Peter's Model Railroading | My Library | NASG Dispatch 2014 #1 February
Articles Listing

The Heartland S-Press

More details about the 2014 NASG Convention.

Bill's Boiler Wash

The author reviews the current state of the NASG, and highlighting the many people who contribute extra time to the organization to help be run better. He states that more photos and articles are needed from the AF side of the scale for both the magazine and the web site.

Meet An S Gauger Monte Heppe

The author recalls his early observations of prototype railroading, and how he and his Dad got involved in the hobby. He describes his current layout and the various organizations of which he is a member.

From the Conductor

The editor of the Dispatch introduces his design idea of making the cover's text look like the font and style of a prototype railroad. Each issue will be different.

S Scenes

In additional to layout photos by Dick Karnes, Ron West, and Jeff Madden, a group photo of the Pequea Valley Model Railroaders and Baltimore Area American Flyer Club members visiting is shown.

Detailing a Boxcar

The author reviews the S-Helper Service single-sheathed box car, and offers suggestions for how to improve it even more. He discusses ways to improve the center and side sills, the brake components (depending on era modeled), the grab irons next to the coupler pockets, the changing to a vertical brake wheel (which requires additional parts), and adding cut levers. Several photos are included of project cars.

Entering Model Contests

The author describes how to prepare a model to be entered for a contest (specifically the annual NASG Convention contests).

OS from S Tower

The author captures his thoughts on how far you are willing to compromise on your layout to model the real world, and what is the definition of "good enough".

Web Site for Members Only

The author describes the "Members Only" section of the NASG web site, and what features it offers the NASG member.

Basics of Layout Photography

The author wrote a 30-page document for Model Railroader magazine called "Model Railroader's Guide to Digital Photography". The document is available on the NASG web site for free (see link). In this article, he describes the selection of a camera, lighting, and the 14-steps to taking a good photograph.

Branch Lines

The author describes the 2013 Fall S Fest organized by the State-Line S Gaugers in Janesville, Wisconsin. There are also photos of the South Jersey S Gaugers November 2013 train show.

S Gaugers at Trainfest

The author describes and shares photos of the Trainfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin held in November 2013.

Geauga Motors Used Car Lot

The author took a River Dam Model Works Rural Post Office and kitbashed it into a used car dealer ship office. He added to that a Miller Engineering animated billboard sign. Includes a number of photos of the diorama scene he built.

A 4-truck Flatcar Conversion

The author took an American Flyer depressed-center flat car and kitbashed it into a four-truck depressed-center flat car designed for carrying heavy loads. He describes how he built the special trucks for this project. For the load he is using a SouthWind Models Type A large transformer.

New from the North

The authors cover the local shows that The S Scale Workshop members attend, and how they help the effort of spreading the news of S-scale modeling in Canada. Includes some photos of show attendees.

Scrap Building

The author shows how he used some bottle caps and drip-irrigation pipefittings to make a structure for moving Soylent Green into tank cars on a siding.

Branch Lines II

Information about the May 2014 Flyer Fest West train show coming up in May 2014. Includes photos of layouts and the Cable Car Museum.

I-Hobby Expo

The author reports on new S-scale items found at the annual Hobby Manufacturers Association product show.