(UPDATED) The 48 Club *** Announcing Division 59 Membership ***

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

I've been working up some ideas for shirts and hats since Coca Cola guy is making a t-shirt up, Vistaprint does nice work but they are a bit pricey, $50 for a polo shirt and $17 for a cotton baseball cap.

The quality of their embroidery is pretty good.

Smaller logo vs the largest logo they can put on the shirt, I think the smaller one looks better.

Matching baseball cap.

Alternate design.

I'm not planning on having these made up for sale but if anyone wants to get one made up on their own I could send you the logo files. My e-mail is in my profile. I am still kicking around the idea of a membership card that I will send out to anyone who wants one, just have to come up with a decent design for it.

And stay tuned ....

(hint)

Jerry

Well done!

If only I wasn't under a restraining order regarding shirts and hats...

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

It would , just trying to show the most decorated car of the consist. But since you brought it up...

The number 485? Well 48 for the club and it's 5 o'clock somewhere. Now what would be your adult beverage of choice back in the day ? Me? Martini with 2 olives, since Jack and Coke hadn't been invented yet.

Jerry

Would you mind if I used this cars image in my signature?

Since I posted my 4x8 S Gauge layout on 3/2/21 and was shortly thereafter designated a charter member I thought I would post a video of some old American Flyer trains circling my little layout.   I know it’s diminutive in size but yet it be mighty.  An American Flyer 4-4-2 Atlantic, cab #303, hauls a short freight around my layout which I patterned loosely after The American Flyer 1950 catalog cover, hence the Ferris Wheel and Carousel rides.  The little 4-4-2 still chugs away after almost 70 years.  

@Mrhobby052 posted:

Would you mind if I used this cars image in my signature?

Sure go right ahead!

Jerry

Ok everyone, I know it's later than I would like to post but family business must be attended to first but here are this weeks ideas, ruminations and what not!

First out of the gate is this weeks layout idea, it is also an O27 design but with 2 levels and fits on a full 4x8 sheet...

The bottom level with a double figure 8 ...

Which could also be used by itself if one were not so inclined to go 2 levels.

And the upper level with a dogbone ...

The track requirements are...

Upper level...                                       

7 - O27 curves        

7 - straights                

2 - 7.4" cut straights                             

1 - 6.75" cut straight                    

1 - pair O27 switches    

  Lower level...                           

18 - O27 curves                     

19 - straights                        

3 - 7.75" cut straights        

3 - 4.8" cut straights          

1 - 4.125" cut straight     

2 - 2" cut straights

1 - 2.6" cut straight

1 - 90 degree crossing

1 - 45 degree crossing

And as always any of the straights can be swapped out with a RCS track.

What I like about this design is the changes or apparent changes  in directions the trains can take with no input from the operator and the ability to create 3 separate scenery areas on the layout, a city or town on the lower, a farm setting in the larger loop and a wooded or mountainous area on the smaller loop section..

Jerry

Next up is an updated membership list, I've added Jim Barrett to the Honorary membership, an oversight I can't believe I made.

Founding Members
1. BaltimoreTrainWorks
2. Amfleet25124

Charter Members
1. RSJB18
2. Conductor Earl
3. bptBill
4. CA John
5. Walt Rapp
6. M. Mitchell Marmel
7. OKHIKER
8. Coca Cola Guy
9. Nucci
10. Rich Wiemann
11. CSXJOE
12. graz
13. Melvin P
14. Mrhobby052
15. Khayden93
16. palallin
17. John E K
18. Miggy
19. pdxtrains
20. SouthernFan56
21. randr
22. Will
23. Dave Warburton
24. GG1Guyy
25. Diverging Clear
26. Penn Flyer
27. Coach Joe
29. JohnnieWalker
30. Robert S. Butler
31.Mark Boyce
32. Jon Stachowicz
33. Madockawando
34. ScoutingDad

Honorary Members
1. Harry Miller ... My grandfather
2. Jerry Makowiecki ... My dad
3. Thor Sheil
4. Alan Arnold
5. Allen Miller
6. Rich Melvin
7. Ed Boyle
8. Jim Barrett
9. Putnam Division

Up to 34 Charter members who have embraced the 32 sq foot empire!

I've kicked around this as a possible membership card for the first 48 Charter Members.

FRONT SIDE.....

BACK SIDE....

Once we get within striking distance of the top I'll have some made up. It will be about the same size and thickness as a credit card but I was thinking of taking the 48 off the back and just putting the wording in the center in keeping with the whole Art Deco thing of sleek and minimal, what say ye?

Jerry

Dandy looking card, Jerry!  I claimed the logo, but don't see my name on the list.

I have an app to scan photographs now,  I need to dig out my photo album from growing up and scan my 4x8 layout I built growing up in the late '60s-early '70s. 

@Mark Boyce posted:

Dandy looking card, Jerry!  I claimed the logo, but don't see my name on the list.

Sorry about that Mark, I've been having all kinds of computer issues with the name list, the first time I posted it it jumbled up some of the names and I thought I got it fixed but apparently not, should be good now.

Jerry

Jerry, I agree with the logo on the front and just the wording on the back. Nice looking credentials.

Next, I was making up a few fantasy GG1s on another post I started and someone said I needed to do one in the 48 livery, even tho I think the NYC Dreyfuss is more fitting, the GG1 allows me more creativity ( I did get a bit carried away) , so without further adieu I give you the 48 Club GG1 family...

My personal favorites are the first and the third ones, your mileage may vary!

I'm still going to work up a Dreyfuss in the black and yellow scheme just to see what it would look like.

Jerry

Makes me want to start a 4x8 layout. I've got most of what I need for a planned layout for my grandson. That however is almost on permanent hold. I love the logo.  My pick would be for either of the last 2 GG1s. Of course not having a layout means no voting rights?  Does a temporary rug layout under the Christmas tree count? 

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

Sorry about that Mark, I've been having all kinds of computer issues with the name list, the first time I posted it it jumbled up some of the names and I thought I got it fixed but apparently not, should be good now.

Jerry

I understand about computer problems.  Thank you

And finally some more possible merch should our club actually take off and become a major (or minor, I'm not picky)  player in the O gauge world...

2 types of T-shirts and a coffee mug (I'd prefer an all black mug but they're $3 a piece and I have to get 72 of them and I don't like coffee or hot chocolate that much!).

Jerry

@ScoutingDad posted:

Of course not having a layout means no voting rights?  Does a temporary rug layout under the Christmas tree count?

You definitely can have a vote, I'm a bit prejudiced when it comes to my own designs on things so hearing others opinions helps out, the voice of reason as it were. If I had my way I'd have one of each made up! As for a temporary seasonal layout or floor layout, that's were we all evolved from so welcome aboard!

Jerry

Hello,

Just checking to see if I can sign up to be a member.  My layout is slightly smaller than a 4x8 and can run 2 trains, has 2 reverse loops and 2 connecting levels.

Also it has 10 separate operating blocks using 2 MTH Z-1000 transformers and 3 Atlas selectors.  4 blocks are on the lower mainline.  1 block is on the lower reverse loop, each of the 3 siding tracks are 3 individual blocks and 2 blocks are on the upper reverse loop.

While the trains are running, there's quite a bit of work left to do before it's "finished".

Your consideration is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

The GG1s are all good, Jerry!  So many choices!

@Jon Stachowicz posted:

Hello,

Just checking to see if I can sign up to be a member.  My layout is slightly smaller than a 4x8 and can run 2 trains, has 2 reverse loops and 2 connecting levels.

Your consideration is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

If you have a 4x8 or smaller you are more than welcome. Our oath is " Hi, I'm (insert name) and I have a 4x8 layout! " to which the membership present would reply "So say we all !"

I've updated the membership roll to show your name Jon, welcome aboard!

Jerry

@Rich Wiemann posted:

Jerry, I agree with the logo on the front and just the wording on the back. Nice looking credentials.

How's this?

I definitely like this version better.

Jerry

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

How's this?

I definitely like this version better.

Jerry

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

Next up is an updated membership list, I've added Jim Barrett to the Honorary membership, an oversight I can't believe I made.

Founding Members
1. BaltimoreTrainWorks
2. Amfleet25124

Charter Members
1. RSJB18
2. Conductor Earl
3. bptBill
4. CA John
5. Walt Rapp
6. M. Mitchell Marmel
7. OKHIKER
8. Coca Cola Guy
9. Nucci
10. Rich Wiemann
11. CSXJOE
12. graz
13. Melvin P
14. Mrhobby052
15. Khayden93
16. palallin
17. John E K
18. Miggy
19. pdxtrains
20. SouthernFan56
21. randr
22. Will
23. Dave Warburton
24. GG1Guyy
25. Diverging Clear
26. Penn Flyer
27. Coach Joe
29. JohnnieWalker
30. Robert S. Butler
31. Mark Boyce
32. Jon Stachowicz

Honorary Members
1. Harry Miller ... My grandfather
2. Jerry Makowiecki ... My dad
3. Thor Sheil
4. Alan Arnold
5. Allen Miller
6. Rich Melvin
7. Ed Boyle
8. Jim Barrett
9. Putnam Division

Up to 30 Charter members who have embraced the 32 sq foot empire!

I've kicked around this as a possible membership card for the first 48 Charter Members.

FRONT SIDE.....

BACK SIDE....

Once we get within striking distance of the top I'll have some made up. It will be about the same size and thickness as a credit card but I was thinking of taking the 48 off the back and just putting the wording in the center in keeping with the whole Art Deco thing of sleek and minimal, what say ye?

Jerry

Oh I thought I was in... am I the first member to get dropped?

Great stuff from all. You have been very busy Jerry!  Some .02$ thoughts:

Business card: second version w/o logo on back.

GG1’s: agree; all great. the striping for #’s 3&4 are PRR “style”, 5&6 are more Art Deco imho (i like those). you are a design wizard.

Named cars: great selection of names and styles. Based on your erudite choices of period authors, another name peeked out from the pages: The Great Gatsby. Or just Gatsby.  For the end observation car?  I know that motive power is rarely named (is that heresy ?;  i remember reading that a few down south were named for senior engineers), but if your Dreyfuss is looking for a name......

Mug: hope one day to make it to York, and will carry one of these around......or maybe a travel mug? (I know; more work 😁)

members have been asking if they qualify, and to use the logo or car images in their esig. What about having members self identify how they became members, or how they want to be recognized, after the logo or The 48 Club name that they use? Something like this:

The 48 Club, Tinplate Division

The 48 Club, Catenary Division

American Flyer Division

Christmas Layout Division

Vintage 50’s Division

another way to “personalize” their esig. (I guess i am in the Hanging Layout Division 😂)

Mark

@Madockawando posted:

Oh I thought I was in... am I the first member to get dropped?

Sorry about that, was having computer issues when I posted that, I copied/pasted it from my notes and it got horrendously jumbled and in the process of un-jumbling it several members got left off. I think I've finally got it straightened out but if anyone else was on before and doesn't appear now let me know so I can fix it.

Jerry

@Nucci posted:

Based on your erudite choices of period authors, another name peeked out from the pages: The Great Gatsby. Or just Gatsby.  For the end observation car?  I know that motive power is rarely named (is that heresy ?;  i remember reading that a few down south were named for senior engineers), but if your Dreyfuss is looking for a name......

Mug: hope one day to make it to York, and will carry one of these around......or maybe a travel mug? (I know; more work 😁)

The travel mugs are some what problematic, decent sized ones in black are not cheap to have made, anywhere from $4 to $15 a piece with minimum orders of 24 to 125, at least the coffee cup is $10 no minimum. I haven't checked too many other places but the costs seem about the same across the board.

I still haven't thought of a name for the locomotives regardless of Dreyfuss or GG1, maybe something from mythology like Prometheus for the GG1 and  Aurora for the Dreyfess, they kind of sound Art Deco-y ? .

Not sure if any of this will actually be realized but it is a fun thought exercise at least.

jerry

Great names! And Art Deco fer sure.
Prometheus god of fire: great tie in - the version at the Rockefeller center ice skating rink in NYC is art deco all the way. Check out the photos online.
Aurora goddess of dawn and renewal. Every day is a renewal of the 4x8; yet another “variation” is posted.

mug: i should have known you all ready looked into it 😄

and yes; this is a lot of fun.  So much talent out there.

So sad, I jumped in early but still don't see my name on the membership roster - may have to build bigger than 4x8 if I'm not a member of this great and awesome club!.

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

If you have a 4x8 or smaller you are more than welcome. Our oath is " Hi, I'm (insert name) and I have a 4x8 layout! " to which the membership present would reply "So say we all !"

I've updated the membership roll to show your name Jon, welcome aboard!

Jerry

My 3-rail is bigger, but I have a 4x6 On30 semi-portable layout.  Does that count since it's not 3-rail?  Do I get an asterisk by my name?

However, I am skeptical about joining any club that would have me as a member.

@Apples55 posted:

And for your first Club Car, might I suggest one of the 40 & 8 boxcars from WWI??? They were so named because they supposedly could carry 40 men or 8 horses to the front. A number of them were given to the US in gratitude after the war - this one was in the B&O Museum in Baltimore when I visited some years ago...

Paul, as a 48-year member of La Societe Des 40 Hommes Et 8 Chevaux I was proud to see your photo of the "Merci Train" French boxcar posted on this thread. The gratitude of the French people to America following the Great War is beyond our comprehension. My great-uncle Pvt. Florence W. Turner rode one of these boxcars to the Front, but never returned on one. He is buried in the Meusse-Argonne American Military Cemetery. "Lest We Forget."

As to the 48 Club, I am soon starting on a new 4x8 layout. That's what I had as a kid in the 50s, and my two sons and I enjoyed a big 6x16 when they were growing up, which is now at my one son's house. Grandpa still needs a small layout and 4x8 is just the right size!

Bill Turner

Put me down as a supporting member. Just to show what can be done with a 4x8 sheet of plywood, these are three of my four portable modules. The 4th module, not seen, disqualifies me as a full member.

Each module is 4' x 32" so three can be cut from one sheet. Excuse the debris, this serves as my test and storage track for ongoing projects.

Pete

Nice job, Pete!

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

Next, I was making up a few fantasy GG1s on another post I started and someone said I needed to do one in the 48 livery, even tho I think the NYC Dreyfuss is more fitting, the GG1 allows me more creativity ( I did get a bit carried away) , so without further adieu I give you the 48 Club GG1 family...

My personal favorites are the first and the third ones, your mileage may vary! I'm still going to work up a Dreyfuss in the black and yellow scheme just to see what it would look like.

Jerry

This is the best one IMNSHO. It reminds me of my favorite PRR scheme.

@Plankowner110 posted:

Paul, as a 48-year member of La Societe Des 40 Hommes Et 8 Chevaux I was proud to see your photo of the "Merci Train" French boxcar posted on this thread. The gratitude of the French people to America following the Great War is beyond our comprehension. My great-uncle Pvt. Florence W. Turner rode one of these boxcars to the Front, but never returned on one. He is buried in the Meusse-Argonne American Military Cemetery. "Lest We Forget."

As to the 48 Club, I am soon starting on a new 4x8 layout. That's what I had as a kid in the 50s, and my two sons and I enjoyed a big 6x16 when they were growing up, which is now at my one son's house. Grandpa still needs a small layout and 4x8 is just the right size!

Bill Turner

Bill, Thank you for the story about the Merci Train and your great uncle.  I’m so thankful and humbled by those like your uncle who died for ours and Europe’s freedom.  I don’t know if my maternal grandfather rode in one of those cars.  I just know he came home on a hospital ship.  He was permanently disabled, but had been a B&O fireman before the Great War.

I have two 2x8s cut from a single 4x8 for a 2x16 wall layout, does that count? If so, count me in!

Thanks Jerry--I'm honored and humbled to be a charter member of the 48 club!

@PRRMP54 posted:

I have two 2x8s cut from a single 4x8 for a 2x16 wall layout, does that count? If so, count me in!

16×2= 32 sq ft. Sliced and diced it works. 👍

@Darrell posted:

So sad, I jumped in early but still don't see my name on the membership roster - may have to build bigger than 4x8 if I'm not a member of this great and awesome club!.

Sorry about that Darrell, I thought maybe you got lost in the great posting jumble of 3/14/21 but you apparently did slip thru the cracks. I probably should daily update the membership til we hit 48 charter members instead of doing it once a week, less chance of missing someone, consider yourself added. And if anyone  else previously declared themselves and I have missed them let me know.

@PRRMP54 posted:

I have two 2x8s cut from a single 4x8 for a 2x16 wall layout, does that count? If so, count me in!

Like RSJB18 said, 32 sq feet gets you in.

In fact the first layout plan I posted used that same principle, cut a sheet into 4 - 12"x96" pieces and reassembled into a layout that is 9foot x 9foot.

@Norton posted:

Put me down as a supporting member. Just to show what can be done with a 4x8 sheet of plywood, these are three of my four portable modules. The 4th module, not seen, disqualifies me as a full member.

Each module is 4' x 32" so three can be cut from one sheet. Excuse the debris, this serves as my test and storage track for ongoing projects.

Pete

However...

@Mallard4468 posted:

My 3-rail is bigger, but I have a 4x6 On30 semi-portable layout.  Does that count since it's not 3-rail?

The requirements for inclusion are very simple...

A. The layout can be no larger than a 4x8 sheet of plywood or what can configured from a single sheet

     1. Hollow core door slab layouts are definitely allowed

B. It can be permanent or seasonal since many 4x8s are set up during the Christmas season

C. In keeping with its seasonal origins the main focus will be S and O gauge, however if yours is one of the other gauges you are still welcome to join.

Jerry

OK , now we should be current as of 3/15/2021.

Charter Members
1. RSJB18
2. Conductor Earl
3. bptBill
4. CA John
5. Walt Rapp
6. M. Mitchell Marmel
7. OKHIKER
8. Coca Cola Guy
9. Nucci
10. Rich Wiemann
11. CSXJOE
12. graz
13. Melvin P
14. Mrhobby052
15. Khayden93
16. palallin
17. John E K
18. Miggy
19. pdxtrains
20. SouthernFan56
21. randr
22. Will
23. Dave Warburton
24. GG1Guyy
25. Diverging Clear
26. Penn Flyer
27. Coach Joe
29. JohnnieWalker
30. Robert S. Butler
31.Mark Boyce
32. Jon Stachowicz
33. Madockawando
34. ScoutingDad
35. Darrell
36. PRRMP54

12 more and I'll get on those charter membership cards.

Jerry

I love the 4X8 layouts. Some of them take  a high level of creativity to make them special.

You may have missed my request to join.......

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

OK , now we should be current as of 3/15/2021.

Charter Members
1. RSJB18
2. Conductor Earl
3. bptBill
4. CA John
5. Walt Rapp
6. M. Mitchell Marmel
7. OKHIKER
8. Coca Cola Guy
9. Nucci
10. Rich Wiemann
11. CSXJOE
12. graz
13. Melvin P
14. Mrhobby052
15. Khayden93
16. palallin
17. John E K
18. Miggy
19. pdxtrains
20. SouthernFan56
21. randr
22. Will
23. Dave Warburton
24. GG1Guyy
25. Diverging Clear
26. Penn Flyer
27. Coach Joe
29. JohnnieWalker
30. Robert S. Butler
31.Mark Boyce
32. Jon Stachowicz
33. Madockawando
34. ScoutingDad
35. Darrell
36. PRRMP54

12 more and I'll get on those charter membership cards.

Jerry

Missed me.  Lemme in!  Lemme in the club!

Still didn’t accept my application ?  I tried to join a while back in the thread...🚂