Welcome to the Bristol S Gauge Railroaders!
The Bristol S Gauge Railroaders are dedicated to S scale (1/64 scale) model railroading. Formed in 1948, we believe we are the longest running S scale club in America! We are located in Eastern Massachusetts, and also have members in Southern Maine and New Hampshire.
Members are interested in most branches of S scale, including, but not limited to, Scale, Narrow Gauge (Sn3 and Sn2), Hi-Rail, and American Flyer operating and collecting. Our major goals are to learn from each other and have fun doing it.
New Members are Welcome! We are anxious to share the fun of building and operating S scale trains and layouts, as well as collecting trains and models. There is an application to join us here, or if you have any questions about the club, or want to get a message to any member, please email me at billclark424@gmail.com.
History of S Gauge DVD
New DVD available now! Tom Coughlan was a founding member of the Bristol S Gauge Railroaders, and was very active in the S scale community. At the 1984 NASG convention Tom gave a clinic called "The History of S Gauge" including all of the US manufacturers starting with Cleveland Models. Tom knew all the manufacturers personally, and his clinic was filled with great stories and insights. He also shows representative models from the manufacturers. Tom did not include American Flyer in this clinic, as there were, and are, several books available covering the history of American Flyer.
Bristol member Bill Morris was at that clinic, and videotaped it. He has had the original tape professionally mastered to create a 1 hour record (the entire clinic) of that incredible clinic! Copies are now available as a fund raiser for the Bristol Club, from Bill.
For information on getting your own copy of this historic DVD, contact Bill Morris.
Bill's Email is billmorris52@hotmail.com
2018 NASG Convention
The New England S-Press 2018 NASG Convention
Boxborough, Massachusetts
July 24-29, 2018
Moxie Convention Cars Delayed
November 21, 2018----Our importer (Des Plaines Hobbies) recently met personally with the Chinese engineer in charge of production, who promised delivery “next month” (i.e, December). We don’t put a lot of faith in Chinese promises, but that’s where things stand as of this date. IF you are tired of waiting, we will honor all requests for full refunds, but we hope you will stick with us a little longer.
September 28, 2018----We are still awaiting delivery of the last 300 MOXIE convention tank cars. Just after the convention closed, we received the first 200, and soon afterward began packaging and mailing them out. All 200 have now been mailed. Orders were filled in the sequence in which they were originally received.
Our understanding is that the remaining 300 cars have been produced, but are awaiting their wheelsets, because the factory that makes (only) the wheelsets locked the doors and closed unexpectedly in August. The wheelsets, if in fact they had already been made, need to be obtained from the closed factory, moved to the factory where the cars await, and assembled. Then they can be packaged and shipped to the states.
When will we receive them……..we don’t yet know.
Meanwhile, there are still about 60 pair of cars available, so don’t hesitate to order. Download and print the order form below.
2018 Convention Brochure
Car Order Form
Click links below for pictures!
Video by Pieter Ros
Lake Winnipesaukee Tour
Tuesday Layout Tour
Bristol Club 70th Birthday Party
Green Mountain RR Tour
Display Layouts
Model Contest
Banquet
Click here for latest updates!
Coming Up!
The next meeting will be 12:00PM on Saturday, December 15, 2018, hosted by Pat and John Fucile. Please let Pat know if you will be attending. If you need directions, contact Dick or Bill.
Our next show is November 17-18, 2018, the Greenberg Train Show, Shriners Auditorium, Wilmington, MA. Setup will be Friday afternoon. Please contact Don Haiges and let him know when you will be able to help.
A couple of friends from the Pioneer Valley S Gaugers, Steve Allen and George Reneris, dropped by the CGLR for an operating session. Tommy Robichaud acted as dispatcher and Helen Lenart and Bill Clark joined Steve and George as engineers. Check out the video above. We all had a great time!
This is a video of the Bristol Club layout at the 1997 West Springfield Train Show. Bill Boucher brought his scratch built circus train to run on our layout. Video of his circus train starts at 2:06.
January Meeting at Haladyna's
The January meeting was at Carol and Bob's home. Bob sets up a very nice Christmas layout every year on their living room floor. This year he was running the Polar Express using its radio control throttle, an SHS MEC SW-9 with a set of Christmas cars using LocoMatic, and a late 90s AF Christmas loco pulling more Christmas cars. It is a very fine Christmas layout with a good portion of their living room dedicated to it! He also had his N scale empire in operation downstairs, and several of us were able to operate trains on it. There are a few photos of the Christmas layout, and a bunch of photos of the N scale layout in the Photo Gallery. Carol as usual was a wonderful hostess and put on a great spread. Thanks to Carol and Bob!
Photos from Club Members!
Photographs are one of the best ways to bring us together, and to liven up our web site! I'm always happy to post pictures if you send them to me, billclark424@gmail.com. In addition, all club members have the ability to post pictures directly into member albums.
Here's how to do it:
1. Login to website (Only members can post pictures).
2. Click the down arrow next to your name (at the top of the Home page), select Profile.
3. Click Photo Albums under Website.
4. On the Photo Album Manager page, click Add Photo Album.
5. Fill out Album name, select availability, add description if desired. Click Save.
6. Click the pencil icon.
7. Click Add Multiple Photos (other options are explained, but this is the most useful).
8. Click Select Files to browse for photos on your PC.
9. Add titles, photographer, data taken if desired. Click Save.
And your album should be there. Give it a try, see what you think.
Photos will display at a maximum of 1024 pixels. You can upload them at full size, however, and the viewer will be able to download the high resolution original. There is no need to reduce the size of your photos, bigger is better!
Our club is pretty spread out geographically, and pictures are a great way to keep us close and in touch. Also, the pictures don't have to be current. Historical pictures of meetings, members, S gauge/scale friends, etc are welcome!
Contact me if you have any issues or questions.
This is our New Website!
We have decided to move our website to a company that specializes in supporting clubs. The reason we made the move now is that it will be a major help in registering attendees for the NASG National Convention in 2018. But there are several other reasons why this is a good move for the club:
1. Several people will be able to update sections of the website. Officers can post information to their specific areas. Jim will be able to post to the archives. This will help keep the site up to date, as well as easing the transition when I can no longer do the website.
2. Any member can post pictures! We can have an unlimited number of photo albums, and anyone can create them!
3. Dues can be collected on-line.
4. The package includes social networking, which may interest us in the future.
5. There are built-in financial reports for any money collected through the web.
6. Knowledge of HTML coding not required to update and maintain the sight.
7. Automatic backups.
8. Professional security. We will be able to post information that can only be seen by the members.
It will take a while to move over all the useful information from the old site, so it will stay active for a while. I will no longer be updating it, however, so please check this site for meeting information and anything current.
You will need an account and password to get into the member only section of this site. If you don't have one, please email me at billclark424@gmail.com.
Bill