Lehigh Valley "S" Gaugers Officers

Corresponding Secretary

Jamie Bothwell
jamie.bothwell@verison.net

Treasurer

Dave Heine
davesn3@rcn.com

Secretary/Keeper of Records

Barry Mertz

Web Master

Val Pistilli
vpistilli@verizon.net

Web Programmer

Stan Furmanak
furmanak@lvc.edu


Left to right: Bill Fraley, Roy Hoffman, Frank Titman, Dave Deal, Matt Lacko, Val Pistilli, Buff Buffington, Bert Mahr, Steve Spence, Tom Maurer, Dave Heine, Jamie Bothwell, Barry Mertz. Taken April 19, 2009

Current LVSG Members

Rich Barth    Rich currently has an HO layout but is planning to build an S scale one as well. Rich's father was also a model train buff and Rich recently inherited his father's collections. In this collection, Rich has Standard, O, O-27, S, HO, N & Z. He had to build a train room to house his collections and his HO model railroad.

Jamie Bothwell    Jamie is currently the NASG elections chairman. His is slowly working on an S scale layout in his basement that is modeled after a Pennsylvania Railroad branch line. Jamie has a strong interest in passenger cars and operations. Jamie says he switched from HO scale to S scale because he thought the "S" stood for subversive.

Wally Collins    Wally is a co-founder of the North East S Gaugers which has grown from a regional club into the National Association of S Gaugers (NASG). He has provided guidance for the NASG in legal matters over the years and has the honor of being the first NASG Bernie Thomas Award winner. He also published the S Gauge Herald in the 1960's and 1970's. Wally's steam only Midland Pacific has about 500' of code 100 S scale hand-laid track and over 50 Del Aire driven turnouts, mostly crafted by Earl Eshleman. Scenery is about 20% complete.

Dave Deal    Changed to S Scale when he realized that HO just wasn't doing it for him.

John Foley    John expends a lot of time and energy promoting S scale by manning the NASG booth at area train shows. His devotion to S scale was recognized by the NASG when he was named the 2004 Bernie Thomas Award winner. If you see the NASG booth or switching layout at a train show in the Northeast, most likely John is there sometimes accompanied by his grandson Colin.

Bill Fraley    Bill's S scale railroad is the Jefferson Central. He host's the annual Jefferson Central Favorite S Scale Model Contest. His pike has been featured in several model railroad magazines and is open for guests year around. Just call first. Bill is also a camera buff and you may have seen some of his photos and articles in model railroad magazines. He is also one of our more prolific modelers. A member of the NASG, NMRA, MER and the MER Susquehanna Division, he has earned the NMRA Model Railroad Author Achievement Award and his Pike has won the NMRA - MER Golden Spike Award.

Stan Furmanak    Stan is a former Flyer guy who recently joined the ranks of the scale modelers. As a native of the Philly suburbs right on the old B&O Philadelphia subdivision (now CSXT), his main interest is in modeling the Chessie/B&O era of the late 70s. He enjoys building freight car kits and is in the planning stages of a layout.

Dave Heine    Dave is a die-hard narrow gauger. He writes the narrow gauge column, The "S"traight and Narrow, in the NASG Dispatch. Dave is working on a new S/Sn3/Sn2 layout with DCC control and sound.

Roy Hoffman    Roy, retired from Conrail, is the current president of the National Association of S Gaugers (NASG). His S scale Penn Western layout, dedicated to Pennsylvania railroads, both standard and narrow gauges, was featured in the July/August 1998 S Gaugian. A skilled artist, Roy uses this talent to great effect on his railroad.

Matt Lacko    Matt has been involved with S scale trains for some time and has an extensive collection of equipment in both S and Sn3. He is also active in the Friends of the East Broad Top.

Marty Lukatch    Marty is a Flyer collector and also has a large collection of Plasticville buildings. His goal is to build a layout typical of the kind hobby shops and model railroaders had in the 1950's.

Bert Mahr    Bert is actively working on a double deck S scale layout based on the early years of Conrail. Bert likes railroad operations. Before he moved up to S scale, he had a completed HO layout with an operating CTC panel. He uses DCC control on his S scale layout.

Tom Maurer    Tom models in S when he is not out working on his farm.

Barry Mertz    Barry is working on a new layout. His former S scale layout was based on the Pennsylvania Railroad with an "almost" horseshoe curve and a branch line. It featured a huge passenger station and long consists of hopper cars. Barry is one of the more active club members who is always working on his layout.

Jerry Perkins    Jerry, who comes from a long line of S gaugers, is one of our newer members and his interest is in Sn3. He also enjoys woodworking so we know his bench work will be top notch.

Val Pistilli    I started in S Scale when I received an American Flyer train set up in 1949 when I was five years old. A NYC Hudson 324AC, Talking station, Sam the semaphore man, log unloader, automated baggage car, cow and car loader, etc. I and my brother played with this until 1960 when dad bought us another set. A UP northern 336 set. More trains!! We ran these until 1965 when I switched to HO. In 2006 at the NMRA National convention, S Helper service had a large booth showing off S scale cars, track, and locos like I NEVER saw right off the shelf. They were selling cars two for the price of one. I came home with two cars. That was it, I was hooked! Back to S for me, but this time I'm going Scale!

Mike Pragheimer    Mike is an American Flyer fan. When he is not displaying his AF circus train at an area circus modeling meets and displays, he volunteers at Steamtown in Scranton and at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania at Strasburg.

Steve Spence    Steve, a former HO modeler, is interested in S scale and is a big Sante Fe fan. He sometimes can be found in the Del-Aire booth at train shows helping his son Gregg.

Frank Titman    Frank Titman is very well known in the S scale community and is the only two-time NASG Bernie Thomas Award winner. He is the co-founder of the North East S Gaugers, the Delaware Valley S Gaugers, and also the Lehigh Valley S Gaugers. He was the editor of the S Gauge Herald in the 1960's and 1970's and is the former owner of Lehigh Valley Models. He has authored many product reviews and articles on converting HO and O scale buildings to S scale that have appeared in the S Gaugian. A master craftsman, he has built many steam locomotives, no diesels -- don't even suggest it to him! -- and many of the structures on his Spiral Hill layout that was featured in Kalmbach's Great Model Railroads of 2000 and also on the PBS television series Tracks Ahead.


Former LVSG Members

Fred Rouse    Fred owns S Scale Loco & Supply and has very recently moved from Pennsylvania to Florida.