Newsletter | January 2024

Hello Manhattan Modeler,

Happy New Year.

The new year is always a time of promise and hope. I hope this year you start or accomplish your “big” modeling project. 

Personally, I will not be making any resolutions because I just find them to be upsetting when I don’t follow through with them. I find the idea a source of stress. Yes, I have a projects pile. I have heard some people call it a “Pile of Shame”. I will try to work through some of them, but I don’t want to feel bad about my hobby. 

There will be some projects I work through in 2024 and I have no doubts there will be some new and unthought of new projects that I will take on as well. All a natural part of my hobby year. Along with many, many research rabbit holes to dive down.

I am forever grateful that in this group I have a group of hobbyists to share modeling projects with and inspire me to take new paths. In 2024 Manhattan Modelers will make the moves into new areas. I am quite sure with the upcoming new Board of Directors we are becoming more organized and efficient. 

There will be more in-person meetings to share our modeling progress and work out solutions as well as field trips or layout visits in the new year. Our group has not been even been meeting for a full year yet and so far we have done quite a bit and have some exciting prospects coming up in the future.

-Andy Estep

FIRST ANNUAL MEETING REMINDER 

We’re kicking off 2024 with our first annual meeting of the membership as called for by the By-Laws that we adopted this past summer. We’ll hold this meeting in videoconference form on our Discord Manhattan Modelers server (https://discord.com). The meeting will convene on Tuesday, January 16^th, 2024 at 8pm EST. Our primary task will be to elect the first full Board of Directors. There will be the usual update on the state of affairs, any matters the members may wish to raise, and at the close of any other business matters, the floor will be open for general fun and conversation. This is a reminder for members please to attend this meeting so that we can meet the quorum threshold required by the By-Laws and proceed with the election. We plan to conduct voting via an Internet poll as we did for adoption of the By-Laws to insure ballot confidentiality. 

IF YOU CAN’T ATTEND THE JANUARY 16^TH MEETING, YOU CAN DESIGNATE ANOTHER MANHATTAN MODELERS MEMBER AS YOUR “PINCH HITTER” PROXY TO VOTE ON YOUR BEHALF. TO DO THAT, PLEASE FILL OUT THE ATTACHED PROXY FORM, EITHER PRINT IT OUT OR PDF IT, AND GET IT TO ANDY ESTEP, HEATH HURWITZ, OR DAN FREE ON OR BEFORE JANUARY 15^TH.

Small Space Solutions

Last month we talked about picking a scale as a possible way to solve our eternal struggle with the need for more space for our modeling. Living in the city, space is always a luxury that we can never have enough of. I speak from the experience of my last apartment, a Manhattan one bedroom (with three children under kindergarten age) having a layout inside the closet. A loop of track running behind the winter coats. 

I chose to model in 2 rail O scale. I know, I know I’m a glutton for punishment and I will never have the space to model the four track North-east corridor like the stellar 2 rail O scale layout by John Sethian featured in the January Railroad Model Craftsman magazine. Frankly I’m OK with that because that is not really my interest or goal.

My rational for O scale is that I prefer small prototypes at a large size.  Small prototype engines are enough for me and hold my interest well. I like quirky and oddball. 

At the larger scale motors and all the electronic guts can fit in the small engines. For example just the other day I purchased a project engine. (Now as an aside, for the record I do not need any more projects.) It is a 23-ton GE engine that needs a ton of work to refinish and finish building. It is a relatively rare kit from a company called 2 Doors Down that were based in Australia but seem to have stopped trade. A 23 tonner in O scale is less than 4 inches long, about the size of an HO scale 44 tonner. These little ones are perfect for an industry switcher which is appropriate for space that I have in my home for a layout. 

As you can see in this picture my just barely balanced together for the picture project 23 tonner is much smaller than the All Nation NW2 switcher behind it. It is only 3 and a half inches long but rides on the same width track.

Another consideration I have in my mind as a justification for my larger scale is era. A single Penny’s H10 2-8-0 is about twice the size of a civil war era 4-4-0. I find early era railroads fascinating and the prototypes are so small that they really can be made to work better at a larger scale. 

These pictures are of another project. I am slowly converting this Lionel Lincoln Funeral engine Nashville into a 2 rail O scale engine not decorated for a funeral. The Nashville was built for the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati RR by the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace company in 1851. You can see how this, large for it’s time engine is under 14 inches long and how it scales next to that NW2.

So yes, I am cheating. A bigger scale but a smaller prototype.

-Andy Estep

Call for Articles from Members

As is usual we at the Manhattan Modelers Newsletter are always looking for articles from our members. I am quite sure that people will tire of my eclectic tastes soon and new blood is a wonderful idea. I would be happy to help and offer encouragement.

Please reach out to me at EstePandyProjects@gmail.com or through the Discord channel.

Breaking News that the UK based model railroad store Hatton’s is closing.

Monday January 8^th Hatton’s Model Railways Shop announced that they were starting the process of closing after 77 years in business.

Yes, I have bought models from Hatton's. It is one of the biggest model companies in England. They advertise with multi page ads in every British Model railroad magazine. They are the British equivalent of Train World/ Train Land. Luckily there are other places I order from as well.

They did make it easy for those few of us in the States who like UK prototypes to get models without the added VAT (which should not be applied to us as non-Europeans). I think they have had a few things that got them overextended. 

For the last few years Hatton’s has attended the Springfield show, and they seemed to be trying to move into the US marketplace. For instance, there are rumors that they are the ones who bought M.B. Klein in Maryland. 

Also, they have gotten into designing and importing their own models from China. This I believe was a real failure because of the lack of QC. I got one of their O scale streamlined A4s because the closeout prices they had listed were so low. I got one and I don't even model the LNER or even that era. Mine came partially pre-disassembled. So many parts had come off I ended up spending a few hours putting it back together. In the words of the owner of a hobby shop I used to go to “it’s a Hobby”. I just wanted to be sure the parts were all there. 

Hatton's spent at least a year listing and relisting these engines in their used section because there were so many defective units. I am positive they lost their shirts on these selling $2000 engines for less than $300 as defective. If they couldn't succeed selling instantly recognizable famous engines in the same classes as the A4 Mallard and the A3 Flying Scotsman, something must really have been wrong. Even in other countries people recognize those engine names.

This is my O scale A4 Dominion of Canada from Hatton’s.

The real D of C is one of two A4s now preserved in North America. I saw it at Expo Rail just outside of Montreal. It is kept next to LBSCR A1 Terrier “Waddon” which is much closer to my area of interest.

Here is my model on the packing plank on my little layout next to my LMS Black Five. I apologize that I was feeling too lazy to take it fully off for the pictures. Two engines that are just too big for my layout. You can see that I am interested in the idea of using bas relief for the buildings in the background. These are weird 1970s plastic wall decorations. Another project of mine is to figure out an acceptable way to do something like this for my narrow space. How do I fit a town into the less than 3 inches behind my track.

It is a shame because in the UK there is a real O scale renaissance whereas here in the States there are the 3-rail nostalgia driven die-hards and next to zero new 2 rail options. The Quality Control on those engines was just not good. It was mainly the glue used and the final assembly. They look good when they are put together correctly and weigh around seven pounds so pulling a train is not an issue.

I would argue that the single best thing that Hatton’s tried to do for the US market was to propose bringing the European style “Eras System” into the US. Now that is something that could really benefit new modelers. The eras system was a grouping of models into categories by appropriate era. Era 1 was the beginning of the steam era like the John Bull on the Camden and Amboy in the US and Era 2 would be 1850-1880's and so on, and on. With the era defined by major changes in technology and railroad appearances.

In Europe the era is listed in the manufacturer’s catalogs and sometimes even on the product box. Having a general listing like that is easier than looking for the "built" date on the car itself (if the new modeler even knows to look for that). Starting the era system in the US was a great idea because new modelers don't know enough about the appropriateness of the models they are buying. 

If they were modeling a granger railroad line in Kansas in the 1930's, they probably would not get some Penn Central 85 foot Hi-Cube boxcars for their line. Obviously, it would still be possible to get things wrong but having a generally correct thing to look for would save the new modeler some money and potential embarrassment. If nothing else the era could be an interesting start of a rabbit hole for a new modeler to do some further research.

It would be nice to see something like this era system adopted in the US.

At any rate, it is sad to see Hatton’s go away after 77 years in business.

-Andy Estep

Correspondence and Corrections

We have a few letters and a correction for the December newsletter.

Regarding the dates that the Dolly Varden was in operation on the New York Central West Side freight line in Manhattan. Mike Weinman our resident NY Central expert confirmed that the Dolly Varden employee accommodation train ended in the early 1930’s and did not last into the 1950s as I had claimed. Oops.

We received some correspondence from a holiday visitor to the city and Heath and I made some local suggestions. Do you have any other suggestions we should add?

Walkable distance from Empire State Building

-There is a great Lionel style 3 rail model train layout at the New York Transit Museum annex at Grand Central Terminal. That is on 42 Street and Park. The building itself is an amazing sight and a must see as well with the big blue vaulted ceiling of stars and zodiac signs. 

-There is the only hobby shop in Manhattan that happens to be close to Grand Central. It is called the Red Caboose. It is an acquired taste and many people do not like it. However it is our local shop and you will be amazed at how many model trains can be crammed into their basement space. It is on 45th between 5th and 6th ave mid-block on the north side of the street at 23 West 45th. There is a street sandwich sign and a ringing bell to catch your attention.

-(Here is a bonus but not specifically railroad based but has some great model making is the Saks 5th Ave Holiday windows along 5th ave by Rockefeller Center be sure to see the windows along 50th and 49th. This year the windows are full of some very well done G scale model scenes of New York City winter scenes)

Here are some non-walkable from Empire State Building area sights.

- The New York Historical Society has a display in their lobby of very early toy trains from all over the world. Dating from the 1860's through the 1930's these are some very nice looking and very interesting historic toys. There is a layout as well and some replica trains are running on those through scenes made of vintage toy structures. NYHS is located on West 77 and Central Park West. It is easily reachable by subway at the 81st street stop on the B or C train.

-The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx has a display of G scale trains running through their greenhouses with historic buildings of New York City and the Hudson Valley all made of natural materials. Twigs, leaves and sticks but very well done. They can be reached by Metro North trains from Grand Central.

-The New York Transit Museum is in downtown Brooklyn reachable by subway. They have historic subway cars on display and other transit interests but this Saturday and the Saturday before New Years they are running a vintage subway train with rattan seats, ceiling fans, enamel hand grasps and period advertisements from the 1930s in regular service on the F and D subway line which runs by the Empire State Building. There is a schedule on their website. www.nytransitmuseum.org  A nice excursion for the price of a normal subway ride.

The two items that immediately come to mind are visiting the Red Caboose hobby shop as well as the holiday trains at Grand Central Terminal.

Red Caboose - https://youtu.be/Wky0mOgwh7o - https://www.theredcaboose.com/

Holiday Trains - https://youtu.be/hD2fSayTZ94 - https://grandcentralterminal.com/event/new-york-transit-museums-holiday-train-show/

Reminder that the displays at the New York Historical Society and the New York Transit Museum Annex at Grand Central are still open through the end of January if you want to visit and avoid some of the Holiday visitor crowds.

I think that next year I will make a form to post to our social media to help any tourists looking for “train” things in the city.

Some train things seen in recent travels.

Instead of pictures from the city for this newsletter. I traveled to see family in Virginia and I am including some pictures I took along the way.

To stretch out a little from heavy traffic I made a quick stop in the B&O Railroad Museum parking lot. In downtown Baltimore Maryland, this museum has long been one of my favorites, but I have not been since before the train shed roof collapsed in a snowstorm on February 17^th 2003.

I would have loved to have had time to go inside but this was only the halfway break. This museum has the most examples of surviving early steam engines and cars in the US. The B&O Railroad had a public relations figure named Major Joseph Glading Pangborn in the early 1890s who was tasked with assembling a collection of early railroading for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Pangborn set about pulling any surviving early engines from the roster. Some of these were backdated to earlier states and others used to be rebuilt as replicas of other by then missing types. There is also the so called “Pangborn” series of wooden replica early steam engines. These were not all exactly and completely historically accurate but taken as a whole he created a pretty holistic and comprehensive collection. As a person who has done some prop building and even a one-to-one scale model I find the idea of what he was doing with these really neat. 

Not all of the Pangborn models survive today but his organization and grouping of these early engines did preserve many early steam examples in one gesture. That 1893 collection became the seed of the B&O Museum.

Here is B&O #3684 a 1966 EMD GP40. It is the first of 380 GP40s the B&O ordered. In the background you can see a bit of Mt Clair Station, the first train station in Baltimore and the car shed. The Capital Dome logo of the B&O RR on the cab nose looks so much like the dome on the Civil War era roundhouse.

This is Canton Railroad #32. It is a Baldwin VO-1000 made in 1942 for Canton RR. Canton is a local Port of Baltimore switching railroad. For the transition era period I am a fan of switchers, so I enjoyed seeing what was on display in the parking lot for my 10 minutes out of the car stretch. Even though these were not recently restored and showing some age.

Early that week I had been talking on our Discord channel about Baldwin Switchers, so it was neat to see this one in person. The Baldwin company was well known for their steam engines but for some reason they did not make the transition to diesel so well. The 4 capped stacks and distinctive front grill are neat distinguishing features on this Baldwin.

The BOMX 9733 Baltimore and Ohio Museum Railroad is a 1955 H-12-44 Fairbanks-Morse built for Milwaukee Road as their #2321. There are not too many FMs around to look at anymore. This one is far from its former home rails.

The B&O 633 is a SW9 built in 1955 for the B&O. I like how it is staged like it is ready and waiting with the big hook on a wreck train.

Speaking of early railroads, this is what remains of my first layout in the unfinished basement at my parents’ house. It was HO scale and teenage me worked on it all by myself. I built the table in 1988 after I got a Bachmann HO scale Union Pacific set for Christmas 1987. I repainted the engine (badly) for Richmond Fredericksburg & Potomac which never had a GP18. You can see the outline of the track and the remains of my control board along with my license plate and sign collection.

I spent so much time down in this basement planning and working away through several changes of plans as witnessed by this table’s scars. I probably emptied the dehumidifier hundreds of times trying to keep the moisture on the track down. I know I pulled up the HO track and cork one summer while I was home from college when I changed my plans again but did not get started on the rebuild. 

The loop of Lionel track on it now is courtesy of my teenage nephew, but he is upset that the table is too small for his plans. I know that feeling all too well. If I lived closer, I would help him set it up.

Manhattan Modelers January Meeting is our important “Annual Meeting” 

January 16^th at 8 PM on the general Voice Chat section of our Discord channel

Our first annual meeting of the membership as called for by the By-Laws that we adopted this past summer. We’ll hold this meeting in videoconference form on our Discord Manhattan Modelers server (https://discord.com). The meeting will convene on Tuesday, January 16^th, 2024 at 8pm EST. Our primary task will be to elect the first full Board of Directors. There will be the usual update on the state of affairs, any matters the members may wish to raise, and at the close of any other business matters, the floor will be open for general fun and conversation. This is a reminder for members please to attend this meeting so that we can meet the quorum threshold required by the By-Laws and proceed with the election. We plan to conduct voting via an Internet poll as we did for adoption of the By-Laws to insure ballot confidentiality.

IF YOU CAN’T ATTEND THE JANUARY 16^TH MEETING, YOU CAN DESIGNATE ANOTHER MANHATTAN MODELERS MEMBER AS YOUR “PINCH HITTER” PROXY TO VOTE ON YOUR BEHALF. TO DO THAT, PLEASE FILL OUT THE ATTACHED PROXY FORM, EITHER PRINT IT OUT OR PDF IT, AND GET IT TO ANDY ESTEP, HEATH HURWITZ, OR DAN FREE ON OR BEFORE JANUARY 15^TH.

Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show

January 27^th and 28^th 2024 (not so local)

Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show

Held at the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds, this is the largest train show in the north-east. 

Several Manhattan Modelers are planning to go to the Springfield show this year. I would be happy to meet up with anyone planning to be there for dinner or some such. I am planning to spend some time covering for some exhibitors in other groups I am in so maybe I’ll see you at the “O Scale Central” or the “New York Society of Model Engineers” booths.

The holiday exhibits that are staying up for a while longer if you missed them. Here is a chance to view them with much smaller crowds.

New York Bronx Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show

Exhibit up until January 15th

G Gauge train display with local historic buildings made of natural materials.

Reservation and fee

Hours: every day during Garden Hours

New York Historical Society Holiday Toy and Train Show

Exhibit up until February 4^th

3 rail O and Standard gauge vintage toy train show. Toys and trains dating back to the late 1800’s through the 1930’s from both Europe and the United States are displayed in the museum lobby. Replica Standard Gauge trains are running on layouts and along the ceiling of the display.

Museum fee

Hours: every day during museum hours

New York Transit Museum Grand Central Annex Toy Train Show

Exhibit up until February.

O scale 3 rail Lionel display. 

Hours: every day during museum hours

NYSME / METCA Swap Meet

April 6^th Time TBD

Tables are $25 each

Swap Meet at St Joseph’s Church

The New York Society of Model Engineers HO and O scale layouts will be open and operating for this event. The show is near the Jane St stop on the 163 NJT bus from the Port Authority

Join us on Discord

We have setup a Manhattan Modelers Discord as a place to share projects & ideas, post events, ask and answer questions and make connections.

We have chosen Discord because it is organized around specific interests instead of providing a unified newsfeed. Discord is focused on real-time interactions between people, whereas other social media options function as internet message boards.

Discord also has a Zoom like video conferencing feature, but without the limits of the free Zoom.

Click on this link which will ask you to either create an account or login to your existing account.

Once you join, you will see the logo for the Manhattan Modelers "server" on the left and the various "channel" topics on listed to their right.

Please take a moment to introduce yourself in the #introduce-yourself channel

Please consider sharing this newletter with your favorite modelers.