Web Site News

So far, all issues from 1981 through 2011 have been indexed, as well as a number of newer ones. The rest will come as time permits.

We have new photos of the 2017 and 2018 cars (to replace the default Lionel line-drawings we had before). Check out the "Store" button's "A.F. Commemorative Cars" menu option to see the cars that the NASG still has for sale. Please help us move these cars to a good home. They would be so much happier running on your layout than sitting on a shelf or in a box in the store! :-)

Carl McAbee contributes photos of more of his vehicular constructions.

The public version of the May/June 2017 issue of the NASG's Dispatch is now available. Also, the members-only issue of the May/June 2018 Dispatch PDF can now be downloaded via the "Members Only" section.

The "S-scale Pioneers" page has been renamed to "S-scale Hall of Fame". The concept is still the same; identifying those key people who have kept S-scale modeling alive over the past 60+ years. Based on several recommendations, the page has been expanded to include more people (and, you no longer have to be dead to be listed!!!).

The NASG button's menu on the left has been updated. Existing menu options have been re-arranged to better group related ones together, separating the groups with a line. The word "NASG" has been removed from some of the menu options, because all topics on this menu are directly related to the NASG organization itself. The "Leadership History" menu option has been added. That page has been there all along, but it was only accessible from the bottom of the "About the NASG" page. Finally, a new page has been added called "Special Projects" on the menu. This page covers the various NASG-sponsored special projects over the years. That page is still a work-in-progress.

The links to various catalogs were reviewed and updated, as well as prices. Many more A.F. books were added to the page as well.

A new page has been added to the web site, which will (hopefully over time) feature several kitbashed vehicle photos. To start us off, Carl McAbee provides a kitbashed dump truck.

American Models recently rolled out a completely-redesigned web site. This broke all the links the NASG web site had to their site. These have now been updated in the Product Gallery. In the process, American Models has added more photos of their products that were previously not listed, so they were updated in the Product Gallery as well. Of note is the fact that some of their previously-listed products are now no longer on their new site, such as the 4-6-2 and the SD60 locomotives. Maybe they will add them in the future, or maybe those products have been sold out and are permanently retired.

Added topics related to Overland Models specific models.

The public version of the March/April 2017 issue of the NASG's Dispatch is now available. Also, the members-only issue of the March/April 2018 Dispatch PDF can now be downloaded via the "Members Only" section.

Ted Hamler shares his collection of original A.C. Gilbert press photo proofs for some pages of several catalogs.

The public version of the January/February 2017 issue of the NASG's Dispatch is now available. Also, the members-only issue of the January/February 2018 Dispatch PDF can now be downloaded via the "Members Only" section.

Bill Lane provides the owner's manual for this car, just in case you bought one second-hand and the insert is missing. It describes how to adjust the car to be able to handle tight curves on your layout.

Dutchman Fred van der Lubbe has recently contributed a number of photos of European S-scale products that were contemporaries to A.C. Gilbert's American Flyer. As webmaster, I put those into the A.F. Product Gallery. However, upon further review, and considering that the information related to those items is likely not to change too often, I have decided to make it into a dedicated article, accessible via the American Flyer button's "Mini Articles" menu option. The article shows what kinds of products were being produced in Europe in the 1950s that were compatible with A.F. track.

The Hartoy AHL product line uses a manufacturer ID numbering system that Carl McAbee explains in this article.

On the Extra Board button you will find the "Modeling Notes" menu option. One of its topics is called "Product Notes", where information about specific models is shared. Up until now that has been one page because we didn't have that much content. However, over time, the content has grown, to where it now warranted better organizing of the information into separate pages. Some of the pages now also have additional content, and new pages were added.

The history of S-scale was part of the main about-the-NASG page, but it has now been made its own separate page. This page is directly accessible via the NASG button on the left, and then click on its new "S-scale's History" menu option.

Don Thompson has made available the PDF document of the S-Helper Service F7 Operator's Manual. This was in response to modelers who have bought this engine second-hand and the manual is missing.

Lionel and MTH have reproduced some of the original American Flyer accessories produced by A.C. Gilbert. Even though they are not pure, original A.F. products, they are based on them, so we are starting a new section in the A.F. Product Gallery listing the Lionel and MTH accessories. Contributions are very much appreciated.

A new menu option has been added to the "Store" button, which is for paying online for a Dispatch Booster ad. If you prefer to pay online with your debit/credit card or your PayPal account, you can use this option do so. Also, if you are only paying for an advertisement, you will no longer be prompted to provide your NASG ID and/or mailing address, as neither of these are really needed for making a simple online payment. For Dispatch booster ads, be sure to contact Dispatch editor Bill Pyper first.

Ted Hamler provides some supplemental information that didn't get published in the Classic Toy Train magazine's December 2017 issue about an animated Hobo box car.

A new video about the Bill Boucher scratchbuilt circus train.

A video of an Sn2 engine pulling a long train.

The public version of the November/December 2016 issue of the NASG's Dispatch is now available. Also, the members-only issue of the November/December 2017 Dispatch PDF can now be downloaded via the "Members Only" section.

Bill Novak did a clinic presentation at the 2017 NASG Convention titled "Adding Passengers To American Models Budd Cars". He has converted the presentation into a PDF file, and it is now available via this web site. Follow the link on the left and click on the second link under "Articles". Note that this is a rather large file.

Don provides information and photos of how to identify the different versions of the S-Helper Service #3 turnout.

All information about S-scale-related reference materials has been moved to a new page on the "Extra Board" button, called "Reference Material". It covers available manufacturer's catalogs, print and online magazines, and various magazine indexes. The content from the "Scale Modeling" and "American Flyer" buttons' Magazines and the previous "Extra Board" button's Magazine Indexes have been moved to this new page.

The Product Gallery's listing of locomotives now also has a new report called "by Prototype Era". Since this was new data that wasn't being tracked previously, it will take some time to add that for the various entries, where the data can be easily ascertained. Any help with the data will be appreciated!

Thanks to a suggestion by Darby Marriott, the scale Product Gallery's listing of cars now has a new report called "by Prototype Era". Since this was new data that wasn't being tracked previously, it will take some time to add that for the various entries, where the data can be easily ascertained. Any help with the data will be appreciated!

Don Thompson shares the PDF file that shows how they converted the SHS F3 from Locomatic to QSI decoders.

The public version of the September/October 2016 issue of the NASG's Dispatch is now available. Also, the members-only issue of the September/October 2017 Dispatch PDF can now be downloaded via the "Members Only" section.

The "Modeling Notes: Passenger Car Sides" page was added to draw attention to the fact that passenger car modeling can be done by using a donor car and replacing the sides with ones that are accurate for your desired prototype.

Ted Hamler contributes a lot of photos of Plasticville structures.

Added a page with just some fun facts about S-scale. It is accessible via the Extra Board button.

The September 2017 RMC inside-the-cover ad listing has been updated.

The NASG Convention page now has a table-of-content at the top of the page, to quickly jump to section on the page that is of interest to you. Also, the Past Conventions section has been re-formatted, because the previous format just didn't look right with all the data that has been added in the past year. The other dedicated-shows Events pages will have their past shows listings updated in the near future as well.

The A.F. Product Gallery's "all" report for A.F. cars has been removed, because it was a duplicate of the "by Manufacturer ID" report. A new report has been added that lists cars that were repainted, kit-bashed, converted to scale, or otherwise modified from the more stock A.F. car.

Online videos are available of Bert Mahr's fantastic layout, featuring Conrail freight and Amtrak passenger trains.

This web site's site map has been added. A site map is a listing of all the pages on this web site, listing both a description and a last-modified date associated with the page. There are several ways you can view the site maps. It is just another way of finding out what is new on the web site, and for finding topics covered on this site. Happy exploring!

The public version of the July/August 2016 issue of the NASG's Dispatch is now available. Also, the members-only issue of the July/August 2017 Dispatch PDF can now be downloaded via the "Members Only" section.

We used to not post these until the 10th of the publication month. However, editor Bill Pyper has been putting more content into the supplemental pages, so by request from NASG members, from now on the members-only PDF file will be made available as soon as the webmaster receives it from the editor.

A photo of the craftsman-style kit has been added to the Product Gallery.

A photo of the CN-lettered car has been added to the Product Gallery.