OScale Trains

Lost & FoundWe returned from the O Scale National to find a surprise onour doorstep—boxes of old O Scale Trains Magazine. It seemsour original printer moved into new digs and in the processfound some “overs” of early issues of OST, back to Vol. 1, No. 1.So, here’s the scoop. You can ONLY order these by mail. Wewill not sell these over the net, nor by phone. You can ONLYpay by cash, check or money order; no credit cards accepted.Shipping is by Priority Mail and the prices listed below includethe postage. All issues are in mint condition.• Volume 1 includes Issues 1 through 5 and sells for $50.• Volume 2 includes Issues 6 through 11 and sells for $55.• Volume 3 includes Issues 12 through 17 and sells for $55.We have maybe 15 sets of Volume 1 and maybe 20 sets ofVolumes 2 and 3, so don’t wait to order. It’s first come; firstserved. If we can’t fill your order, your money will be returned.I’d say these will be sold out by the end of September. If you arereading this after September 30th, don’t bother.Report on the 2006 O Scale NationalWe had a great time at the National and I’d like to thankeveryone who stopped by to say hello. I’d also like to offerkudos to the gentlemen and ladies of the New York Society ofModel Engineers for putting on a great convention. There wasalmost too much to do. If you weren’t interested in the tradinghall, there were 32 clinics and myriad tours, not to mention thehome layout visits.Convention Chairman Bob Lavezzi said there were over 700attendees, plus more than 100 dealers and manufacturers manningover 300 tables.There were modular layouts from the Central Jersey “O”Scalers and the East Penn Traction Group. Both were runningcontinuously during the convention.Even the Saturday night banquet was great. No “rubberchicken” here. After dinner the newest inductees to the OScale Hall of Fame were announced. Entering this year are:Mort Mann of Sunset/3rd Rail; Bob Wagner, a former NYSMEmember; and John Smith of Pecos River Brass. Also attendingthe convention was Vince and Edith Waterman’s daughter, whostopped by to thank us for the coverage of Vince’s obituary.Mort Mann was also inducted into the NYSME as an honorarymember. Mort had been a junior member but moved out ofthe area early on.Over 65 models were entered in the contest categories. Youcan see a selection of the models starting on page 58 in thisissue.The 2007 convention will be hosted by Jim Canter and OScale Trains Magazine in Indianapolis. The dates are September20th to September 22, 2007. The main hotel is the IndianapolisMarriott East, 7202 East 21st St, 317-322-3716. Register earlywith Jim by calling 317-782-3322 or email him at [jcanternkp@sbcglobal.net]. I’m setting up a website at [www.2k7OScaleNat.com] where you will be able to download a registration formand find other info as we get closer to the convention.70 • O Scale Trains - Sept/Oct ’06The 2008 convention will be hosted by the Southern NewEngland Model RR club in Worcester, Mass.The 2009 convention will be held in Baltimore, MD, andthat’s all the info I have on that at this time.I’ve also heard rumblings that 2010 could be in Detroit, MI,or possibly Milwaukee, WI. We will keep you posted on thesefuture developments.I saw some neat stuff at the convention, too. Bill Wade ofBTS was showing a prototype of his new Wabash 2-6-2 kit. Thekit uses a Babbit chassis with urethane castings for the superstructureand lost wax brass details. While I’m not a big fan ofPrairies, it was an extremely nice model and well-made. Billsays that several of these 2-6-2s were made into Pacifics, sothat’s another possible kit in the future.By the time you read this Atlas O should have announcedtheir first steam engine. If you saw the back of their early 2006catalog, you saw what might have been a steam loco headlightglowing way back in a tunnel. The latest catalog unequivocallyshows the smokebox front and pilot of a steam engine in thetunnel. My spies tell me the locomotive is a switcher, possiblyan 0-6-0. We’ll see if my sources were correct.Last issue I mentioned the NMRA had reached out to partof the O Scale community suggesting that the O Scale NationalConvention might be combined with the NMRA National. Well,that’s pretty much a dead issue now. With 2009 slotted for Baltimoreand at least two more groups in the wings for 2010 and2011, the general consensus among the convention attendeeswas that there is no pressing need to combine with the NMRAconvention. Most felt O Scale would get short shrift.One thing I did suggest to the O Scale Kings was that theybecome the repository for post-convention “lessons learned”documentation. This way, a group which would like to sponsoran O Scale National would have a known source of priorinformation. I also suggested a Convention Advisory Committeebe formed with the last three convention chairmen available tooffer advice to any group taking on the National.Coming Soon!Some of you have commented that we haven’t had a layoutin an issue for a while now. I can tell you we will have layouts toshow you for the next several issues, which will include NormCharbonneau’s unbelievable 3-Rail layout in the Nov/Dec issue,Warner Clark’s Proto48 layout, Andy Romano’s Ironbound RR,and many more. For you structure people, we’ll have articles onkitbashing a feed mill if you're not up to scratching one, buildinga saw mill, a gas station, a turntable and more. Jaini and I areworking on an article about making long stretches of stone wall.Well, I’m beat. We held back finishing this issue so we couldbring you coverage of the national and it’s time to close this up.Keep Highballin’u