Old OGR items found UPDATE...

Great thread. It is said that memories last forever. Each one of these items recalls a different period in model railroading history along with some happy times among many friends at the meets and shows. 

Here are some more photos of OGR goodies

Two more "Family Members" buttons

Here are a few more images from the "stash".

Here are more rectangular OGR buttons from the "stash". They are earlier buttons that used our web address before we started using the "OGR Family Member" tag on our rectangular buttons.

Also found an envelop opener. If you have one you can put your own business card in it to personalize yours.

More to come , folks !

Ed, 

You definitely have a " Smithsonian" class collection. Thank you so much for sharing these items. I'm looking forward to any future story you may write about these OGR items. How decisions were made, who thought up the graphics, any interesting bits of OGR folklore you might uncover I think would be of great interest to everybody.

John

Here the Miller OGR window sign installed at the OGR world headquarters building on my layout - to save some money, OGR shares the space with a local dairy...or so it seems!

I'll bet none of you guys has one of these...

Carefully note the number.

I have one of these (not sure what the road number is), and it has an ElectricRR Sound board that has Ed Boyle's voice announcement!

jon

You may have an OGR Beep, but I'll guarantee that the number is not 2004.

We did these in 2002 and 2005. The 2002 release coincided with the birth of my first grandson. When the second grandson was born in 2004, I had one of the 2005 units renumbered to commemorate the year of his birth.

Rich,

I was wondering how long it would take before you showed the folks OGR Beep #2004. It looks great as well as meaningful.

Jon, I didn't realize you still had the Beep with the Electric RR sound board with my voice on it. I am flattered. Thanks for letting us know it still exists.

The OGR family is broad and deep...and you are still a part of it with the things you did to help the hobby advance electronically and what you did to help us too.  Did you see the Genset article in Collector's Gallery recently? Had your picture holding  a  prototype  UP Genset..you and the diesel really looked good!

Thanks to you and Rich for being part of this thread. Found some more stuff.  More to come!  Stay Tuned!

Ed Boyle

These images were shot earlier this evening. The Miller Engineering OGR sign came out very brightly. Also am showing the back of some of the OGR business cards we made. They turned out to be impractical because we could not write on the back of them to take quick notes, which is something that proved very valuable to do over the years at train meets and trade shows.  The three OGR logos looked really nice though.

Ed Boyle

Still More To Come!

Found some OGR promotional coffee cups in plastic and one in ceramic. Interesting story behind each kind that I will share with you after I get them  photographed tomorrow. Amazing what you can find when you look around, especially in the area of the "stash" 

Ed Boyle

Lionel News selling OGRR magazines.

Weaver Tour 2009

Side Rod,

Nice Shots!

Never thought to do that with the news stand...neat!

Ed Boyle

Given by Sir Edward hissownself.  Note the side trim thingys are gone but it's still functional. 

Love the look & the sign. Does anyone have one of the lighted OGR signs that they are willing to part with?

Really great stuff guys.  What's the possibility of having Menards release an OGR office/warehouse combo building set so boxcars of inbound newsprint and outbound OGR magazines can be included on OGR readers layouts? 

Better yet, why can't OGR and Menards consider working together to expand both company's structure product lines?  That would be, in one word: WOW!

Joseph Toth Jr.   

Late arrival to the party, I know...

I've seen pics of one or the other of the OGR beeps. I haven't seen pics of both of them together:

The 2005 I got from the OGR booth at the Allentown meet...in 2006 The 2002 I got directly from RMT's website almost a year ago. I think I've test-run them, but not yet together. I also thought I had an OGR mail opener, but mine is just a generic clear red opener with no logos.

I'm pretty sure I have a couple of the MTH-built tour cars (again courtesy of the OGR booth at Allentown), the Weaver MJB boxcar, Bardot hopper and 100th issue tanker, but those have already been covered.

---PCJ

Am I the only one who sprung for this...

GregM posted:

My wife just showed me this OGR pin that she keeps in her jewelry box.  I think that means she likes it.  The pin is about 1&1/4 inches wide by 7/8 inches tall.

I'd buy one of these if I could today...

Ed Boyle posted:

Side Rod,

Nice Shots!

Never thought to do that with the news stand...neat!

Ed Boyle

 

I agree, what a great idea!

Folks

Just managed to find the OGR wall Clock!

Paul Melvin, Rich Melvin's dad, had one made but we never put it into production.

Just got back from the Allentown Train Meet and I will post pictures of it and another OGR goodie in the next few days

Ed Boyle

Can't wait to see Ed.

The only OGR item that I have is the tanker, I got that at one of the Strasburg two-rail O scale shows. At the time I got it (before I became a subscriber [today as a matter of fact] and a forum member), it was really cheap (around $10.00 or so) and I could use the trucks and couplers on something else. Well, the car is still intact and will remain so. That decision was made after I got home and realized that I had acquired several Weaver commemorative cars there also.

Dave,

My tank car turned out to be very fragile and all that was left after a while was the tank! Nice model, but not sturdy enough for me anyway.

Ed Boyle

Maybe in the late 1990's/early 2000's, not sure if anyone remembers, OGR also gave out DVD players (free, I think) if you bought a certain amount of OGR DVD's. That was a pretty nice deal! 

Tom 

Cleaning out a closet....I found a few more items....

Peter

MNCW posted:

Maybe in the late 1990's/early 2000's, not sure if anyone remembers, OGR also gave out DVD players (free, I think) if you bought a certain amount of OGR DVD's. That was a pretty nice deal! 

Tom 

Tom...you are correct.  I was speaking with Rich Melvin about this.  We thought briefly about doing this again but decided that since so many videos are online nowadays, that kind of promo probably would not work.

Ed Boyle posted:

Folks

Just managed to find the OGR wall Clock!

Paul Melvin, Rich Melvin's dad, had one made but we never put it into production.

Just got back from the Allentown Train Meet and I will post pictures of it and another OGR goodie in the next few days

Ed Boyle

 

 

Ed....where are those pictures???  We are waiting!! 

This stuff reminds me of the good old days; my apprentice days of commercial art. I used to love sharing other's corporate pride behind making the little "gimmies" like this . 

I'm WAY late to this thread, but thought I'd share my stash of OGR promotional items. Judging from several posts above, looks like there are a few more I need to obtain.

While it's not a promotional item, the OGR Hurricane Katrina boxcar is another piece of the magazine's history!   That's a Model Railroader 50th Anniversary boxcar behind it.

I was hoping to see an OGR 50th Anniversary Boxcar -- or even tanker car full of ink like Railroad Model Craftsman did for one of their 50th anniversary year.

@Pat Shediack posted:

While it's not a promotional item, the OGR Hurricane Katrina boxcar is another piece of the magazine's history!   That's a Model Railroader 50th Anniversary boxcar behind it.

I was hoping to see an OGR 50th Anniversary Boxcar -- or even tanker car full of ink like Railroad Model Craftsman did for one of their 50th anniversary year.

Well Pat, one reason why you didn't see a special boxcar or tanker, etc. for our 50th anniversary is because of the cost and the real possibility of OGR getting stuck with a bunch of rolling stock that a limited few folks would buy.  Decisions like producing items that can't sell can put a company out of business.  So, we gave some very nice discounts on subscriptions, produced a 50th anniversary video which is available upon request at this point and produced some top notch 50th anniversary apparel which is still available in our store.  Lets keep the discussion and pictures centered on OGR items.

Thanks,

Alan, what is the possibility of having Menards make a special limited edition run of OGR box cars?  The number of cars produced would be based on Pre Paid orders received by the date determined by OGR. 

The cars wouldn't have to be issued for the OGR 50th Anniversay, however, they possibly could be numbered in the 50000 series?  Car #50000 would be retained by OGR and placed on display in a glass case of course! 

Perhaps the cars could carry the word NEWSPRINT on each side?

Happy Rails to You,

Joseph Toth Jr.

These 2 boxcars show up every once in awhile on a mixed freight passing through on the Seattle & Yakima RR. I figured they are full of their magazines heading west.

@Trinity River Bottoms Boomer posted:

Alan, what is the possibility of having Menards make a special limited edition run of OGR box cars?  The number of cars produced would be based on Pre Paid orders received by the date determined by OGR. 

The cars wouldn't have to be issued for the OGR 50th Anniversay, however, they possibly could be numbered in the 50000 series?  Car #50000 would be retained by OGR and placed on display in a glass case of course! 

Perhaps the cars could carry the word NEWSPRINT on each side?

Happy Rails to You,

Joseph Toth Jr.

 

Not going to happen at this time.  We would have to get thousands of dollars of pre-paid orders for cars that today would cost around $50.00 to $100.00 each and then if one little decorating problem occurred or a minor scratch or a coupler that didn't work, or any number of current problems that members talk about on this forum, we would be refunding, replacing, redoing, etc. and frankly it would not be worth it.  The consumer today is much different and less forgiving, more demanding than 10 years ago.  Many of the possible production problems are almost impossible to keep from happening and unless you have VERY DEEP pockets, it would be best to pick out a piece of rolling stock and having someone custom paint it for you.

Thank you for the feedback Alan. 

How silly of me, I should have seen the light at the end of the tunnel myself, taking into consideration the number of O gaugers who continue to critisise Menards products even if they contain the smallest flaw. 

Not even the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval would help calm down the Nit Pickers in this case!

Joseph Toth Jr.

@OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

...and then if one little decorating problem occurred or a minor scratch or a coupler that didn't work, or any number of current problems that members talk about on this forum, we would be refunding, replacing, redoing, etc. and frankly it would not be worth it.  The consumer today is much different and less forgiving, more demanding than 10 years ago.  

Yes, expecting a working unblemished product when new is very selfish of us consumers. 

If you received items from a manufacturer with blemishes or a decorating problem, why would you accept shipment?