Category Archives: O Scale Meets

Strasburg O Scale Show – April 2025

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The Strasburg O Scale Show was held yesterday, the show was a good one. There was very good attendance by both table holders and the show attendees. I didn’t get much time to walk through the show myself, my tables kept me busy during the day.

I did see some models of interest for the Reading modeler. The Reading LOD below was kitbashed from what looked like a Weaver PS-2. While not having any rivets it was nicely done and had the feel of the car.

There was also some modern Reading in Green and Yellow across the isle from our table. Also found in the room were a set of the Weaver Crusader cars and a set of the SGL Reading passenger cars in the engine room.

There were plenty of fine looking models at the show. Lots of brass, lots of plastic, and tons of kits.

This was a very good sign. Three modelers talking towards the end of the show. Every one of them carrying their purchases for the day.

Jim Musser brought some of his models to the show me and to discuss them. It was great to see them in person. Below Jim (on the right) is discussing with Chris Crane a 3D Print of a Long Island boxcab. This started as an N Scale file, Jim resized the file and this was just a test print to see how the detail would hold up being upsized.

Jim also brought a few other models that he scratchbuilt. This little switcher is battery powered, with sound and is just a fantastic model. He turned the locomotive on, set it down on the table and it sat there idling while we spoke.

Behind the locomotive in the above image were a pair of scratchbuilt PRR Ore Jennies painted up PC. These were scratchbuilt from laser-cut acrylic sheets.

You have to love the size difference between the G39 on the left and the G38 on the right.

The G38 was the first class of Ore Jennies on the PRR, they were shorter and had the steam ports on the side. This was a fine looking model.

One last model was also scratchbuilt from laser-cut acrylic sheets. The EL Caboose of a former Erie prototype.

On our tables, in addition to my own models, I was selling some cars from John Dunn’s collection. At the end of the show I was talking with John Dunn, Jr. about the show. He mentioned that he was hoping to have sold a set of PRR Maintenance of Way Cars. He had them in the boxes at his table and said that weren’t getting much interest. I told him to bring them over and we would unbox them and put them on the table.

They were built by Al Small from resin castings. We had seven cars, six were PRR XL cars and one X23. They only lasted on the table for 10 minutes.

As I mentioned in the beginning, it was a good show. It was well attended. I sold a ton of stuff off the table for both John Dunn’s family and myself. I managed to come home with some new-to-me models. More importantly, I had a great time talking with different folks, sharing conversations about modeling and what was happening in their lives since I last saw them.

Chicago Show 2025 – Wrap-up

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The 2025 March O Scale Meet in Chicago was fantastic! There were tons of nice models calling my wallet. I had a great time, sold some of my surplus models and brought home some new-to-me models.

Here are a few more images of the models that were on the tables at the show.

I wanted to buy this nicely built MKT boxcar, but the table holder was nowhere to be found. I circled back many times on Sunday and never saw them.

These three RS-3 were built up from Kemtron kits. They were fantastic! They got a lot of attention during the show. What I thought was as nicer than the models was the gentleman behind the tables who built them, Richard Rusnak.

That brings up the thought that the show was not all about the models. It’s about the people and the models. Like Rob Adams and his son John.

Once all the models were packed in the car it was time to think about the ride home. I did split the drive home in two on the return trip.

Funny thing, I sold a good portion of what I brought to the show, but the car seemed to have just as many models in it going home, maybe more than what I had brought out with me.

Chicago Show 2025 – Contest Models

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One thing I’m not a fan of about the model displays is the entry form. It doesn’t tell who the modeler is. That’s important to me. I’d like to know who is doing the modeling. But in a contest I guess they don’t want names known.

This first model of the Blackwood Pickle Factory is Attalee Taylor’s model. You might remember the photo of Attalee looking over one of the cars displayed from the 2019 Chicago Show post. Check out the last image on the post.

Some very nice structures next.

This next bridge model was impressive! It was also amazing that it could be transported to the show.

Now let’s wrap this up with some locomotives, freight cars, a traction model and a caboose.

Chicago Show 2025 – Manufactures / Importers News

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One of the best sites to see at the show was Kadee displaying and selling products at the show. Traffic was steady in front of their table, every time I went by they had guys buying, asking questions and generally checking out their products. We need more manufacturers in O Scale 2-rail and we need them coming out to our major show of the year to meet us at our best.

Next up, some offerings from Atlas O Scale being displayed on Bob Lavezzi’s tables. Mostly modern offerings and a re-release of the former Weaver War Emergency 52′ Gondolas. Atlas O is very good at decorating their cars.

This was a photo of what Rich Yoder brought of his imported truck line. Only a few left.

No, I won’t talk about MMW. Except to say, he was at the show. Until he ACTUALLY imports anything more than sample models, I won’t consider that company to be an importer. Scammer maybe? Thankfully I was not suckered into making deposits to him for models that are more than 10 years “in-production.”

Next up will be the models from the contest display and some more from the tables.

Chicago Show 2025 – What’s on the tables?

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Well the Thursday before the Chicago O Scale show was a travel day for me. As the image above shows, a twelve hour drive. Thankfully it was uneventful until the last 60 or so miles. Then it was rush hour in the Chicago area. Not fun.

But this was a welcome sight. Next day started out simple enough. Set up started around 1 pm. and the unpacking started for everyone.

Lots of things showed up on the tables at this show. This really is THE BEST O Scale 2-rail show of the year. Here are some highlights.

Below we have a simple set up, one USH hobbies hopper, 5 Pacific Limited cars and 5 Robert Parri cars. And just so you know, not all of them sold over the weekend.

The above image was hard on me. Those Key B&O E units looked great. The ABA set was nicely priced. I’m glad these went to a good home.

Below were some of the models from John Dunn’s collection. I know that they moved a lot of his models at the show.

The show is not all about brass models, some tables it’s fun to watch the models get unboxed. Here Jim Zwernemann is unboxing a beautifully built Chock Ultra Scale Northern Pacific Reefer with custom made brass trucks.

Next was a Rails Unlimited SFRD reefer that Jim reworked the walkways and added many extra parts. He did a great job of building a fine model.

Jim also put out on his table a LV gondola that was scratchbuilt by Jim Hickey. I remember seeing photos of the car on the Proto48 website 20+ years ago. It still looked great!

This next scene made me laugh when I walked past it. Precision Scale imported a PRR H27 which was the only offset hopper car the PRR owned. It was a one car class. One car compared to the 40k+ cars of the H21 classes. I always said to myself what is the likelihood of EVER seeing one of those cars pass you if you were to be trackside during the time they were on the railroad. Not very likely. But here we have TWO of them in boxes at the show side by side. What is worse is there were at least two other models of the same car on tables at the show. Four models at the same show of a ONE car class.

Mike O’Connell, former owner of Chooch Enterprises Inc. had a group of tables with various things on the tables. He had parts, converted 3 rail cars, partially built kits and fully built cars.

Much more in the next posts, I still need to recover from the drive.

Strasburg O Scale Show – October 2024

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Today, was the October 2024 Strasburg O Scale Show. As always, there was lots of buying and selling going on. At times the crowds thinned down, but I can say the sales from the tables were steady throughout the day.

The day was full of surprises. There are different things on the table than normal. Check out this model above. I’ve only seen a ship on a table once before in Chicago. For the Erie fans out there, three Stillwell cars together on a table.

That was nice to see, but the surprising thing was the models were on Fred Stillwell’s table. And yes he was related to the namesake of the prototype cars.

There were some very nice models including some rare like this Kohs PRR K4 with the front end throttle. Or like the Lykin’s kit-built model of a PRR X60.

There were plenty of fine models in the show. Here were some more from John Dunn’s collection.

It was a good show. My table kept me rather busy and I only got through the full show a couple of times.

It was good to see familiar faces and some new ones. There was also plenty of talk of the friends that were no longer with us.

Strasburg O Scale Show – August 2024

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Today, was the August 2024 Strasburg O Scale Show. As always, there was lots of buying and selling going on. At times the crowds thinned down, but that just allowed more stories to be shared. I can say the sales from the tables were steady throughout the day.

I was busy between my own table and a table that had items from John Dunn’s collection. One of the surprises was a set of B&O cars built by George Stock from Walther’s kits. These cars featured interior detailing and hand painted lettering.

Rich Yoder also had brass model’s from John’s collection on multiple tables. Above is just a few of the cars. There were many other models throughout the show.

Strasburg O Scale Show – April 2024

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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?

Chicago Show 2024 – On the Tables

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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.

Chicago Show 2024 – New Models

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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 UP A-40-1 boxcar. While I think this is a great looking car, it was retired by my modeling period.

I was interested in the “PS-0” ends as he labeled them. They are a Pullman Standard end that was used on a few different car. They developed the casting for the CGW kit-bask project car. These were also used on a class of B&O boxcars.

Lambert Locomotive Works
Dylan Lambert had available on Dave Vaughn’s table a couple of recent 3D printed cars. The PRR “Ore Jenny” Class G39 and the modern center beam cars. Dylan really needs be at this show next year if he really wants to produce models for the O Scale market.