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Badgerland S Gaugers News

"…. A social club for the promotion of model railroading—
especially S gauge including American Flyer, hi-rail, scale
and other facets...

Badgerland S Gaugers Charter

Attendance:
A. Doty, R. Eveleth, D. Goeke, D. Goeke, D. Goeke, R. Hubing, D. Kloes, G. Koerner, S. Lunde,
J. Madden, R. Meissner, K. Pilon, C. Porter, R Puls, R. Schlicht, D. Stoll, F. Vergenz, J. Young.
(18)

Steve Lunde opened the March BSG general meeting and welcomed all of those in attendance. He introduced two of our newer members Paul Bartelak & Bob Hubing. Steve also gave us a brief S Fest 2008 update. As many of you know this years Fall S Fest will be held at the Wyndham Hotel by the airport. One of the major factors in this being a financial success (meaning that we don’t’ lose our you know what) is room nights at the hotel. We need a minimum of 175 nights. Even though the registration forms have not gone out yet, there have been over 100 room nights reserved already. This is great news. From the transportation standpoint this year’s location is the best that we could ask for. We hope to have a similar promotional sweepstakes like St. Louis did. This will depend on the amount of banquet tickets sold and room nights reserved. We strongly encourage that any of our out-of-town members, who plan on staying in town for Fall S Fest 2008, to stay at the Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel.

We will eventually have all of the information for Fall S Fest 2008 on our website. At this time there is more than enough information there for you to start planning for the event.

This November will be a rather eventful month for BSG. The weekend preceding Fall S Fest is normally our biggest event of the year "TRAINFEST". This means that for many of us, the usual suspects, it will be an extremely demanding period of time. Not only the layouts for the Trainfest, but duties at S Fest, plus getting our homes prepared for layout tours, might give some of us rather short fuses. Therefore when you have some peanut sized little gripe, be careful whom you whine to. Your life may hang in the balance.

Jeff Young noted in the treasurer’s report that the initial pre-Fall S Fest car sale went well although many members did not take advantage of the reduced price. He did have a bit of bad news and that is that the price of our BSG club shirts is going up. This is strictly a vendor price increase. Our club makes no profit on BSG shirts and caps. If you want either item contact Jeff ASAP so he can get an order in prior to the price increase.

Dick Kloes thanked the members that helped him out at the Mad-City show. He also thanked all of those well-wishers for their concern over his health issues. (He was a bit on the weak side at the meeting, but I am happy to report that he is feeling very well at this time.)

Art Doty gave a report on, in state and out of state, model railroading activities around the Midwest. One thing that is affecting our meet and others is that there are more and more small shows popping up all of the time. Quite frankly there are getting to be too many shows. If I fulfilled all of the requests for the small Hi-rail layout to be at shows, I would be dead within a year. (I was rather surprised when no one made a motion at the meeting, that I attend more shows.)

Ron Schlicht gave a brief report on upcoming model railroading shows in Wisconsin. Ron also gave a brief report on the status of next year’s swap meets. The format for the meet flyers has been revised. Steve Lunde and Ron worked out the new look with the advise of other individuals. At the meeting we asked for the members input and approval of the new flyer. Some suggestions were made and the changes were implemented. The new flyers will be available at our next "Model Train Trade Show". Note that there will be no September meet and there will be no double up dates with the Lionel meets.

There was also a brief discussion on the fact that there has not been a layout at the past few swap meets. There were a number of suggestions made to address this matter. Even a "fourth" layout was suggested.

Dick Kloes offered to house the existing layout. We could even make it a bit smaller. One of the tables that the club purchased, and which was being stored at the hall, was significantly damaged and at present is unusable. What we really need is for someone to set up and take down the layout. If a couple people are involved it takes less than a half hour. Human resources have always been our shortcoming. We have never had a shortage of ideas. This issue will be dealt with prior to next years meets. The discussion however did lead to the next item printed in this newsletter regarding our equipment.

We are attempting to consolidate and record all of the BSG equipment that is club owned. If you have any items that belong to BSG please contact Steve Lunde. We have to get a handle on this issue. No one knows who has what. It appears to be scattered all around southeastern Wisconsin. Jacob fathered twelve sons according to the Bible, thus creating the 12 tribes of Israel. I’m sure that one of them has some of our equipment. It would be nice to get a centralized location. That may not be totally practical or possible. However we do need a complete inventory of our stock. From trees to structures, engines to rolling stock, even I have no idea of what we own. However I do know what I have for the Hi-rail layout.

Dick Kloes has volunteered to store and act as a distribution center for a lot of our equipment, since he is somewhat centrally located relative to our membership.

Ray Puls has volunteered to make two new four-foot modules for the layout ends. These will only be 15 inches deep. This will result in a more uniform look with the existing corner pieces. This will not only make the ends look better, but will make them much easier to transport. They will only be for use on the ends and will establish the future planned width of our modular layout. With the inclusion of these modules the layout will "never" go beyond fourteen feet wide. This will allow for a 30-inch wide standard table, or tables, to be added to the inside of the layout. It also results in less dead floor space in the center of the layout (excluding a few of our members).

The first Fall S Fest mailing will take place in a matter of weeks. Approximately 1,400 registrations applications will be mailed out. In order to get this task accomplished, we will need a few volunteers for putting the information together and stuffing and sealing the envelopes. This will take place on May 10^that 9:00 am in the Merton Village Hall, which is located near the intersection of Sussex Road (EF) and Main Street (KE).

After the registration preparation is completed, you will receive a tour of the Merton Fire Department this will be at no additional charge.

I looked at a map of the Merton area and found it amazing how one road can just keep changing names from one community to another. Every small town or village has a Main street. The road will continue until it gets out of it’s own playpen boundaries. Then it changes names until it reaches the next playground and will change names with something different in the middle. I was going to give better instructions on how to reach the Merton Village Hall. However if I wrote it down the way the map denotes road names, you would have thought that I finally went totally crazy. I love government bureaucracies, if anyone can make something confusing, they will. (Confusing is not the words that I use in the privacy of my own home.) By the way I just finished my income taxes and I am totally numb.

Please contact Roy Meissner if you plan on helping out with the S Fest mailing.

Since we are on the subject of Fall S Fest 2008, we need your help. Steve Lunde will be putting together a signup sheet for various Fall S Fest tasks along with a timetable for the times required. If we get enough people to pitch in, most members will only have to help out for a couple of hours or less. We will need members guiding vendors to their tables and perhaps helping them unload, you might call them BSG "greeters". Call Steve Lunde if there is any area that you feel you can best be utilized. (We will not have a statuary at this year’s fall S Fest; a warm, live body is required.)

No one is going to be chained to a registration table for the duration of the show. We want our members to enjoy the weekend also. But as the host club, we want to make our guests feel comfortable. We want them to leave feeling that they had a pleasant experience with the Badgerland S Gaugers. I want them to feel as good as I did when I left the AFSGSLA Fall S Fest 2007.

One other note regarding making this a great experience for attendees. We have had some members step forward and donate some really fabulous items for the raffles, door prizes and the banquet auction. We still could use more. If you know of any sources that would like to get their mane published on our list of contributors and would be interested in donating an item or two contact them. If you have any items contact Steve Lunde. Items do not have to be railroad related articles. Tools, sport, garden, automotive or implements that you use around your house are great. This doesn’t mean that it is the time to clean out your basement and get rid of junk. We would like items that "you" would enjoy receiving as a prize or gift from a winning ticket.

There was a brief discussion on various items in the clubs inventory that could be used for S Fest door prizes and auctions. We will make a decision on how to proceed with this.

Since BSG is the host of Fall S Fest this year and it only comes to our state "once every four years", this is "our" chance to shine. The word "our" does not refer only to Steve Lunde and the S Fest committee. It means BSG and it’s members. I know that I always mention that we need help with this, that or another thing. The usual suspects usually do most of the work, but the success of a Fall S Fest depends on the participation of "many" of its members. Some of our members are unable to attend meeting and shows, however just "once every four years" we are truly asking for all of you to pitch in. That is not asking a lot. This is your club and you will be projecting your image on this year’s event. Smokey the Bear says, "Only you can prevent forest fires" well only you will make Fall S Fest 2008 a success.

We have some past Fall S Fest heavyweight car bodies that will be offered to club members only. They will be sold at very reasonable prices. I will be posting some of these items in future newsletters. Many of the items will be brought to future meetings for member’s consideration. If you are interested and wish to see them, attend a meeting.

April 26^th & 27^th Titletown Train Show Green Bay
September Meeting - No host found
October Meeting – Jim Starosta
Trainfest November 8^th and 9^thFall S Fest November 14^th thru 16th
December Meeting - No host found
January Meeting - No host found
February Meeting - No host found
March Meeting - No host found
April Meeting - No host found
Contact Ron Schlicht, if you wish to host a General Meeting.

There is no specific criterion for hosting a meeting. Weekday evenings, Saturdays or Sundays are acceptable. If you want to schedule for next year it’s not too early.

Tri-City Train Show
South Hills Country Club
3047 Hwy. 41 ( I-94 ) E. Frontage Rd.
8:00 A.M. To 12:00 P.M.

Wise Division Meets
Best Western Midway Hotel - Airport
Meets usually open @ 12:30 PM
2008 April 20

At this time I do not have any information regarding the 2008/2009 Division meets.
For more details visit website at:

Programs are held at the Milwaukee School of Engineering Student Center, 1025 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI.
3^rd Floor Student Center
Doors open at 7:00 pm.
Programs start at 7:30 pm.
Programs are "Free". General Public Welcome. The programs are subject to change without notice.

It’s not too late to register for the
21^st Annual Spring S Spree
held May 2-3 In Dayton, OH
and hosted
by the Miami Valley S Gaugers

For more information go to our website. I found it easier to get to the information that Doug Stoll had posted on our site under public show events.

In addition, for those interested in going to Spring S Spree, Art Doty and Jeff Madden know some of those who will be attending from our area, in case you are interested in carpooling, contact them.

Since I’m on the subject, Doug has done a fantastic job with our website. For those of you who have computers, if you haven’t visited our site you are missing out on a lot of useful information. I can’t fit into a newsletter all of the stuff that he has posted. Many of the upcoming events that I list in the newsletters are much more fully detailed on the site. With me you get briefs, with Doug you get a full set of clothes.

Steve Lunde hosted the March BSG general meeting. Once again we got to enjoy Steve’s ever-improving layout, which incorporates American Flyer with really nice scale items. His trains run flawlessly around the layout and there are some truly unique structures. It’s fun to see the different techniques that he utilizes on various areas of his layout. From structures to scenery, he has some really neat stuff. He also has a great sound system in many of his engines.

Chuck Porter brought along a specially made Milwaukee Road Baldwin with a especially fabulous sound system that was created just for him.

Some day one of our members will have to get me all of the information on sound systems and show how to install them in Flyer equipment and other style engines. Now that would be a neat clinic. Until then I will have to settle for the AF Choo-Choo sound.

Steve proceeded to give us a clinic on the soldering techniques that he employs. He also steered us to the type of soldering equipment that he uses. At least four of our members are going to order the same soldering station. The tools, tips and methods that he displayed should improve all of our joints, at least the electrical ones. At the age of most of our members we all need help getting the physical joints working a bit better. You can be assured that everything on Steve’s layout is wired better than most of our member’s layouts. Now if we could just get some of our members heads rewired, that would be a real accomplishment, particularly that of your editor.

This whole idea of clinics is turning out to be a really great thing for our club. It gives members more of a purpose or desire to attend a BSG meeting. This is what we are supposed to be about, a group of individuals with a common interest sharing ideas and helping each other out.

Communication is one of our club’s shortcomings, as evidenced by the little substance in these newsletters. If I didn’t write about nonsense, I would have nothing to write about at all.

We will need a presentation for our September, October, Etc. meetings. If you would like to volunteer or know of a guest presenter, Contact:

There is one other interesting comment that I would like to add. Many may think that my somewhat sarcastic comments might hurt some ones feelings. I exchange newsletters with other clubs. All clubs have the same issues regarding volunteers. Therefore you can put up with my ill attempts at getting my point across in a "humorous" fashion, or I can resort the more frank, blunt, or whatever you wish to call it , style that others have had to utilize to get their members attention. Grit your teeth and just keep smiling. Being an editor is so much fun.

This is a relatively new show for us. As most of you may know, between Christmas and Easter the Mitchell Park Domes have a huge garden railroad exhibit set up. During the limited amount of weeks that the trains are running, the facility generates more income than it does for the entire rest of the year combining all of their normal venues. In addition on one weekend a year they have local clubs bring in various scale layouts. My Hi-rail layout is the one that was requested to represent S gauge. This is the second year that I have brought a layout for this event. This year there may have been record crowds. The recorded attendance for the three days was over 4,200. Children 5 and under are not included in that total. Believe me there were plenty of those. They are also the scariest because they can run at full throttle right under the ropes that protect the layout. In addition they have the quickest little hands that you can imagine.

I want to thank all those who helped out at the show the "ever present" Rich Eveleth, who is there from the time I unload the van until he closes the garage door behind me when the show is over. He has done this at virtually every show that I attend. Fred, Kathy, Rick Wade helped out and new members Paul Bartelak and Marty Moskopf got their first taste of "working" for BSG. They handled the outside of the layout. When we tore down Marty’s wife even took on the "Dirty Job" of duct tape removal from the floor that hold the stanchions in place. (Eat your heart out modular layout; I have the best helpers in the business.)

All in all this was a great show for the public and BSG. I got even more requests for the Hi-rail layout to be setup at different shows.

This year I did not have the time or energy to set up my layout three weekends in a row. However every attempt was made to have an S gauge presence at the MSOE show. It is not one of the larger shows in the area but is a free one for the public. This affords some lower income families, who might not be able to afford the "high test" shows, the opportunity of seeing model railroading in action.

This year’s show was probably the best MSOE show ever. There was a lot more floor space available and as a result more layouts. The attendance was undoubtedly the best ever. Over 4,800 passed through the doors. MSOE always offer what they call the Steamer Special, which is two hotdogs, a bag of Frito-Lay products and a can of soda for $3.50. The students were running back and forth to the kitchen like crazy to keep up with the demand. With no admission charge, door prizes and cheap food, this was a great place to spend some time with model railroaders. There were also some really entertaining layouts there. The LEGO setup was spectacular. The Sears Tower, the Eiffel Tower, Empire State building and others were awesome. Then came the topper, Miller Park in LEGOS, complete with the operating roof and outfield panels and detailed inside even including Bernie Brewer’s slide. Unbelievable.

We set up the swap meet layout with an additional table featuring the AF operating accessories similar to the Titletown setup. This time we also featured the camera train that always accompanies my Hi-Rail layout. The layout was very well received. I brought a lot of the structures from my layout to fill it up. Rich Eveleth brought the camera train and an Ertl farm grain setup that looked great on the layout

Once again, thanks to Fred Vergenz, Kathy Pilon and Rich for helping out. New members Bob & Christy Hubing stopped by to lend a hand for a while.

And as ever, it is time for the bad news. It was probably partially my fault, but since we have no one really in charge of all of our literature and advertising, (a need for which I have written about in the past), there was not a stitch of BSG material for handouts, outside of the BSG stickers for the children. Thousands of people came through the doors and it was another chance to advertise our swap meets, Fall S Fest and pass out BSG club information. I can only write down my phone number down so many times. I wrote it on almost everything but the bathroom walls. I told people about our website and S gauge until I was getting hoarse.

Your editor is approaching the edge of the cliff. I’m getting tired of writing sad scenarios like this about our club. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

Until further notice Dick Kloes’s home "will not" be open for the BSG modular layout workshop sessions. Due to his recent surgery, we will postpone the sessions until he gives us the go ahead sign. This does not mean that we are abandoning this project. The layout "will" be improved by Trainfest.

Let’s see, what did I buy out side of modeling materials or stuff at a swap meet that would qualify for a new product report? Nothing that would interest our members. I have been called conservative in my spending. I have also been called some other rather nasty names, many of which might be applicable. However it appears that I spend a lot more than the rest of our club members, since they have no new products to report for this column.

If you purchase any new items currently on the market, please notify your editor as to how you feel about the products quality, appeal and performance. If possible, please include a Word document that I can paste into the newsletter.

Same old, same old, no one has anything to report and I’m struggling to get my layout done prior to Fall S Fest. I’m afraid that it will not happen.

Remember to send me your updated email addresses to insure that I change it on our e-mail group listing and put it in the newsletter.

Join this group you will receive periodic club updates, BSG news, tips and information on various S gauge websites that may be of interest to you.

If you are interested in using the Wanted & For Sale column give me a call. I will list your items for two or three newsletters. Please contact me if you want an item removed from subsequent newsletters.

Fall S Fest Patches for the following years: 9^th -1984, 15^th–1990, 21^st – 1996.

2004 NASG Convention Car
Depressed Center #2304
General Electric Reel Car Lamp Division
Contact: Alan Ruffolo
(262) 654-4748

2000 Fall S Fest Milwaukee Road wooden sided reefer, manufactured by Crown Models, in their original boxes with the Car Nos. 25251 & 25256 In "like new" or "mint" condition.
Contact: Bob Nelson
9027 Weatherwood Ct.
Vienna, VA 22182
Phone: (703) 893-3438
Email: navy.seal@cox.net

1958 American Flyer Catalog D2047
1959 American Flyer Catalog D2115
#466 PA Blue Comet Alco (Not Chrome)
Contact: John Barnish
1117 Marquette
Hartland, WI 53029
(262) 367-3788

If you have any items like old issues of Classic Toy magazines, S Gaugians or other model train related items that you no longer have need for, you might think about donating them to our club.

It has been mentioned in previous newsletters and at the BSG general meetings that BSG will not be ordering as many Fall S Fest cars as in the past.

BSG advertised a reduced rate on the cars to our members. This was done in order to get seed money for the project. A number of our members took advantage of this offer knowing that they would not be receiving the cars for months. Due to the extraordinary response, we are "discontinuing" the advance sales of the cars, in order to insure that we have enough for those who attend Fall S Fest. We will also reserve the right to limit the number of car sales to single customers. In the event that we should have cars left after Fall S Fest, they will be sold on a first come first serve basis.

The advance sale was published in "three" consecutive newsletters and the original deadline was even extended as a courtesy to our membership. Therefore there should be no excuse for missing out on the promotional sale.

We are sorry if you did not order a car or two or all three. However you will be receiving your Fall S Fest registration in the next few weeks and will have the opportunity to order one or more then, but it will be at the $50.00 Fall S Fest price.

The St. Louis club AFSGSLA has some former Fall S Fest cars that are still available, just in case you missed out.

2. FSF-1995 A/F by Lionel,
Monsanto Chemical Tank Car
(White)
LTI #48495 at $95.00

3. FSF-1999 A/F by Lionel,
Monsanto 3-Bay Covered HopperCar
(White)
LTI #48215 at $85.00

4. FSF-2003 S Helper Service,
TTRX TOFC with REAX Trailer,
SHS #00193 at $65.00

Shipping Charges are:
$10.00 lump sum, for one to six cars.
$20.00 lump sum, for seven or more cars.

Make checks payable to AFSGSLA Inc.
For any additional information Contact:
AFSGSLA
c/o Moe Berk
39Graeler Drive
St. Louis, MO 63146-4938
Email: afsgsla@sbcglobal.net

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American Flyer (Lionel)
American Models
S-Helper Service
Des Plaines Hobby
A.C. Gilbert American Flyer
(Only Gilbert AF not in original boxes and all Flyer equipment is graded)
Send self-addressed stamped envelope for complete listing, which is 5-sheets and over 200 pieces.
In addition there are numerous 18-wheelers 1/64^th scale in original boxes.

Contact:
Malcolm Richert
18620 Pleasant St.
Brookfield, WI 53045
Phone (262) 797-8209
Fax (262) 786-8239

For any new members who are interested in club hats or shirts, Contact Jeff Young.

If you "have not" received a club patch or a membership card, Contact Ron Schlicht.

I have always finished the newsletter with "until the next time" and "See Ya". I’m never sure about the next time and there are some of you whom I wouldn’t recognize as a member. Perhaps I should end it with "That’s All Folks". But then again it wouldn’t be as impressive without the Loony Tunes theme music blaring in the background.

The views and opinions expressed in the Badgerland S Gaugers newsletters are those of the editor, unless otherwise credited, and do not necessarily represent that of the club, it’s officers, directors, or the membership.

The Badgerland S Gaugers do not offer any warranties, guarantees, nor assume any liability from information contained in this publication.

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President: Steve Lunde (08)
Vice-President: Richard Wade (08)
Treasurer: Jeffrey Young (08)
Secretary/Editor: Ron Schlicht (08)
Directors: Art Doty (08) – Ray Puls (09) – Dick Kloes (10) – Trumann Garrett
Modular Layout Committee: Dick Kloes, Steve Lunde, Ray Puls, Dave Smukowski and Don Goeke.
Small Layout Coordinator: Dave Smukowski, Ron Schlicht.
Hi-Rail AF Layout Committee: Ron Schlicht, Rich Eveleth and Norman Rick.
Badgerland Display Booth Committee: Gary Children and Jeff Young.

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For those of you who will be helping out with the Fall S Fest registration packets the above map is actually a pretty good reference for getting to the Merton Village Hall.

The presentation will start "before" the BSG general meeting, so get there early.