News: NASG

Annual Member Car chairman, Norman Bos, announces that the 2025 edition of the car will be the Monon 40-foot box car manufactured for us by American Models, with delivery expected around the time of this year's NASG Convention. There will be two road numbers produced, namely the legendary #1 (with 7-panel Superior doors) and the regular #907 (with Commonwealth doors). John W. Barriger III, when he ran the Monon, remembered from his early years as a yard clerk that it was easy to write down the wrong road number for cars with 6-digit road numbers. So, when the Monon ordered 500 40-foot box cars from Pullman-Standard in 1947, he simply had them start with #1. The photo shown below was taken by Norman Bos. It is of road number 907 which by the time of the photograph had been renumbered and was being used as a generator car. However, the 2025 NASG Annual Member Car will have this same paint and lettering scheme. According to our listing in this web site's "Product Gallery" no Monon box car in this paint scheme has been produced in S before. As always, there will be a limited number of these cars produced, and will be available with either hi-rail wheels and couplers or scale wheels and couplers. You can place your pre-orders now by clicking on the photo below.

Please note that we are down to just a couple of the 2024 NASG Annual Member Cars in stock. These are the Mathieson dry-ice reefers. So, if you have been eyeing one of those, now is the time to order yours.

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The NASG's AF Commemorative Program was stopped in 2019, but we still have a number of cars available in our inventory. Clay Buckage took over the program's sales from Dave Blum in 2020. However, Clay recently announced his retirement and closing of Dave's Twacks & Twains. This also means that he is retiring from managing the sales of the remaining AF Commemorative Cars. Chris Crnich, the NASG's Company Store manager, has volunteered to take over the remaining inventory and will be handling the shipping of these cars. Chris will be taking delivery of the full inventory this week and will be ready to make shipments starting on January 24, 2025. So, Chris will now be handling all of the shipping of the NASG's hard-goods.

Please note that we offer online ordering via this web site, with payments made via PayPal (who accept credit and debit cards, as well as other forms of payment). However, if you would prefer to pay for your order of items from the NASG's Company Store, NASG Annual Member Car Program, or the AF Commemorative Car program via a check or money order, please make arrangements with Chris directly. Some items are low in stock, so by contacting Chris before you postal-mail your check or money order, he can set aside the item(s) for you. Especially with the cars, these are shipped on a first-come, first-served basis.

Also note that most of the hard-goods items' prices include the cost of shipping. As we all know, shipping cost have risen dramatically. Chris recently instituted a plan that if you order four or more of one specific item (not four various items) he might be able to give you a reduced price. You will need to contact Chris if you want to order 4 or more of one specific item, and pay via check or money order, as the online shopping cart is not set up to handle such scenarios. Similarly, if you are not in a hurry, but plan to attend this year's NASG Convention, Chris will be able to give you a reduced price on the items if you pick up your order at the Convention.
Start an e-mail message (companystore@nasg.org).

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Dale Minard, the NASG Librarian, has updated the magazines index spreadsheet files with the latest magazine issues.

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Terry O'Kelly has stepped up to volunteer being an assistant editor for the NASG Dispatch, to help with articles aimed at our AF/hi-rail enthusiasts. Terry is willing to offer any level of service, from just proofreading your proposed article, all the way to helping you write it. You can get Terry's e-mail address by going to the Dispatch page, and scrolling down to the "Get Published!" section.

Don't forget, Phil Scandura offers the same service for those who want to write a more scale-oriented article for the Dispatch.

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Norman Bos (Annual Member Car program manager) and Chris Crnich (NASG Store manager) have packaged all of the pre-orders received for the Mathieson reefer, and they are being shipped starting today.

Please note that we still have both scale and hi-rail versions of the Annual Member car available, and we also still have a handful of the scale and hi-rail 2024 NASG Convention cars available.

2024 Annual Member Car

2024 NASG Convention Car

2024 NASG Convention Car

Apparently there was a miscommunication between the NASG and American Models at some level. The 2024 NASG Annual Member car was supposed to be for two road numbers of the Mathieson Dry Ice Reefer, namely NX #8842 and NX #8855, and we had been taking pre-orders for those, accordingly. However, what was produced was a single car number NX #6855.

We have received a good number of pre-orders for the 8842 and 8855 cars, so Annual Member Car Program chairman Norman Bos will be contacting each member who ordered one or two of these cars, to work out some sort of an arrangement because of this.

With this announcement, the "Store" section of this web site has now been updated to accept new orders for the actual car that has been produced by American Models. As always, the car is available with hi-rail wheels and couplers or scale wheels and couplers. NASG membership is required. The cars are supposed to arrive in the first week of November, with shipping of orders to members shortly after that.

If you have pre-ordered your car or cars, please wait until Norman contacts you.

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Although many details still need to be worked out, the 2025 NASG Convention will be held in August, 2025 in Norwich, Connecticut. The Convention web site currently has all of the known information, including the active link to reserve your hotel room, some (updated) information about the planned tours, and a tentative event schedule. More information will be added over time as it becomes available.

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After a good number of years serving as the "Assistant Editor for American Flyer and Hi-rail" for the Dispatch, Stephen Law has decided to retire. We want to thank Stephen for his (often unseen) efforts to make the Dispatch the best it could be. If you are interested in taking on this position, please contact NASG VP Brian Jackson.
Start an e-mail message (central_vp@nasg.org).

The NASG Board of Trustees has made available their meetings notes for the June and July meetings of this year. To be able to view those, you must log into the "Members Only" portal.

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The NASG BOT has formalized the definitions of "American Flyer", "Hi-rail", and "Scale".

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The NASG BOT has finalized the revisions of both the NASG Constitution and the NASG Bylaws documents. Both contain the latest version, and both are available for your reading pleasure as PDF documents.

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We have added the preliminary list of clinics scheduled for this year's NASG Convention. There's a lot to choose from!

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The 2024 NASG Convention web site is now officially open to receive registrations. Exactly like last year, all registrations need to be done via our web site online, but payment can be made by postal-mailing a check or money, or paying via credit or debit card via our NASG PayPal account.

The Convention Car has not been formalized just yet, so we are holding off on that for now, but should that materialize, we will support buying that on the Convention web site later on.

Other details will be posted on the web site as soon as they are available.

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The NASG has updated the promotional tri-folds as the first printing had run out. Some corrections, additions, and clarifications were made at the same time. View the page for details on how to obtain printed copies.

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Just a quick update on the 2024 NASG Convention. On the Convention's home page, scroll down a bit to find the link to the hotel's reservations page. Also updated are the "Tours" page and the "Car" page, with just a little bit of information.

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The NASG Board of Trustees is announcing the new "Regional Ambassador Program". We are looking for regional volunteers to help the organization with this program.

General Overview
The Regional Ambassadors constitute one of the most fundamentally important positions in the NASG because they are the ones in the broadest contact with the general public, and therefore serve as the public face of the organization by attending local and regional open houses, train shows, modeling meets, and conventions. Consequently, it is important that Regional Ambassadors recognize that person-to-person contact lies at the heart of their service to the NASG. An Ambassador is much more likely to have success if he or she is a "people person" willing to engage the public despite the tedium of answering uninformed questions or spending long hours standing in front of a display table.

In addition to engaging the public, the Regional Ambassadors liaison with the local S clubs regardless of the clubs' orientation toward AF, Hi-rail, or Scale. The role the Regional Ambassadors play in their engagement with local S clubs is of critical importance; they provide a timely and vital link between the national organization and local clubs, encouraging its members to join the NASG and to take an active role in its affairs, including volunteering for NASG positions and hosting national conventions as well as providing feedback on how the national organization can respond more productively to the needs of local clubs.

The Regional Ambassador's Role
Proactively solicits conversion to S:
- By attending local and regional, model-railroad-club open houses, train shows, modeling meets, and conventions.
- By distributing the relevant tri-fold promotional pamphlets at each event.
- By explaining the advantages of 3/16^th scale model railroading to potential converts from other scales.

Works with local S clubs:
- To assist in distribution of tri-fold pamphlets.
- To create a communication channel between local clubs and the Promotions Committee Chair.
- To promote membership in the NASG.

Proactively solicits membership in the NASG:
- By explaining the advantages of NASG membership in the course of distributing the relevant, tri-fold promotional pamphlets to AF, Hi-rail, and Scale S enthusiasts.

Works with the Promotions Committee Chair:
- To identify the most important open houses, train shows, modeling meets, and conventions in his or her region.
- To create an annual promotions strategy for all events.
- To analyze feedback from his or her attendance experience and share it with the Promotions Committee Chair.
- To create a plan to visit the clubs in his or her region once every three years.

If you are interested in participating, please contact NASG Central Vice President, Brian Jackson.
Start an e-mail message (central_vp@nasg.org).

The NASG's Secretary has provided the summary notes for the September 2023 and December 2023 NASG BOT meeting. You will need to log in to the "Members Only" portal to be able to view the reports.

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The NASG's Secretary has provided the summary notes for the January 2024 NASG BOT meeting. You will need to log in to the "Members Only" portal to be able to view the reports.

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Please see the 2024 NASG Convention home page for a brief update on the status of this year's Convention.

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