timeand the project gave hope that there was lifeafter American Flyer. It is fair to conclude

that the project provided stimulus to other Sscale manufacturers since the availability ofkits and the number of manufacturers increasednoticeably during that period. Although thefull flowering of S scale would not occur forsome time yet, there is little question thatthe castings project gave birth to S scale aswe know it today.

Nothing approaching the castings project hasever been undertaken in any other scale andvery likely never will. The undertaking ofsuch a project reveals something very impor-tant about S gaugers. They work together inthe common interest and they don't quit. Thedebt that S gauge owes to Claude Wade and thatsmall band of unbelievably dogged doers can'tbe measured.

Every organization that endures and grows un-dergoes evolution. By 1962 the manifold du-ties that he had assumed as the first GeneralDirector had begun to weigh too heavily onClaude Wade. He began to look for ways tospread the burden among the rest of the lead-ership of the NASG and for someone to whom topass the candle. In a circuit letter datedNov. 12, 1962, apparently to the other direc-tors, Claude made it clear that his intentionto step aside was firm. He also expressed hisdeep concern about getting the right leader tokeep the young organization alive and vigor-ous. It appears that Ambie Hennek had pre-viously suggested Bernard Thomas. Claud wrotethis about Thomas: "For the forest, I couldnot see the trees until Hennek suggested Ber-nie Thomas. First and foremost he is a goodmodeler, knows prototype railroading, is welleducated, knows the ins and outs of manythings and where to find them out if he does-n't. CMost important,] he is tolerant of allmodel railroaders and last, but certainly notleast, he is an enthusiastic S gauger. So, Ithink that Bernard will make a very good lead-er." Thus it followed that Bernie Thomas be-came the second General Director of the Na-tional Association of S Gaugers.

In retrospect, Bernie Thomas was probably theperfect choice to be the second General Direc-tor. It was an understatement to say that hewas an enthusiastic S gauger. The record sug-gests that the man was a tireless, unfailing,completely devoted booster of the scale. Heof course continued with the duties begun un-der Wade. However, it appears that Bernie hadearlier submitted a design for spreading theleadership burdens to a second level of direc-tors. Though it took some time to implementthis scheme, its first result was the assign-ment of Claude Wade as Field Director incharge of castings. This approach saved Ber-nie 's energies for other matters. The devel-opment of new circuits continued apace but bythis time they often centered about some veryspecialized topics. For example, a circustrain circuit was formed in the latter half of1963, a trolley circuit was announced early in1964, and a narrow gauge circuit late in 1964.

Although circuit letters continued to be anessential part of NASG activity, the S GaugeHerald had by this time survived its owngrowing pains and began to emerge as the prin-cipal means whereby the NASG communicated toits national audience. This had not occurredcompletely smoothly as, at one time during1962, publisher Wallace Collins had wanted todrop the NASG column from inclusion in theHerald. This was no doubt related to the fact

that Bernie Thomas had become an Associate Ed-itor of the Herald-

Meanwhile, the castings project was movingforward with a -full head of steam. Made hadadopted a strategy wherein as each new castingwas received it was sent to a group of about2O S gaugers who were completing Nickle PlateBerkshires as the parts became available. By1963, several of these were nearing comple-tion. In that year Claude Wade's won a per-formance contest at the NMRA national conven-tion. Others won even more prizes at the NMRAnational conventions in the years following.Early in 1964 the NASG received notice fromthe NMRA of assignment of warrant No. 75 forits castings.

Bernie Thomas is remembered by those who knewhim for his generosity and for his selflessdevotion to the furtherance of S gauge. Look-ing back in the record it is clear that he ac-complished considerable in that respect. Ber —nie was among those that strongly held theview that the long-range future of S gauge,and probably of the NASG, lay in close associ-ation with the NMRA. That view heavily influ-enced his tenure as General Director and ac-counts for his most noteworthy accomplish-ments. In a general sense, Bernie never lostthe opportunity to strengthen the organiza-tional structure of the NASG. He was alwayspointing out the benefits of club membershipand holding up the need for new clubs in areaswhich lacked them. In a specific sense, hewas directly responsible for the developmentof rotating—visiting clubs and for the promo-tion of a regional sense of organization.While these ideas were not original with Ber-nie, he surely should be credited with makingthese distinctive features of the NASG duringthe middle Sixties. Bernie was fond of refer-ring to the members of circuits as "live-wires." It is quite clear that he was onehimself.

The regionalizing of the circuit organizationwas on his mind from the very earliest and bythe spring of 1963 he could announce in the SGauge Herald its essential accomplishment.This was an important development because itset the groundwork for the appearance of re-gional S gauge clubs and the regional meetingsthat a number of them sponsored. Although afew regional organizations existed earlier,most notably the Northeastern S Gaugers Asso-ciation, they were informally organized andthe rapid development of these organizationsafter 1963 can easily be observed by studyingthe S Gauge Herald Yearbooks of that era.

To stimulate the development of R—V clubs, hepublished in the March 1964 issue of the SGauge Herald a copy of a sample constitutionand by—laws suitable for adaptation by S gaugeclubs. This sample had in turn been adaptedby Bernie from an O gauge club that had beenset up on an R-V basis. He had obtained thatclub's constitution from the NMRA. Once moreit is possible to see the results of Bernie'sefforts in the growth of local clubs, most ofthem set up as R—Vs, during the course of thenext several years.

Bernard Thomas is now larger than life. Fol-lowing his untimely and tragic death in 1965,his memory was enshrined in the Bernie ThomasMemorial Award given each year to the personconsidered to have done the most for S gauge.

The memorial was created by the Deep South SGaugers Association and was first presented byDick Schlott to Wallace Collins, publisher ofthe S Gauge Herald, at the 1965 NESGA conven-tion in Toronto. In establishing the award,the club recognized his devotion to our col-lective interests, his complete selflessnessin promoting S gauge and S gaugers, his gener-osity, and his sense of humanity. A review ofthe record makes it clear that, whatever elsehe was, he was a skilled social engineer whohad carefully laid the groundwork upon which alasting national organization could rest.Though his goal of close formal involvementwith the NMRA never was achieved, he providedthe basis for the transformation of the NASGfrom a loose-knit, informal organization to amore structured and enduring one. It is thislegacy that should be celebrated with futureawards of the Bernie Thomas Memorial Award.

What would the NASG be like today if BernieThomas had lived? Would it have had a closerelationship to the NMRA? Would its develop-ment have taken a different course? We do notknow. What we do know is that up to that timethe organization had remained essentially in-formal. It depended strictly on volunteerwork and donations to conduct business. Itsonly force of authority came from the utterlyremarkable energies that the first two GeneralDirectors, one a visionary, the other askilled social organizer, poured into the or-ganization. Bernie's death dealt the youngorganization a hard blow and it fell to RussMobley, who had recently been appointed byThomas as Director of Circuits, to guide theNASG, as its third General Director, throughsome difficult times that lay just ahead.

NEXT: The conclusion of The Beginnings and thestart of The Middle Period, within Mhich theNASG faced some of its inherent internalstrainsf and consolidation and formalizationbecame a reality.

WHAT! NEVER SEEN A CONSTITUTION?DON'T KNOW THE CONTEST RULES?

Copies of the NASG constitution, by-laws, andcontest rules are available for the askingfrom the NASG secretary, James A. Kindraka,44014 S. Umberland Circle, Canton, MI 48187.Please send Jim a stamped ($.39) addressed9x12 manila envelope, be sure to give him yourmembership number, and tell him which docu-ment (s) you want.

*********************************************** * * ** * MIsoxIMG LOCOMOTIVE: * ** ** * During the July 4th NASG Convention* * in Detroit, an S scale locomotive of* * the following description has been* * reported missing or, more likely,* * stolens* *

- Scratchbuilt Ma & Pa 2-8-0 lightconsolidation, as illustrated inthe Sept. 1952 Model Railroader.A picture appears to the left.

± 1

- Unpainted brass.

- Working firebox door and workingcab hatch.

— No valve gear.

- Kadee S scale couplers front andrear.

- Ace archbar trucks on tender.Tender wheel sets have all wheel-sets insulated and use pickupwires. Tender floor drilled forsound.

* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** *

* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ****************************************** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ***********************************************

S Scale Loco & Supply 51"drivers, * *brass with steel tires. * *

* *Spring-loaded lead truck. * *

* *Split 4-1obe sound cam on 4th * *driver axle. * *

* *Kemtron cab, domes, and tender * *wrapper. # *

* *Wood grain etched on tender * *boards and end beams. * *

* *Milled spider frame, bearing * *blocks with sprung drivers. * *

* *

* *This locomotive's appearance is that * *of a professionally-crafted model, * *and represents over 10OO hours of la- * *bor over a 15-year period. The parts * *used are no longer available, and the * *locomotive cannot be replaced at any * *cost. It was truly a unique once-in- * *a-lifetime creation. * *

* *Any information leading to the recov- * *ery of this locomotive should be for- * *warded to its owner: * *

* *Mr. Bill Daiker * *

319 Stockholm-Vernon Rd. * *Stockholm, NJ 07460 * *

* *

The llth Annual Fall 'S' Fest is -Fast ap-proaching! ! ! It will be held Fri.—Sun. , Oct.24-26, 1986, at the Holiday Inn Holidome,South Beloit, IL (on the Wisconsin border),hosted by the State Line S Gaugers.

The banquet promises to be one o-f the high-lights of the meet. Our speaker will be RandyGarnhart o-f Rock-ford, IL, whose topic will bethe Chicago Great Western Railroad. He has2OOO slides and has walked every mile o-f theright-o-f-way.

SCHEDULE of EVENTS

Friday, Oct. 24

6:OO pm

11:00

Trading Pits openClinics and movies beginTrading Pits close

Saturday, Oct. 25

9:OO am Trading Pits openClinics, movies startRailette activities start

1:00 pm Model contest entry deadline3:OO Trading Pits close5:3O Happy Hour6:30 Pre-Banquet program7:OO Buffet banquet

Randy Garnhart, speakerAwards, prizes, auction

Sunday, Oct. 26

Layout tours

FEES

Registration only $ 5.OO(railroaders 16 yrs. & over)

Registration & banquet 18.OOBanquet only 15.OO

(Railettes & children)Car (hopper with load) 11.OOPatch 2.5O

(free with preregistration)

For special room rates please code FSF whenmaking hotel reservations. Rates are $45.single, $5O. double per night.

For more information about the Fall 'S' Fest,write to:

Fall 'S' Fest211 E. Franklin St.Rockton, IL 61072

*********************************************** *

*****

MOT ICE: ...

Gene Walp has had a stroke. Accordingto his daughter, the prognosis is un-known. She is therefore returning allmoney for unfilled orders until Gene'sability to continue is determined.

8

***

Our **

* ***********************************************

** We wish Gene a speedy recovery,

thoughts are with him.

TME:M I C M I I MTEIRCTH AlxJGI

MODEL CONTEST WINNERS

by Kent SingerNasg Contest Committee Chairman

BEST IN SHOWWilliam Geracci - M i l w . Rd. FM "Erie-Built1

MASTER CRAFTSMAN

BEST IN CLASSWilliam Geracci - M i l w . Rd. FM "Erie-

Built"

Steam Locomotives1st, Ed Filer - 3-Truck Shay

Diesel and Electric Locomotives1st, William Geracci - Milw. Rd. FM

"Erie-Built"2nd, Stan Stokrocki - D&H RS-33rd, William Geracci - Milw. Rd. FP-7

Freight and MOW1st, Richard Karnes - WCL Caboose #572nd, Richard Karnes - WCL Caboose #58

CRAFTSMAN

BEST IN CLASSLadd Houda - Pullman 12-1 Sleeper

Steam Locomotives, Kit & Converted1st, Dan Navarre - KB&RR 2-8-O

Diesel Locomotives. Kit & Converted1st, Billy Wade Jr. - UP F3 A/B2nd, William Oertly - WM F7

Structures, Scratchbuilt1st, Steven Myers - Electric Substation

Passenger Cars, Kit & Converted1st, Ladd Houda - Pullman 12-1 Sleeper

Freight & MOW, Scratchbuilt1st, Billy Wade Jr. - BS&C Tank Car2nd, Billy Wade Jr. - UP 4O' Flatcar

Freight & MOW, Kit & Converted1st, Billy Wade Jr. - Wilson 4O * Ree-fer

AMATEUR

BEST IN CLASSJohn Verser - CN Wood-Sheathed Boxcar

Steam Locomotives, Scratchbuilt1st, Barry Mertz - PRR 2-10-O

Freight & MOW. Scratchbuilt1st, John Verser - CN Wood-Sheathed

Boxcar

Freight & MOW. Hi-Rail1st, David Pool - Southern Stock Car2nd, David Pool - SHL Bay-Window Caboose

Freight & MOW, Kit & Converted1st, Tom Lennon - Soo Locks Centennial

Boxcar2nd, George Lloyd - PRR Depressed-Center

Flatcar3rd, George Lloyd - PRR 4O' Gondola

JUNIOR1st, Mark Stevens - Heinz Reefer

The NASG extends thanks to Sig Fleischmann forthe -fine job he did in planning and runningthe contest. Thanks also to Mrs. Fleischmannfor the many hours she spent at the entry deskso that the contest room could stay open forextended periods. A debt of gratitude is owedto the judges Bob Nicholson, Lynn Wells,and Dick Fleming. These three spent, on theaverage, 2O minutes on each and every model,trying to arrive at a fair score. Bob Nichol-son also gave up some of his convention timeso that his fine hand could grace the awardcertificates.

"CAB"Cube car (see cover)

Award - Art Doty, for his Hi-

The Best-in-Show Fairbanks-Morse "Erie-built" passenger diesel was built by BillGeracci from styrene using a heavily-mod-ified AF Alco PA as a base. The modeltook 61O hours to build and finish. Gor—geous!

First Place - Master Craftsman Steam Loco-motives went to Ed Filer -for his three-truck shay. Ed started with a Kemtron On-3kit with added parts from Kemtron,Sandusky, and SSL&S- The model is basedon an 1887 Goodyear Lumber Co. prototype.

First Place Master Craftsman FreightCars and Maint enance—of—Way was won byDick Karnes for his freelance bay—windowcaboose built from two AF bodies and avariety of odds and ends.

Ladd Houda was awarded Best-in-Class -Craftsman for the "Abingdon," a Pullman12-1 sleeper. It's a Scenery Unlimitedkit with interior detail, full underbodydetailing from 5 Prototype Parts, andSSL&S trucks. Nice.

First Place — Craftsman Steam Locomotiveswas this KB&RRR consolidation built by DanNavarre, based on an S Scale Loco &Supply brass kit.

First Place - Craftsman Diesel Locomotiveswas taken by Billy Wade Jr. for this U.P.F3 A-B combination. Billy used WabashVal ley bodies, Southwi nd castings, andAmerican Models chassis and trucks.

Billy Wade Jr. won First Place - CraftsmanFreight Scratchbuilt for this beautifultank car.

First Place — Craftsman Structures went toSteven Myers for his scratchbuiIt electricsubstation, based on a Virginia Electricand Power prototype.

1O

IFirst Place - Craftsman Freight Convertedwent to Billy Wade Jr. for his "ll*°"reefer. It's an AF conversion witldetail everywhere.

_ . . rl, . Amateur was taken by JohnKrser^orTis C^R single-sheathed boxcar

built from scratch.

Barry Mertz captured First P^ace - AmateurSteam Locomotives for this F >. «has an AF K-5 boiler, a Bortz. frame, ancmodified SSL&S tender.

David Pool won First PlaceFreYght Hi-Rail for his Ambroid doubledeck Southern stock car.

IFirst Place - Amateur Freight Kit fc Con-verted waTwon by Tom Uennon for this SooLocks Centennial boxcar based or , an BL.

kit. Tom designed the

built from a Kinsman kit.

i^.jlodes .dry-transfer lettering set himsel

11

TH

CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS

by Jim Kindraka

The sun was shining and the sky was brightblue on Thursday July 3rd as the SoutheasternMichigan S Gaugers welcomed NASG to the 1986convention — The Michigan Interchange. Forairport arrivals, the Stroh's Beer messagesign beamed "Welcome 3/16ths Scale Model Rail-roaders." Amtrak even obliged with very closeto "on-time" per-f ormances. The conventioncenter, the Novi Hilton, rolled out the redcarpet, offering spacious rooms for manufac-turers, clinics, and modules; not to mentionpretty neat guest rooms too! And within easywalking distance were two restaurants in whichevery conventioneer should own stock — McDon-ald's and Big Boy.

Thursday afternoon the early arrivals got downto the serious business of setting up the 245feet of S gauge modules. Modules came fromNew Jersey, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin,producing the longest S gauge modular railroadin history. Set-up continued at a leisurelypace throughout the evening, and by 1O:OO amFriday the trains were running - - a full twohours ahead of schedule! The completed modu-lar system featured a large loop with an en-gine t e r m i n a l and two passenger stationsjoined via a double-track wye to a lengthypoint-to-point leg. This leg contained twointermediate yards and a large terminatingyard with a passenger station.

On Thursday a-fternoon and evening, other at-tendees got acquainted and travelled to P&DHobby Shop, the upper Midwest's greatest Sgauge retail outlet, to pick up some bargains.The ladies gathered in their own separate roomfor bingo and refreshments while the ambitiousclinic and layout tour schedule began. Inall, the convention featured 11 differentclinics, with several repeated on differentdays so everyone got a chance to attend. Lay-out tours over the course of the conventionincluded four excellent HO layouts, a huge Oscale operation, two S scale layouts, an Shighrail pike, and a magnificent AF collec-tion.

Friday and Saturday the trains rolled on thethree scale miles o-f modules. Operation var-ied -from smooth to clogged with trains - justlike the boys in 12"-to-the-foot. Operationsindicated that future events o-f this magnitudewill need a dispatcher- During this time,several people got a chance to try the wire-less headsets -for controlling traffic flow.Everyone agreed that these added an interest-ing facet to train operation and certainlykept the cross-room screaming down. Bothsteam and diesel operated on the modules.Motive power ranged from common switchers,Beeps, RS-3s, and F units to Overland's C&O H-6 pilot model. There were even a set of RDCsand a Roadrailer consist to dazzle the eyes.

i

15

In the manufacturers' room, two o-f S gauge'soldest manu-f acturers — S Scale Locomotive andSupply and Rex 5 Gauge Models - - shared spacewith some making their -first-ever conventionstop. Overland showed o-f-f a new Shay pilotmodel along with several other models in the"soon-to-be-available11 category. Qmnicon hadtheir new Erie G-15 ten-wheeler and Alco PAdrive, and the NASG delivered the ACF tankcars into a lot o-f waiting hands. Also ondisplay were Scenery Unlimited's doodlebug,Hoquat Hobb i es' pickle car, and some ni-ftypassenger car and diesel detail parts -fromSouthwind Models and Prototype S Parts- Testcastings of American Models' new mill gondolawere available for inspection, and it certain-ly looks like another hit for AM!

Several other S gauge manufacturers were alsoon hand to prove that model railroading isalive and well in 3/16ths scale. LehiqhValley Models showed their new pillar crane,and Delaware Valley S Scale Supply was on handwith converted couplers, decals, etc. G&Wdisplayed their wares, and the new S GaugeHerald had an exciting, creative display guar-anteed to whet everyone's curiosity. OnThursday and again on Saturday representativesof Lionel were on hand to listen and talk withattendees about future plans for the AmericanFlyer line. Their gift of several log loaderand sawmill certificates was a very pleasantsurprise.

'

I

Convention events were rounded out by two oth-er large layout displays and the model con-test. The "S Team" had its beautiful S/Sn3portable layout running -flawlessly, and theCuyahoga Valley S Gaugers' portable layoutshowed how easily AF and scale equipment cancoexist on realistic code 148 trackage. Themodel contest was another tough judging af-fair. Although the quantity o-f models con-tinues to diminish a bit (a situation current-ly under study by the Contest Committee) , thequality o-f the entries seems to be at an all-time high.

Friday and Saturday's events included morelayout tours and clinics, plus a bus trip tothe Huckleberry Railroad and Old World Vil-lage. Saturday night and the closing banquetseemed to come too fast, but the meal wassumptuous and Vic Roseman's tour of France viamodel railroad photography was a true work ofartistic genius. Ron Bashista of AmericanModels won the coveted Bernie Thomas MemorialAward as S gauger of the year. Art Doty man-aged to walk off with the raffle prize - abrass NW-2 switcher. After the banquet, Rol-lie Mercier conducted another successful auc-tion.

Sunday morning came all too soon, and the mod-ules began to come down. The annual NASG bus-iness meeting drew about 5O members. The com-ments were supportive and the criticisms con-structive. Most of the attendees left withthe feeling that all the volunteers are work-ing hard to keep S gauge growing. Sunday af-ternoon, although most of the 16O registrantsneeded to head for home, about a quarter ofthem took the time to visit the S gauge lay-outs. By the end of the day, the conventionwas over for another year.

The Southeastern Michigan S Gaugers would liketo thank all who came. We hope you had agreat time; we certainly did. We enjoyedhosting you all. To those who didn't make it,we're sorry — you missed a great event at"The Interchange."

THE:M I CM I Grf=ftlM I IMTERCM AIMGEI

LADIES' PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

by Annette Navarre

The 1986 NASG Convention at the Novi HiltonHotel proved a great success for the 34 ladieswho attended. The convention started out onThursday with a night of bingo held in thehospitality suite. Many prizes were won, in-cluding perfume, hand soap, glasses, towels,and two tins of cookies for the lucky coverallwinners.

Friday morning from 8:OO to 9:30 the ladiesstarted their day off with coffee and dough-nuts. We then boarded a bus to take us on our"International Shopping Tour" of downtown De-troit, followed by Windsor, Ontario, where weleft the bus to see the beautiful Jackson Gar-dens.

After the breathtaking view of the gardens, wewere treated to a chicken-dinner lunch at theChicken Court Restaurant. I'm sure the at-tending ladies will never forget the excellentmouth-watering desserts served to us. After-wards we spent the afternoon shopping in Wind-sor before our bus ride back to the hotel viathe Ambassador Bridge.

The Friday evening entertainment was suppliedby Jim Whipple, who lectured on the start ofAmerican music with samples of that music.The "Ladies on Broadway" followed with a livemusical show. Penny Kindraka performed, sing-ing many famous songs from Broadway musicals.I know the ladies thoroughly enjoyed our nightof music and wished it could have lasted alittle longer.

Saturday turned out to be another beautifulsunny day. The ladies departed on a bus toFrankenmuth, Michigan, a Bavarian theme vil-lage, to do some shopping down Main Street andbrowse in the world-famous Bronner's ChristmasStore. It was truly a Christmas—in—July trip,as many women came home with various ornamentsand gifts.

The convention banquet on Saturday evening waswonderful. All the ladies received numberedcarnations. Later in the evening, four win-ning numbers were drawn and the winners re-ceived wicker baskets.

The dinner consisted of caesar salad, primerib, duchess potatoes, julienne vegetables,rolls, and — to top it all off — strawberrycheesecake with plenty of strawberries forall. Many door prizes were awarded, followedby a brief run—down on next year's conventionin Chicago by Don Heimburger and a slide showby Guest Speaker Vic Roseman.

This concluded the ladies' section of the con-vention. Some comments by a few of the la-dies:

"EXCELLENT CONVENTION!""THE BEST EVER!"

"A LOT PLANNED FOR THE LADIES!"LET'S HAVE IT HERE AGAIN, SOON!"

NEWS

American Models has announced its new 52— ft.mill gondola. The dealer information sheetlists the -following roadnames at $17. 95 each:

#4OO undec. 413 Lackawanna401 Frisco 414 1C402 Wabash 415 NYC403 Southern 416 NKP404 PRR 417 N&W405 GN 418 UP406 LV 419 Santa Fe407 B&O 42O BN408 C&O 421 CPR409 MILW 422 NP410 SP 423 D&H411 WM 424 Reading412 SooLine 425 D&RGW

Kit quality is expecteds to be as -fine overallas with previous kits. Scale or tinplatewheels will be available.

You can put away those rumors about an F— 7 Bunit. Ron Bashista says it is two or threeyears away at least, and the same -for otherprojects, while he builds a proper shop.(This will not a-f-fect the mill gondola.)

Tom Hood o-f C-D-S Lettering Ltd, sent me acatalog sheet with the following items markedas new products:

B&O

#355356357358359

360

M-59 4O' double-door box ca. 1947M-61 5O' steel box ca. 1951M-63 5O' steel box ca. 1956M-66 4O' steel box ca. 1964M-53 4O' wagon-top box as deli-vered ca. 1937

M—53 wagon—top box, large "B&O,"ca. 1961

I III!IIIIII •• • • • I

Canadian Northern

351 CNOR twin hopper ca. 1913

D&RG352 3O' wood reefer ca. 1898

GT/GTPacific

353 GT twin hopper ca. 191O354 GT 36' double—sheathed wood box

ca. 1906368 GT steam loco ca. 1913

Temiscouata

362 36' double-sheathed wood box

TH&B

370 Passenger car ca. 194O

Private Owners

369 Redpath (Dominion Sugar Co.) 8OOO-gal. tank, ca. 1934

329 LJTLX 10,OOO-gal. tank ca. 194O-75

No. 329 -fits exactly on the NASG tank cartypes with tank bands. (For the car typeswithout the bands, simply change the irregularspacing of the letters to regular.) The let-tering is excellent, clear and crisp, and per-fect in appearance.

18

Hallmark Models Inc. (4822 Bryan, Dallas, TX752O4) has announced to dealers this "AdvanceNotice of S Scale Items." No prices or dates.The same was true when some o-f these itemswere advertised in Mainline Modeler a year orso ago, and while these would be desirableitems, one wonders how serious Hallmark is orwhether it is merely "testing the water." Theitems are:

AT&SFdoor,

AT&SFwood,

wood, side-caboose 1OOQ-1061,sprung trucks

caboose 1186-1224 (ex-KCM&O),side—door, sprung trucks

Trucks, sprung 4—wh. 41—CDO Itwt. passengerTrucks, sprung 6-wh. 61-CDO Itwt. passengerTrucks, sprung 4-wh. wood-beam passengerTrucks, sprung Alied full-cushionTrucks, sprung Barber cabooseV&T combine #20 with sprung trucksV&T RPO-baggage #21 with sprung trucksV&T coach #11 with sprung trucksV&T combine #18 with sprung trucksV&T "J. W. Bowker" 2-4-O locomotive, -facto-

ry— ptd. (color scheme unknown)

Especially if you have never dabbled in tin-plate, you may be unaware of Hobby SurplusSales. 287 Main St., P.O. Box 217O, New Brit-ain, CT O6O5O. True, 9O percent of it isother sizes, other hobbies; but it's a goodsource for 3/16" road vehicles, especiallydiscontinued models. It's free and you get onanother mailing list forever.

The S scale population from June's SmallWorld has increased by three: #S18 "The Hun-ter," with gun, hat, and game bag, $3.95; #S19"The Engineer," standing, right arm raised,$2.95; "The Fireman," seated at cab window,right arm raised, $2.95. More expected inlate summer. June will also custom—paint yourown figures for $2.5O each.

A new name, Modern Models (711 Lowell St.,Peabody, MA 0198O), is distributor for an In-ternational Car Corp. wide-vision cupola ca-boose, imported by Overland and built by Ajinin Korea. There are two types, the more com-mon "type I" with close-spaced cupola windows,and "type II" with wide—spaced cupola windows.Models are to have Bettendorf swing-motiontrucks with roller bearings. Availability istargeted for early 1987. Approximate cost:$95 before 12-1-86, $115 thereafter.

The three NASG tank cars I ordered arrived theday after the NASG convention; they look good.Dimensional 1y, they are exact with respect tothe Cyclopedia drawings. Tank and frame de-tails are very well done, sharp and clear.And I've never seen so much piping on an un—derframe. The trucks roll freely; wheels ap-pear to be properly gauged.

Just a nit — None of those 1.4 mm screws forcoupler mounting were included. You may needto buy the proper—size metric tap too when yougo to your hobby shop for the screws — someof the mounting holes are not tapped.

Prototype 5 Parts (1O68 Cottagewood Dr., Bran-don, FL 33511) shows the following new itemson its order sheet:

#OO3 Air pressure water system(heavyweight) $ 3.OO

014 Battery boxes (2) (hwt) 3.OO015 Generator relay boxes (2) (hwt) 2.5O025 Air reservoir, 12"x 48" (3) (hwt) 2.75026 ditto, 18"x 3O" 2.75027 ditto, 18"x 44" 2.75028 ditto, 20"x 48" 2.75029 ditto, 24"x 42" 2.75033 Motor-driven AC compressor with

blower box 4.0O034 Pullman electromechanical AC (hwt) 3.5O035 Propane tank, 4—compartment 1.75061 Coach underbody detail set 1O.50062 Coach interior set 15.5O063 Pullman hwt. underbody with AC 11.5O

The S Scale Shop (7571 Foxglove PI., Macungie,Pa. 18O62) has conservative vehicle wheels toreplace the racing wheels so your Ertl vehi-cles won't get ticketed. They are $3 perpackage of twelve (four each in three styles).

From Korea comes Southwind Models' (P.O. Box9293, Plant City, FL 33566) very new line o-fdiesel detailing parts. I have seen samplesof a pair of exhaust stacks (#SWD4, $1.5O), aset of four 34" (and they are 34") roof -fans(#SWD14, 4.95), a collection of steam lines(#SWP1, $2.00), and a pair of F-unit numberboards (#SWD8, $1.5O) marked left and right.These can be used to dress up Enhorning orWabash Valley F-3/F-7s. Their price sheetalso shows future offerings, including a setof Blomberg sideframes for $12.OO. See yourdealer.

Busy again, Tomar (952O E. Napier Ave., BentonHarbor, MI 49O22) now has drumheads for thefollowi ng:

#123 ACL Gulf Coast Ltd. (hwt-round)297 T&P herald (Itwt-rect.)365 Seaboard Silver Comet (hwt—round)423 Soo Line Mountaineer (hwt-round)608 Santa Fe Valley Flyer772 Amtrak Carolinian (Itwt-rect.)773 Amtrak Lake Shore Limited

and — a round clown face.

Tomar will also release an end—o-f—train devicefor post-caboose-era freight trains.

Tony Perles4333 2Oth St.

San Francisco, CA94114

Anything new on your grapevine? TonyMill be glad to check it out.

"BEST TANK CAR" CONTEST POSTPONED

Due to the delay in receiving the brass tankcars from Overland Models, the brass tank carcontest previously announced has been post-poned for one year. All the rules pertainingto eligibility, judging, prizes, etc., remainexactly the same (see "President's Message,"Vol. IX 'No. 1) except that the judging willtake place at the 1987 Chicago convention in-stead of the 1986 Detroit convention.

19

:NEW YORK CENTRAL

?INE5 * PRAIRIESS SCALE WORKSHOP

J°BDAN

Rollain E. MercierEditor

4600 Duke Street Suite 427 Alexandria, Virginia 22304

HELPER SERVICE

We received just one entry -fornaming the "booster" ads, andPresident Loizeaux has there-fore declared Gary Jordan, ourpublisher, the winner. Hence-forth, they w i l l be called"Helper Service," and Garywins a year's worth o-f freeads.

Artist Doug Smith will designor complete your personalizedpike ad for you. For publica-tion in four consecutive is-sues, send your input to Dougat 17610 Blanchard Drive, Mon-te Sereno, CA 95O3O, alongw i t h your check for $1O.OOmade out to NASG Inc.

The funds thus generated willbe used to help finance futureNASG special projects.

News of local S Gauge Clubsby Silas Kayle

I wonder what percentage of S modelers belongto some form of club. It's my hunch the per-centage is higher than more popular scales.

It's summertime now and club news slows downas S modelers spend more time outdoors.Here's what I've heard about:

BRISTOL S GAUGERS

The Bristol modular layout proved itself atthe annual Bolton Rail Fest. A planned pro-ject will regauge the layout to the NASG stan-dard. They also have an idea to capture locallayouts on videotape. Paul Riley already hasa tape of Sam Powell's layout, and Bob Wallhas 15 minutes of Tom Coughlan's BerkshireCentral. They express an interest in an ex-change with other clubs around the country.What a splendid idea! If I can help, I'lloffer my services to coordinate an exchangeprogram. Anyone interested? Send me infor-mation on what you have and what you seek.I'll start making the matches.

Inland Empire S Gaugers Association

Someone in their group found some S scale au—tos: A Bell System Chevrolet telephone van byFast Wheels, an Auburn Speedster of middle-30svintage by Hot Wheels, and a Chryslerw LeBaron1985+ convertible by Bad Champs, Rag Top ser-ies.

One of their members, Ed Davis Sr., is runningan interesting three-part series in the S-Train Rail on his experiences in S. He re-calls the "incredible" A. F. buys he made as aboy at a favorite shop in the late '5Os. Thencame the realism bug and with it came modifi-cations and repainting; then to HO and back totinplate. My own pattern was Lionel-HO-Sscale, but I'll wager most of us S modelerstell similar three—step stories.

Their editor made it to Steam Expo in Vancou-ver and reports seeing 25 locos with steam up!

Southeastern Michigan S Gaugers

These fellows were the hosts for this year'sNASG convention, and their newsletter was fullof preparations. Without dedicated clubs liketheirs we wouldn't be able to have conventions- even when they will be joint with NMRA gath-erings. From all the rest of us • Thanks,Guys and Gals.

State Line "S" Gaugers

This group is really promotion—minded. Theirschedule for displays in July included Rock-ton, IL, July 26; and Freeport, IL, July 25and 27. You should see their winter schedule!

See you next issue! S. Kayle

Please send your clubs news to:

Rail Joiners8900 Birchwood Lane

Bloomington, MN 55438