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<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Thanks very much for the much
needed update Bill.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Maybe the MC can keep us
posted on a Quarterly basis.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Information is
knowledge!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Stephen</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=nw-modeling-list@nwhs.org href="mailto:nw-modeling-list@nwhs.org">NW
Modeling List</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=nw-modeling-list@nwhs.org
href="mailto:nw-modeling-list@nwhs.org">nw-modeling-list@nwhs.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, February 13, 2009 10:22 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Modeling Committee</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Spring must be coming; it's time to take another whack at the
Modeling Committee. Give the guys a break! Where does one think the DP
heavyweight project came from? Harold Davenport and others have been working
with, and on DP for years on several N&W/VGN projects. That the projects
don't reach the market, or reach the market with flaws doesn't diminish the
hard, persistent work that has gone into providing the data. As I said a couple
of years ago, there are limits to what can be accomplished with commercial firms
that have their own interests and concerns. We can provide data, but they do
what they do, when they want to do it.<BR><BR>Re the Yoder gons: we published
his beautiful CAD drawings for those cars in the Arrow and solicited interest in
an HO version; we got zero interest...zero, not one indication of interest. Rich
had said he would consider it if he had enough interest; we didn't respond so he
moved on. And as a sidelight, the data for the O scale versions was provided by
members of the Society and from our Archives. The result is the most accurate
G3/G4 ever produced. (Of course, now F&C produces a much improved HO resin
kit version of the cars in a one-piece body at a fraction of the cost of an HO
brass version. Steve and Sharon responded to persistent requests from NWHS
members to update their resin kit. One suspects they used data from the Yoder
car to do that.) <BR><BR>Re VGN hoppers: the Commissary offers a set of Bowser
H3 hoppers in the as-built lettering, the data for which was provided by Harold
Davenport and is spot on, and Bowser markets the same hopper in the later
lettering. Projects undertaken by Bob Bowers for the Commissary have to be as
commecially viable, or more so, than for commercial firms. The money he has at
his disposal is limited and precious. He has been at his job for many years and
he has as good a feel for what members will actually buy, as opposed to what
they say they want, as anyone in the Society. He does a great job with what he
has available.<BR><BR>At the recent show in Springfield, Broadway was asked what
happened to the CF caboose to go with the locos; "not enough interest" was the
response. They were asked to reconsider.<BR><BR>Russ Goodwin has great contacts
within the major manufacturers and has worked hard to interest them in
N&W/NS projects. But again, the manufacturers have their own agendas. The
late Jim Gillum worked tirelessly on model projects; Jim Brewer produced
beautiful resin kits of two N&W cars. And no one has worked harder on the
subject of accuracy than Jim Nichols. I am sure there are others who have worked
behind the scenes to get stuff done. My point is that the NWHS modeling
community has accomplished quite a bit; that it has not satisfied every desire,
or responded to every fleeting idea should not diminish the efforts of a number
of dedicated members.<BR><BR>Now, how about an HU hopper!! Been trying for
years, in plastic, resin and brass, alas.... <BR><BR>Bill McClure
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