This Spring's OGR Forum Grandstand Meeting was held under partly cloudy skies and a temperature just north of 70 degrees. We had a very strong wind out of the west to the point that prior to the meeting the TCA Eastern Division announcer announced that those with awnings out on their RV's needed to return to their vehicles and roll them up. She failed, however, to extend the warning to those with hair pieces, and that would have been just as useful.
The meeting started a few ticks after 2:00pm as Ed had lost the mike in a near by box, and Jim had to come over and follow the cord to relocate it.
First up was Ed Boyle from OGR and he introduced Debbie Geiser of the Eastern Division of the TCA, who introduced Jim Kronz, the President of the Eastern Division of the TCA. Jim officially welcomed the OGR Forum participants and attendees to the Meet and thanked us for attending.
Ed Boyle then introduced Rich Melvin and Rich shared that the last edition of the online edition of the OGR Magazine included two video clips that are accessible by the Premium members of the OGR Forum, and the feedback has been very positive. The next issue will include 4-5 videos, including some shot at York, and those that are interested can learn more about Premium membership by checking out the links at the top of the page.
Williams by Bachmann/ Bachmann Trains—Larry Harrington
Larry's big news was the GE 44 Toner they announced with 2 motors, sound, and LED lighting in 4 road names. I know that one of the road names is PRR - will someone please add the other three? It had a die-cast chassis, and plastic body. The MSRP will be $399.95. In response to questions, Larry shared that it would not be offered in 2-Rail. He also shared that they have produced a turnout for Easy Streets, and I believe he said the radius was 21". They will be available this Fall. They are working on Front-Runner tooling and are planning 4 road names. Finally he mentioned that the chassis for their East Street vehicles is adjustable so that one can replace their vehicle body with your favorite die-cast shell.
Weaver Models---John Dunn
John shared that the are working on a wood chip hopper car and passed around a sample model. It had a load but I don't know if the load will be included or not. He reported that the B&M P4 Pacific is available now and that they are offering a tinplate module based engine shed. For more on them - please see the website.
Atlas-- Jerry Kimble
Atlas is taking orders for the third of the Walther's O buildings - Elektra Theater. The Theater has the marque lights from Miller Engineering. They are having good success with the O Scale Lighting System the announced and he wanted to point out that because of their simple connectivity they are great for modules. They are back in the locomotive business as witnessed by the recent shipment of F Units, and while all orders have shipped there are a few units left at Atlas for sale. Future Trainman releases will all include diesel exhaust and speed control. Watch soon for some additional Master Line engine announcements. They are taking orders now for the re-announced GP7's. After 2 years of challenges, they are getting caught up on Atlas O track production and track is shipping. They expect to be fully caught up on track product production by Fall.
Miller Engineering—Chris Miller
Chris listed several signs that were being discontinued but I failed to get them documented. In terms of new signs, they our working on several military signs and are having great success with their VFW sign. You can post your own numbers on it. He's working on Burma Shave; Schaeffer Beer; and a barbershop and Western Union window sign. He thinks they have figured out how to do rotating signs and we should see them this Fall.
Scenic Express—Jim Elster
Jim showed his flying saucer and described his two Martian characters that he is using for a scene where the Martians are levitating a cow off of a farm field. The flying saucer has a bright light that resembles a tractor beam. Jim also showed a new ground cover they have created that comes in sheets that can be pulled apart and used in place of lichen. I know it was flying out of his booth - Mrs Muffin grabbed several sheets.
OGR - Alan Arnold
Alan grabbed the stage for a minute and announced that OGR was recognizing all of the contributions made by Marty Fitzhenry and Dottie Perry by creating a new kit for each of them. He presented them both with a completed kit for their layout. Rich covers the kits more completly in the announcement section of the Forum. Please check it out. I was told that once completed, if you wave Marty's kit over a DCS remote it will magically be upgraded to the latest release.
Mianne/Foley—Tim Foley
Tim Foley shared that their lift gate bench work section raises the track 28" and the unit they have on display has track on it so one can see how that is set up and wired.
Schneider Model Railroading—Dave Schneider
First, an apology, I never get Dave's stuff reported correctly, and, as in the past, I hope he provides corrections.
Dave discussed 6 new locomotives, but nothing from after 1900. First is a Flexible Beam Baldwin from the 1850's that comes in three flavors - a PRR Road Freight; an L&N Helper; and a Philadelphia and Reading.
He also described a 4-4-0 with an inside connection instead of rods. Principally used in New England roads and in Richmond, VA because they hired a New England guy to build their engines.
He also reported that the Overton cars he has out now will be the last in brass - he is moving to wood kits for his passenger cars.
Korber Models—Rich Redmond
Rich shared a sample of his industrial lights for your buildings. They sell 3 for $10. He has reissued the sand house and added a sand tower to the kit. For those, like me, that have the old kit, he is selling the towers separately. They are now also offering the Allen Miller collection of Quonset Huts. He also mentioned that they offer a kit building and detailing service called Korber Komplete - check that out on their website if you'd like to have your kits come pre-assembled.
3rd Rail/Sunset Models—Scott Mann
Scott shared that he is headed right back to Asia as the B&O P-7e's are complete and will be arriving in about 30 days. He has announced, through Golden Gate Depot, the matching passenger cars for the B&O "Cincinnatian" 5 Car Set and N&W "Powhatan Arrow" 5 Car Set.
Ross Custom Switches—Steve Brenneisen
Steve reported that Ross is having a really good year, after 2 or 3 "so so" years, and that it looks to him like things are coming back. He showed the scale towers that go with his girder deck bridges they showed last fall. Really terrific looking towers.
Hikel Layouts and Trains - Dave Hikel
Dave showed an example of a new catenary they designed based on the Milwaukee Road prototype. He is also interested in doing other roads. Very nice - check out his website.
MTH—Andy Edleman
Andy commented that he has been coming to York since 1986; is now a grandfather; and is noticing hair loss. He feels that he is becoming "one of you guys." He congratulated everyone at Lionel on getting new titles; and announced the Blue Comet Award winners for this year. All three groups were represented and were received warmly. The co-winners were the Rappahannock Model Railroaders and the Flower City Tinplate Trackers. The runner up was the Bergen County Model Railroad Club. For more details about each group and their award, please see the first two pages of the 2014 Volume 2 Catalog for Railking and Premier O Gauge Trains.
Lionel LLC—Howard Hitchcock, Mike Phillips, Mike Reagan, J. Don Reece
Howard addressed the group, I believe, for the first time and said he felt Lionel was in a good place right now. Mike Reagan talked about their producing an 86' Scale Auto Parts Car, and also showed an 8 door version they plan for 2015. He says that all under body detail is being separately applied and that the rotating bearing caps will actually rotate this time. The cars will also come with mounting pads for scale couplers. He passed around an impressive 3d prototype of the Heavy Mikado and said that they believe its important to be able to show product the year it is announced. They also showed large diagrams of the retooled hoppers in the new catalog, including the GLA and USRA models.
J. Don Reece took the floor and introduced Herb Coates, the president of the Chicagoland Lionel Railroad Club and presented an award to them in recognition of their service in promoting the hobby as they celebrate their 20th anniversary.
Ed Boyle took back the podium, and adjourned the meeting at 3:11pm.
My apologies for any factual errors, I am sure that they are mine. Please feel free to correct via reply. Thanks again.
