2024 Strasburg O Scale Show – April

Posted on April 13, 2024 by George Losse

Today, was the April 2024 Strasburg O Scale Show. As always there were lots of buying and selling going on as well as a lot of stories being shared. Sometimes I think these events are really an excuse to hang out with some friends for a few hours on a Saturday and enjoy some models as well tell some stories.

I didn’t get as much of a chance to get around to all the tables. I was covering a table selling off some of John Dunn’s collection. I was helping finding new homes for some nicely built kits and Kit-bashes that John had collected.

Ken Kime did a demonstration on using a static grass applicator to flock the trees and ground cover.

John Wubble, owner of The All Nation Line had an interesting drive on his table. It was an underbody for a Gas Car. He also had a bunch of drive component part available. Glad to see the line growing since they bought it.

Finally, I wanted to end with an image that makes me laugh. Atlas O just announced re-releasing the old Weaver 2-8-0 Baldwin consolidation. There was a lot of talk online about how wonderful this is with a release price of $799.99. I wonder how well they willl do against the Weaver models that regularly show up at the shows?

2024 Chicago Show – On the Tables

Posted on March 29, 2024 by George Losse

The show always starts with high hopes. We all have things on our “Have-to-Have” and “Want-to-Have” lists. We always hope one of those models turns up on a table for us to buy.

I have a number of those models that I’m on the look out for, this show did not have any of my “Have-to-Have” models, but it did have a lot of really nice models available. I thought I’d share a few that that I saw at the show.

Bill Yancey had this nicely built SC&F kit built up on his table for sale with Protocraft Proto48 trucks for less than the kit originally cost. That one came home with me.

Bill also had some really nice structures on his table.

Not my era for modeling but this was on Bill Davis’ tables.

The Pacific Limited 1932 Seaboard car was also on Bill’s tables. There were three additional examples of this model on other tables at the show.

I’m not a big fan of the cement canister cars, most were in dedicated service and would not be seen on other roads. Bill Davis had this pair of Parri built cars. They were not the only example of the Parri built cars at the show. They did look nice.

Jim Canter had another example of a the cars this one imported by RY Models.

Greg Stone had some nice cars on his table also.

Tom Mapes had two sets of Key PRR models. An AA set of E8’s and an ABA set of E7’s. Those models made it all the way to late Sunday morning. While I was talking to Tom around the end of the show, the E8’s went to a new home.

There were a number of models in the show for us East Coast modelers. This example of the Golden Gate B&O Columbian set for example. A few years ago, when I was considering modeling the Reading line in NJ, I would have gone after this set.

Dan Mason had a nice OMI CNJ caboose on his table.

There were a total of three Westside PRR H6sb’s in the room. This one was the cleanest one, a little tarnished. I had one of these but sold it back at the O Scale National in NJ. They are a really nice model.

There were a pair of Pecos River Brass Contrail GP-15’s on Dave Vaughn’s tables.

There were even some Reading models in the room.

The nice thing about the show is there is always more stuff to look at than you can imagine.

2024 Chicago Show – New Models

Posted on March 21, 2024 by George Losse

Just returned from the 2024 Chicago O Scale Show. Another great show!

There were some new models from various manufacturers at this show, as well as a host of used models. Here are some of the new models I saw at the show.

Twin Star Cars / Modern Era O Scale
Ross Dando had a sample of a Rock Island rebuilt USRA box car. The car looks great and should be released later this year. I’m looking forward to this kit!

Ross also had samples of the car that are available through the other side of his business Modern Era O Scale.

Southern Car & Foundry
Jon Cagle from Southern Car & Foundry had the last of his inventory of previously released models on his table maybe a half dozen kits at the beginning of the show. He also had samples of a possible car to be released later this year. We saw the casting for a Northern Pacific composite box car.

Jon was also showing samples of the masters of two different tank cars. One a two compartment car and the other a single compartment car.

Rails Unlimited
Ted Schnepf had a UP 50 foot composite boxcar. I also was interested in the “PS-0” as he labeled them.

Lambert Locomotive Works
Dylan Lambert had available of Dave Vaughn’s table a couple of recent 3D printed cars. The PRR “Ore Jenny” Class G39 and the modern center beam cars.

2023 Strasburg O Scale Show – October

Posted on October 14, 2023 by George Losse

Today, the October Strasburg O Scale Show was held. Attendance on both sides of the tables seemed good. Some of the usual faces that were not there in August were there today. I was pleased to see a number of new faces in the room.

There were a number of fine models in the room. I had been looking for one of the Pacific Limited C&O/NKP 1932 ARA boxcar for a number of years. Since I found one last year, this was the third show I’ve been to this year with one on the table.

There wasn’t as much for a Reading modeler, and even less for a Proto48 modeler. But there were plenty of fine models available in the room.

Rich also held the show auction to benefit the Fire House again this year. They managed to raise close to $1200 for the Fire House by auctioning off four items.

It was a good show, I had the chance to talk with a number of folks from various parts of the country and also buy and sell some models. It was a fun day even though the rain made it an adventure to get stuff in and out of the show. Hard to believe we have to wait all Winter now for another Strasburg Show.

2023 Strasburg O Scale Show – August

Posted on August 13, 2023 by George Losse

On Saturday, the August Strasburg O Scale Show was held. Attendance on both sides of the tables seemed to be down a little. Some of the usual faces we see were not there, but there were a number of new faces in the room. There were even some younger people in the room.

After the show I had a conversation with Rich Yoder about attendance. Rich mentioned that attendance was actually up over the April show. He mentioned that even though a number of the regulars were not at the show, there were enough new attendees to actually increase the number of people through the door.

Rich Yoder had a some trucks on his table. The inventory is dwindling, if you need something from him don’t wait. He might already be sold out. He did have a few Proto48 trucks on the table but they are in very short supply.

I did get the chance to see and meet a new vendor at the show. Chris Coarse of Conowingo Models was there with his line of kits on display. It was a pleasure to meet him at the show and see a nice new line of models entering the O Scale market.

Bob Heil was there representing Sunset and golden gate Depot at the show. He had some B&O models that were made from older Mac Shop kits but they represent the B&O cars that Golden Gate is about to import.

The car on the top is a Golden Gate car from a previous run. Bob mentioned that these are about to go into production.

2023 Strasburg O Scale Show – April

Posted on April 15, 2023 by George Losse

Today was the Strasburg O Scale Train Show. The Show was very well attended by both table holders and the walk-in attendees through the door. The traffic was steady and busy all through the morning. Which cut down on my ability to get through the hall once the doors opened to the public.

For the Reading modelers in the crowd, I did see a Gem 0-6-0 camelback model on Dave Richter’s tables. I also noticed a couple of the SGL G-3’s and an SGL add on two coach set in the room. Not sure if they found new homes or not. I will tell you a nicely painted Reading Car Works DS4-4-1000 managed to follow me home yesterday. I’ll be posting about that in the next few weeks.

As always it was great to see so many models available for sale. But it was also really nice to see and talk with so many people that we often only get to see in person at the shows. John Dunn was back at the show, now at a table.

They had a couple of clinics during the show. Kerry Kime once again gave her clinic was on making pine trees from heater filters. Kerry did a great job demonstrating haw she has made trees for their home layout using a wood dowel and cut up heater filters. She is also selling trees at her table during the show.

The other clinic was on the Blunami DCC sound decoders. I wasn’t able to get away from my table to attend that one.

After the show, we had a little adventure. We were going to a restaurant for lunch that was about 8 miles from the show. We had five cars headed out for lunch together. The guy leading the group had a different town in mind where the restaurant was. So instead of a short 10 minute drive to lunch it turned into a 45 minute drive. To make matters worse, the guy who knew where we were going managed to loose the four cars following him.

Lucky for us John Dunn remembered the town name where we were going and put that into his navigation. But it did give us a nice scenic drive on some roads without a lot of traffic.

We finally arrived at the restaurant after about a forty minute drive. Then shared in some good-hearted ribbing of the driver that lost us, we all sat down for a late lunch. It all worked out fine, lots of good stories were shared.

2022 Strasburg O Scale Show – October

Posted on October 15, 2022 by George Losse

Today was the Strasburg O Scale Train Show. It was well attended for as beautiful the weather was today. As always it was great to see so many models available for sale. But it was also really nice to see and talk with so many people that we only get to see in person at the shows.

Just before the show started David Vaughn presented Terry Terrance his induction into the O Scale Central Hall of Fame. Congratulations to Terry, a well deserved honor for a fine gentleman. I was not able to get a good image of the presentation but below is a link to a photo that Ken Kime posted in the 2Rail O Scale & Proto48 Model Railroading Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=6161435973885245&set=gm.6097898660237578&idorvanity=218119438215559

Views of the engine room of the firehouse. Below was Dave Richter’s tables.

For the Reading modelers, there were a number of notable models on the tables at this show. There was a Sunset L7 (4-6-0 camelback) on one of Dave Richter’s tables. It did not last long into the show. There was also a Weaver Crusader Pacific, an SGL G-3 pacific and some of the SGL passenger cars on the tables.

Clinics have returned to the show. They were presented by Kerry Kime and John Dunn. Kerry’s clinic was on making pine trees from heater filters. John had two presentations, the first was an add on to Kerry’s clinic. John talked about making trees sedum plants.

Kerry did a great job demonstrating haw she has made trees for their home layout using a wood dowel and cut up heater filters. This was the second time she has given the presentation during a Strasburg Show. The first time was at her table inside the show in August. This turned out to be a better location where the participants were not as distracted by everything in the room.

John added onto Kerry’s presentation with a quick talk about making trees from the sedum plant. While not actually making trees John showed examples of trees made and

John’s other presentation was called Pizza-Box Weathering. When John first posted that he was doing that presentation it caught my attention. John explained that he likes to weather using Conte Crayons. If you’re not familiar with them they are a drawing tool that I remember using in art school in life drawing classes. It has a little more tooth to stay where you put it.

For the second time the show held a benefit auction with all the proceeds going to the firehall. This year they had three donated models up for auction, a Diamond Scale Turntable kit, a custom built structure built by Martin Brechbiel and a Yarmouth Models PRR X31f kit built by Cris Crane. The X31f included a correct pair of Rich Yoder PRR 2D-F12 trucks, in either O Scale or Proto48 for the car.

The surprise of the show was the sale price of the X31f. After spirited bidding between two bidders the car sold for $900.

2022 Strasburg O Scale Show – August

Posted on August 7, 2022 by George Losse

The Strasburg Show was yesterday. The weather was fine, no snow this time, but it is August in Pennsylvania. The attendance was a little down, but that was most likely because the weather was nice and guys had other commitments pulling on them. Life does happen.

It was a fine show. This was the first show with Rich Yoder on his own since John Dunn retired from hosting the shows. Rich did a fine job hosting the show on his own.

Sadly John had family commitments that kept him away from the show. I was looking forward to seeing John be able to just kick back and enjoy the show for a change.

For the Reading Modeler, I did see one of the Gem 0-4-0 camelbacks on a table. I later saw the box under someone’s arm, the model was on it’s way to a new home before the end of the show.

For the Proto48 modelers in the crowd, I did not see much on the tables. Rich Yoder had a few Proto48 trucks on his table. Mostly the National B-1’s, Vulcan trucks and just three of the Bettendorf caboose trucks. A couple of pairs of the caboose trucks made their way home with me.

It was announced that the October show will host a live auction during the show at 12:00 noon. There will be three items offered for auction, a hand crafted “Sethion Sinks Diorama” built by Martin Brechbiel, a Yarmouth Model Works PRR X31f built-up kit by Chris Crane complete with a correct pair of RY Models PRR 2D-F12 trucks in either O Scale or Proto48 and a Diamond Scale 105′ turntable kit.

2022 Strasburg O Scale Show – April

Posted on April 23, 2022 by George Losse

Rich Yoder speaking to the crowd before the show opened with John and Patty Dunn.

The Strasburg Show happened today. Before the show opened, John Dunn spoke to the crowd. John went through their normal announcements talking about the modules set up in the bay and the tree-building demonstration that was scheduled.

Then Rich spoke and announced that John was retiring from hosting the shows with Rich. Rich spoke about John’s contributions to the show over the years they have been putting them on. While Rich was speaking he also smartly recognized John’s wife Patty’s help and contributions to the shows. Their combined leadership has made the show a success.

After that surprise announcement, they let the public into the show. They had a very strong turn out for the show. It was later mentioned that it was one of the best attended shows ever. Traffic was steady throughout the day. The buying was also spaced out throughout the show. I know I almost emptied my table by the end of the show.

Berkshire Car Shops with their great high quality 3D printed buildings. These looked great but I didn’t get a chance to talk to them about their products as there was always a crowd when I went by their tables.

Berkshire Car Shops had some great high quality 3D printed buildings.

More Berkshire Car Shops 3D printed buildings

For the Reading modelers, I did see a couple of the SGL cars in the room on two different tables. A nicely painted RY Models Fishbelly Twin Hopper made a short lived appearence on a table before heading under my table.

There was an Overland T-1 at the show. It was a very clean example of a nice model and even had a set of the Overland decals included. Late in the morning, I saw it under its new owner’s arm as it was going to it’s new home.

For the Reading Modelers, there was a Overland T-1 at the show.

On the Proto48 front, there was also a very brief siting of some Overland Conversion wheels for some of their diesel models. They quickly found a new home.

A selection of Pacific Limited box cars and a reefer.

The show also featured a nice traction module set up in the engine bays at the Fire Hall. The Module set up featured both an elevated section and surface line in a nice city scene.

2022 Chicago O Scale Show – Layout Tour: Rockford O Scalers

Posted on April 16, 2022 by George Losse

One of the nice things about going to the Chicago Show over the years has been going out on layout tours. I have had the chance to see a bunch over the years. This year we rode out to the Rockford O Scalers’ layout.

Even though the Rockford O Scalers have been a regular on the layout tour, I had not been to the layout before. Usually worked out that that the group I was riding with didn’t want to travel that far to see the layout. It was about an hour drive to get there. I have to say that it was absolutely well worth the drive.

The layout is 57×30 plus a staging area and is basically two double-track mainlines. One on the outside of the room and another loop on the inside of the room. The “club” started in the 1990’s as a modular group. The modules were used to make up the inner loop.

While some may find the track plan too basic, I think the simplicity of the plan allows the railroad to be completed and enjoyed. For me, the most impressive thing about the layout was how it was brought to life by the small everyday scenes modeled. The use of people and vehicles makes you feel like the models are alive.

You really get the sense that the railroad is moving through the towns modeled, not like a lot of layouts where the everyday life is a second thought.

I want to thank our hosts for taking the time to share their railroad with us. We arrived close to the end of the scheduled open house and they found the energy to explain and showcase the railroad to us.