News: Our Community
S-scale has a relatively tight-knit group of people, where a lot of us know each other via local clubs, train shows, e-mail, discussion groups, or various forms of social media. This page covers information about specific individuals, clubs, train show reports, personal web site updates, etc. Click photos to visit the web sites.
Walter Trancygier
Walter J. Trancygier passed away on January 5, 2024 at the age of 74. He lived in Saline, Michigan, and was an NASG member for a number of years. He was a member of the HO-scale Blissfield Model Railroad Club in Blissfield, Michigan.
Jon Stetz
Jon Stetz passed away on March 20, 2024 due to a heart attack. Jon was an avid Sn3 modeler. He recently shared photos, which we have on this web site, of his new layout under construction. Jon started JAKS Industries, Inc. in 1983, and over the years purchased Scale Structures Ltd., Period Miniatures, Finest Kind Models, Triangle Scale Models, Mini-Structures, Mecca Mineral Works, Milepost, and Arkansas Valley Scale Models. In 2000 Jon was recalled to active duty in the U.S. Navy. At some point in time their product lines were bought by Wiseman Model Services and Turner Model Works (Finest Kind Models was the only S-scale product line). Our condolences to Jon's family and friends for this sudden loss.
Robert Roule
We have been informed that Robert C. Roule, "Bob", of Durham, North Carolina, passed away on May 23, 2023 at the age of 83. Bob was a long-time member of the NASG. We offer our belated condolences to his family and friends.
Don Richards
Don Thompson, of the former S-Helper Service company, reports the passing of Don Richards (of Uniontown, Ohio) on March 18, 2024. Don Thompson remembers Don Richards as an early S-Helper Service customer. Don T. recalls Don R. called to place an order for two of the Conrail GP35 locomotives (manufactured by American Models for SHS at the time), which started off their long friendship. Don R. had lots of questions about the locomotive's electronics and about DCC. He convinced S-Helper Service to become one of the first Digitrax dealers. Later, Don R. helped to design the SHS AC/DC boards for the SW9. Don R. was the Quality Control Manager at Novar Electronics (a company owned by Honeywell), and taught Don T. a lot about electronics. Don states "I will miss our periodic conversations about S-scale and life in general". Don Richards was a long-time NASG member, as well. Our condolences to Don's family and friends.
Ronald Morreale
A family member contacted us to let us know that long-time NASG member Ronald J. Morreale, from Waltham, MA, passed away on December 25, 2023 at the age of 84. Our belated condolences to Ronald's family and friends.
David Stratmann
We were informed that long-time NASG member, David L. Stratmann, out of St. Louis, Missouri passed away on January 24, 2024 at the age of 80. We offer our condolences to his family and friends for their loss.
Southeastern Michigan S Gaugers Recent Show
On February 17 and 18, 2024, the Ann Arbor Model Railroad Club had their annual train show the Saline Middle School. The Southeastern Michigan S Gaugers had their modular layout set up at the event, and they were featured twice in the YouTube video linked here. Their club's layout uses code 100 rail in the foreground track, and S-Helper Service flextrack (code 139) for the other two tracks, that way the club can run both scale and hi-rail equipment. The links are queued to the starting point of where the club is featured.
Robert Van Lanen
We were notified by a member of the family that Robert Van Lanen, of Westchester, IL, age 79, passed away on April 8, 2023. He was a member of the NASG for several decades. The family foundly recalls spending time working on his layout, and he was a regular at the local S Fest train shows. Our sincerest condolencenses to Robert's family and friends.
Bernard Turowski
Long-time NASG member, Bernard Turowski of Cinnaminson, New Jersey, passed away on February 6, 2024 at the age of 73. We offer our condolences to his family and friends.
Roger Dumas
Long-time NASG member Roger Dumas passed away on February 8, 2024 at the age of 74. We offer our condolences to Roger's family and friends.
Layout Photos
Vic Cherven, Jr. shares with us a collection of layout update photos he took in December. Since 2021 he has been working on extending the second deck of his layout, adding an additional 140' of track to the layout (updated in the page's stastistics about the layout). The upper deck now has three staging yards. Vic states that he hopes to complete all of the track work by the end of this year. He estimates that it will take about 20 minutes for a train to navigate its way around the entire layout.
Fred Schlegel shared a couple of photos that show an overall view of a portion of his double-deck layout.
Harry Noble is a recent new NASG member, and he built a 30" x 45" diorama, inspired by a 1952 Lionel window display, using Lionel and Marx track. He models "broad gauge".
The 2009 Central Jersey S Scalers Fall Get Together
Bill Lane found an old video of his and posted it on his YouTube channel.
Edwin C. Kirstatter
Ed Kirstatter, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, passed away on January 21, 2024 at the age of 96. Yes, he was born in 1927! He was a long-time member of the NASG. He wrote many articles for the NASG's Dispatch. He was a prolific modeler, focusing on the B&O. We have many of his photos included in this web site (primarily in the "Product Gallery" section). We offer our condolences to Ed's family and friends.
Chris Elliott
Chris Elliott, of Marietta, South Carolina, recently passed away. He was a member of the NASG and of the Blue Ridge S Scalers group. Chris was an award-winning modeler in On3 with an extensive logging layout. He eventually switched to S-scale and converted the space to his new S-scale layout. You can see his "Flint River Northern" layout's photos by following the link.
Vic Roseman
Don Thompson reports that Vic Roseman, of Brooklyn, New York, passed away on January 5, 2024 after a year in a burn rehabilitation center after a devastating apartment fire. Vic was 75 years old. He is well-known in the model railroading community for his photography and books. While being mostly involved in HO-scale, he did venture into S in the 1970s and Don reports that he was a life-long member of the Central Jersey S Scalers. He was involved in the promotions of a couple of NASG Conventions and ran his PRR and NH equipment on the layouts set up at those Conventions. Don noted that Vic particularly enjoyed making full-length passenger cars out of A.C. Gilbert American Flyer shorty cars.
Gary Carmichael
Gary Carmichael, of Imperial, PA, passed away on November 29, 2023 after a sudden and brief illness. Gary was an NASG member. He was a retired real railroader. His latest modeling project was to model the Pittsburgh's "West End" using S, Sn3, and Sn2. He was a member of the Pittsburgh S Gaugers, and an active member of the "Sn2 Crew", which is a group of loosely-affiliated S modelers who build and set-up Sn2 modules at local train shows. Gary wrote a column for the 1:64 Modeling Guide magazine called "Eastern Junction", back when that magazine was active. We wish to offer our sincere condolences to Gary's family and all of his friends.
Sn2 Modeling
If you are curious about (or heavily into) Sn2, be sure to check out this video. It's a long one, but it covers all aspects of Sn2 modeling, and all in preparation for two shows where Sn2 will be featured this year, the Midwest Narrow Gauge Show (March 21-23, 2024) and National Narrow Gauge Convention (Sept 11-14, 2024). It also helps you to put some faces to the names of Sn2 modelers.
ScaleTrains Two-bay Hopper Product Review
Tony Cook, of Model Train Resource, together with Michael Ostertag, does a review of the ScaleTrains two-bay, peaked-end, fishbelly hoppers. The video shows how to replace the AF-style wheelsets on those hopper cars with the included scale ones.
D&RGW 3rd Division Sn3 Layout Tour with Doug Jolley
A visit and tour of Doug Jolley's two-level Sn3 layout.
Nick Colleran
We have been informed by the Atlantic Coast S Gaugers Virginia Central Division club that their club member, Clarence Nicholas 'Nick' Colleran, Jr., passed away on August 6, 2023. Nick was 78 years old. He was also a long-time member of the NASG. He will be remembered as an expert repairman of all things American Flyer. We offer our condolences to his family and his friends.
Joe Kimber
It is with great sadness that the South Jersey S Gaugers have to announce the passing of Joe Kimber. He passed away early this morning after battling a long illness. Joe was also a long time member of the NASG. He was inducted into the NASG's "Hall of Fame" at this year's NASG Convention.
Joe is best known in the larger S-scale community as the foremost track plan designer for our S-scale layouts. His designs were commissioned and published in the S Gaugian magazine for many years. As that magazine started winding down, he was able to devote time to create track plans of existing layouts for the NASG's The Dispatch. When the "Layouts" section was added to this NASG web site, he volunteered to send a good number of his designs over to be used on this web site.
Due to Joe's illness, he was wheelchair-bound, but that didn't prevent him from starting a new layout. His last (his third) layout was built in a stand-alone barn, and built such as to accommodate his restrictions. With the help of local modelers he was able to build quite a layout.
The photo below was taken by Michael McConnell at Joe's first open-house, the day before he passed away. Update: Michael sent in a few more photos which have been added to Joe's layout page on this web site.
We offer our condolences to Joe's family and friends.
David Hunt
We were notified that Dave Hunt, of Earlville, Illinois, passed away on September 14, 2023. He had just joined the NASG this June. Dave was 72 years old.
Robert J. Guckian
NASG member Robert Guckian, of Eaton, Ohio, passed away on October 16, 2023. He was 80 years old. Bob was also a member of the Miami Valley S Gaugers club.
Utah Train Show
A YouTube video visiting the Intermountain Train Expo in the Salt Lake City, Utah. The links here take you directly to the S content.
Alexandre Zelkine
We just learned, via an obituary posted in the recent Narrow Gauge Gazette, that Alexandre Zelkine passed away on December 3, 2022. Alex Zelkin, as he presented himself as, was an active Sn3 modeler. His beautiful "Degulbeef & Cradding" layout was featured in many photos, articles, and even had a dedicated book published about it. Not realizing his age (he was 84 at his passing), he announced only last year on the Sn3 Groups.io mailing list that he was planning on tearing his layout down and starting a new one! He accomplished the former, but not the latter. Alex was born and died in France, but he also lived in Israel, New York, and Quebec. He was a famous folk singer (mostly Russian and French), and even has a Wikipedia page dedicated to him. His father was Russian, hence his interest. The Wikipedia page states that his father gave him a Jouet de Paris train set ("Toys from Paris", which was France's version of A.C. Gilbert competitor product), which got him started in the hobby, going from HO-scale to eventually settling into Sn3 in the 1980s.
Couplers For Sale
John Degnan received some more Inventive Models couplers:
25 Pair : Type E Couplers with BOTTOM Linkage Detail
Blackened
$8.00 per pair + postage cost
(Buy the lot for $190 + postage cost)
57 Pair : Type E w/Top Linkage Pin Detail
Raw Brass
$10.00 per pair + postage cost
(Buy the lot for $450 + postage cost)
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Alan Evans
John Gafney reports that his friend, Alan Evans, had another stroke and is now in an assisted living facility. John has been helping Alan liquidate his collection. If you are looking for something specific, contact John at John@Lights4Models.com.
Bill Mark III
We have been notified that Bill Mark III , son of William Mark, Jr (former NASG Company store manager, who preceded him in death), has passed away at the age of 69. Bill has been an NASG member for the past 5 years. Bill hailed from Pleasant Valley, New York. (photo courtesy of Bill Lane, taken in 2005).
Bill Pyper (updated)
On July 23, 2023 we announced that former NASG Dispatch editor Bill Pyper had passed away. In early September 2023, we received an obituary from a family member (we have not been able to find one on the Web). It goes as follows, and is written in a slighty humorous style as was part of Bill's sense of humor:
"Obituary of William Joseph Pyper III, but, please call him Bill.
Bill was born October 9, 1939 in Amityville, NY, yes, that one, to Eunice Booth Pyper, and, big shock, William Joseph Pyper II. After graduating from Amityville High School, where he left his mark as a great baseball player, football player, journalist, and counterfeiter, he joined the United States Air Force at the age of 17. This enabled him to see most of the United States, some of England, Germany, Spain, North Africa, and his commanding officer's daughter. He was a recon specialist, and intelligence officer during his six years. He used his GI benefits to go to college at San Diego State University, buy a first house with his new wife, her two boys, and welcomed two girls. They all moved to San Luis Obispo ("SLO"), CA when he got a job at Cal Poly teaching printing, stripping, and plate making. Later they bought Litho Art Shop to run, and turned it into The Prynters. He was also very involved in softball, SLO Parks and Recreation, SLO Historical Society, and SLO Railroad Museum. After selling the business, he was bored being retired, so he returned to work for the buyer of his business. Later, moving to Oregon to be near family, he became the editor of the National Association of S-Gaugers magazine until he was 80 years old. He passed away July 21, 2023 in Lacey, Washington with is daughter, Megan, caring for him. He was preceded in death by his former wife Wendy Barnard Pyper, his parents, sister Melissa, and brother David. He leaves behind daughters Megan Brown, and her family, Shannon Fraser, and her family, step-sons, Rex Carter, and Brett Carter, and his family, brother Robert Pyper, and many cousins from the Booth side of his family, no relation to John Wilkes Booth, or so we're told.
There will be no services, at Bill's request, and his ashes have been spread over the Pacific Ocean. If you wish to make a gesture in Bill's name, the SLO Railroad Museum, and The NASG can use the dough-nation."
Our original posting in July:
Bill was a commercial printer, writer, editor, and graphic designer in San Luis Obispo, CA, and ran a small model railroad-related business on the side called "Railroad Prynter". He sold building papers and signs in various scales, including S. He later moved to Salem, Oregon. Bill was an O-scale modeler starting at around 1998, but switched to S-scale later. Shortly after that he learned of Jeff Madden's plans to retire from being the NASG's "The Dispatch" editor, and volunteered for the position. He ran the Dispatch starting with the October 2013 issue through the January 2020 issue, during which time he took the magazine to a whole new level, making it rival the big print magazines. After he stopped being the editor, he moved to be closer to his daughter, and restarted his new S-scale layout in his new house. We're glad that he got to spend the last few years of his life with his family. Our condolences to his family and his friends.
As this web site's editor, I interacted with Bill a lot, and he and I got along really well. We saw things eye-to-eye, and he had a sharp sense of humor. Once Bill learned that I was born and raised in The Netherlands, he revealed that he was stationed for a few years on a U.S. military base in Holland, touring the country in some of his spare time, back in the 1950s.
The Reality of Age Sets In
Dick Karnes announced that his famous heavy-electric layout has been removed from his home, and has now found a new home in Minnesota. A crew of people showed up at Dick's home in Washington state in late August and proceeded to cut his layout into 13 sections. Dave Jasper headed up the effort, with the intent of re-assembling that layout at the Miniature Railway Institute and Museum in Hopkins, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis. All of Dick's engines and rolling stock were part of the move. The museum, of which Dave is the current CEO, is run by a board of directors, so continuation is assured, meaning Dick's layout should be available for future viewing when the dust settles. Dick and his wife are planning on moving into a senior living residence, and he expects to continue to build models of cars and engines.
As the saying goes, "When it rains, it pours." Gaylord Gill and Roger Nulton are also in the process of preparing to or actually are dismantling their well-known home layouts. Dan Vandermause recently moved, which required the dismantling of his B&O layout, but he is building a U-shaped switching layout in his new home.
Southwestern Ohio S Scalers
After a dormancy of a few years, the Southwestern Ohio S Scalers are re-starting their efforts. They cover mostly the greater Cincinnati area. Join in if you are interested in 1:64 trains. The club will hold round-robin style of visits, and are planning to build a small S layout to take to local area train shows to introduce people to model railroading, to S, and to the NASG. If you currently do not have a layout or even no S equipment, but are interested in S, contact the club. Contact Chris Burger via e-mail, or call (513) 764-1986.
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Tom Henderson
Tom Henderson passed away August 4th at his home in Ouray, Colorado. Tom was the owner of the online retail store, Sidetracks. Tom has a very large inventory of S-scale products that he has been trying to sell. His wife, Margaret, says that she plans to continue to sell Tom's inventory in the near future via their web site.
Gerry Evans
Bill Winans received a report from Gerry Evans' daughter that Gerry passed away this afternoon at the age of 81. Gerry was a long-time NASG member, and was the Western and then Central V.P. for a combined total of 10 years. Gerry pushed to fruition the "Sunkist Packing Shed" NASG project back in 2006 where Showcase Miniatures agreed to manufacture a number of kits for S-scale of their HO-scale structure. Gerry was also instrumental in getting the "Kermit's Kleaning Kemicals" modular brick building kit to market (the project had a very troubling history). Gerry wrote a large number of articles for the NASG's The Dispatch. He was a prolific structure builder, and ran a business called "Best Of Show" through which he accepted commissions for building kits for people, which included structures, vehicles, and figures. He won the "Best-of-show" award for his Glade Creek Grist Mill at the 2002 NASG Convention. Gerry also contributed many photos to this web site.
Friends Recall Brian Ellerby's Sn3 Layout
This video is a presentation made in April 2023 by Bill Adkins recalling Brian Ellerby's Sn3 layout. Other friends also comment about Brian's modeling efforts on this recorded Zoom meeting.
Jim Brown's Sn3 Layout Tour
Jim Brown is creating a D&RGW-based layout in Sn3 and takes us on a slide-show tour of how he designed and built the layout.
Raymond Appler
Long-time NASG member, Raymond Appler, recent passed away at the age of 88. We were unable to locate an online obituary.
Traintastic is Open
Traintastic Interactive Model Railroad Museum in Gulfport, Mississippi had its grand opening in June, 2023. It features over 50,000 square feet of space, with 20 operating model railroads, featuring all scales. Private (brothers Glenn and Richard Mueller) and state public funding was used to build this over $7,000,000 facility.
Dale Kreutzer's Sn3 Layout in Magazine
Trackside Model Railroading online magazine is no stranger to featuring S. They have previously featured Dick Karnes' layout. The July 2023 issue covers Dale Kreutzer's "RGS Second District" Sn3 layout. The format of this subscription-based magazine is different from others, in that they, typically, only feature two layouts in each issue, but they offer great detail, many photos, as well as video coverage of the layouts. This month's issue is part one of Dale's layout, and part two is scheduled for their next issue.
Model Railroader Magazine Photo
Rich Gajnak reports that the August 2023 Model Railroader magazine has a two-page spread in its "Track Side" section showcasing a River Raisin Models NYC 2-8-2 by Mike Tricker.
Newspaper Article about Shelburne Museum's S Layout
The newspaper article covers the layout at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. In addition to photos of the layout, several of the museum members who maintain the S layout are interviewed and pictured.
Hiram Graves
We regret to inform the community of Hiram Graves' passing. Hiram was a long-time NASG member and very active in the hobby. He passed away on March 8, 2023 at the age of 81. The photo is courtesy of Bill Lane. If you had any personal interactions with Hiram and wish to share those, please forward them to Don Thompson who is composing an article for an upcoming NASG Dispatch issue paying tribute to Hiram (Don's e-mail address is: don@stacktalk.com).
Dan Olson
Dan Olson, of Lake Forest Park, Washington, passed away on April 3, 2023. He was well-known for his knowledge of American Flyer products. Dan started and ran Olson Hobbies in Lake Forest Park, a brick-n-mortar hobby shop, specializing in American Flyer. That store was founded in 1966. We're unsure of when it closed, as one NASG member reported that he bought a Lionel item from him in December 2022.
Russ Segner Presents a Tour of his Sn3 Layout
The Narrow Gauge Off The Beaten Path YouTube channel released a video of Russ Segner walking us through his layout space, the why's behind his layout, and photos of the layout. We also have a page on this web site devoted to his layout.
Jeff Schwab's Tour of His Father's Sn3 Layout
TSG Multimedia visits with Jeff Schwab, touring Mike Schwab's Sn3 layout. Mike passed away in 2021.
Bill Boucher
The Bristol S Gauge Railroaders morn the loss of their long-time member, Bill Boucher, who passed away on June 5th, 2023, just days before he would have turned 94. The linked-to video shows a 1997 interview with Bill and shows his well-known circus train running on the club's layout.
S-scale Exposure
Brooks Stover reported that Joe Coen got a two-page-spread photo of a scene on his layout in the June 2023 issue of the Model Railroader magazine.
Jim Martin wrote the "Perspectives" column (and has the NASG ad photo) in the June 2023 issue of the Railroad Model Craftsman magazine.