News: NASG

If you are attending the 2026 NASG Convention in the Detroit area, or you live in the general area, and have some time available to present a clinic at this year's Convention, please contact Culver Anderson.

Presentations need to be railroading related, but do not necessarily need to be specific to S.

Prototype topics might be:
Various railroads
Buildings
Locomotives
RR car types

Modeling topics might be:
Buildings
Locomotives
Railroad cars
Scenery
Electronics
3D-printing
Photography
American Flyer modeling or collecting

Start an e-mail message (culveranderson@msn.com).

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As of today, the 2026 NASG Annual Member Cars have all been shipped by the NASG Company Store manager, Chris Crnich. He stated that we did receive a couple of extra orders, but American Models had, luckily, produced a few more than we commissioned, and they are now 100% sold out. This was a popular car. Thank you to all who pre-ordered the cars.

#2832 hi-rail
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#2865 hi-rail
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#2832 scale
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#2865 scale
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Andy Malette, the NASG Secretary, has made available the January 2026 and February 2026 BOT meeting notes. The PDF file can be viewed by active NASG members via the "Members Only" portal.

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The 2026 NASG Convention group is happy announce that the Convention web site has been fully updated and both registration and Convention Car purchase is now available.

There are two major changes to the web site from previous years. First, the registration form is accessible via the "Register" page, but the Convention Car order form has its own dedicated page now, "Car". You can register and buy the car together, though. When you register, your registration will be added to the built-in shopping cart. You can then go to the Car page and order the Convention Car by adding it to the shopping cart as well. Of course, you can do one and not the other. Once everything is in your shopping cart, you can check-out. We offer PayPal as a convenience for those who want to pay by credit or debit card, and we also offer the option of postal-mailing a check or money order. When you get to the shopping cart "check-out" step, all information will be provided.

The second big change is that the NASG Board of Trustees has voted to allow non-members to attend this year's Convention. NASG membership is not required. Note, however, that non-members are not allowed to purchase the Convention Car and some activities (e.g. the Annual Membership Meeting held at the Convention) are off-limits.

The 2026 group is looking for attendees to volunteer to do a clinic at the Convention. See the "Clinics" page on the web site for more information.

Another new feature in this year's Convention web site is that the "Vendors" page is dynamically updated as vendors, and individuals with sales tables, register to attend. So, visit that page from time to time to see who all is planning on being there.

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We commissioned American Models to do another supplemental run of this 2025 (last year's) Annual Member car, because we got more pre-orders than the original commission. Those pre-orders have now all shipped so we have a few left over. First come, first serve. At any point in time we may only have 1 of these left!

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Andy Malette, the NASG Secretary, has made available the December 2025 BOT meeting notes. The PDF file can be viewed by active NASG members via the "Members Only" portal.

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The 2025 (last year's) NASG Convention Car was so popular during the "pre-order" phase that we received more pre-order payments than we had commissioned from American Models. To satisfy the shortages, we commissioned American Models to do another small run. Those who pre-paid for their cars, should have already received them or will receive them shortly. Do NOT re-order if you have already ordered yours but haven't received it yet!. So, the second run gave us a handful of additional cars that are available now. Please note that they are in very short supply and can be sold-out at any moment. You can place your order for a car via this web site and pay via PayPal, as per usual. If you want one and you want to pay by check, please contact Roger Gerhart (NASG Treasurer) immediately, so he can set one aside for you. Roger has them in stock, so he is the only one that can give you availability information.

Caveats:
- First come, first serve! (based on e-mail date/time or PayPal payment date/time)
- Hi-rail or scale option may not be available, based on demand.
- Desired road number may not be available, based on demand.

Start an e-mail message (treasurer@nasg.org).

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Andy Malette, the NASG Secretary, has made available the November 2025 BOT meeting notes. The PDF file can be viewed by active NASG members via the "Members Only" portal.

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Chris Crnich, manager of the NASG Company Store, has received the 2025 Annual Members Car shipment from American Models. The cars will start being shipped to those who ordered them, this week. Chris will be using UPS this year as USPS has become too expensive. Chris took photos of the car for us to catalog them on this web site. They are gorgeous. Please note that these cars sold out in September, and were only available to NASG members. Shameless plug: Join the NASG if you wish to purchase these types of never-produced cars in the future (e.g. AM has never produced a Monon box car, this paint scheme has never been produced in S before, and AM created the new-to-them Superior door for this project).

Monon #1 with Superior Doors
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Monon #907 with Commonwealth Doors
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Andy Malette, the NASG Secretary, has made available the September 2025 BOT meeting notes. The PDF file can be viewed by active NASG members via the "Members Only" portal.

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Some preliminary information about the 2026 NASG Convention in Dearborn, Michigan has been added to the Convention web site. Most importantly, the information about the hotel, the hotel room rate, and the hotel web site link to use to place your reservations has been added.

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Andy Malette, the NASG Secretary, has made available the August (Convention) 2025 BOT meeting notes. The PDF files can be viewed by active NASG members via the "Members Only" portal.

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The NASG Board of Trustees announces that the NASG is now the official new Special Interest Group (SIG) within the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA). The previous S-scale SIG disbanded when their web site maintenance became onerous. Since the NASG already fulfilled all the requirements of the SIG program, it made sense to apply and become the replacement organization to represent S-scale interests. What does this mean? The NMRA will list and promote the NASG both on its web site and in its newsletter, and any group of S-scalers can meet at an NMRA convention event and get space for discussion and socializing, or even a display booth. This SIG link on the NMRA's home page of their web site takes you to a page that lists the NASG.

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On page 17 of the current September/October Dispatch there is a completely false statement about ScaleTrains.com stopping production of S scale. To the contrary, their current run of S-Helper Service wood-side reefers has been completed and is in the process of being shipped to the US; they are projected to be available in September. To order them, visit their web site. The NASG regrets this error and any confusion it may have caused.

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Andy Malette, the NASG Secretary, has made available the July 2025 BOT meeting notes. The PDF file can be viewed by active NASG members via the "Members Only" portal.

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Darby Marriott (as of yesterday the former Eastern VP of the NASG) has created a survey. His message is as follows:

We are conducting a survey aimed at newer converts to S Scale who can help share their experiences in S. The objective is to make this journey easier in the future for other prospective modelers by finding common areas of success as well as challenges. Your participation is greatly appreciated.

• Take the Survey

Andy Malette, the NASG Secretary, has made available the May and June 2025 BOT meeting notes. The PDF files can be viewed by active NASG members via the "Members Only" portal.

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NASG Election chairman, Jamie Bothwell, officially announced the 2025 election results for the NASG's Board of Trustees, effective in two weeks at the 2025 NASG Convention. The positions are as follows:

President: Jim Whipple (incumbent)
Treasurer: Roger Gerhart
Eastern VP: Mike Byle
Central VP: Brian Jackson (incumbent)
Western VP: Clay Buckage (incumbent)

The positions of Executive Vice-President (Lou Templeton) and Secretary (Andy Malette) were not up for election this year.

We wish to thank Michael Ferraro (treasurer) and Darby Marriott (eastern VP) for their years of service on the BOT. Enjoy your retirement, guys!

We welcome Scott Lister as the new NASG Service Committee chairman. The Service Committee is a committee that is decreed by the NASG's Constitution, but its chairman position has been vacant for a long time. According to the NASG's By-Laws, the Service Committee "establishes and coordinates services to be rendered to the membership."

• View the NASG Organization Page