Autumn 2008 Vol. XXXVI, No. 3

A Message from President Ken Donnelly... It is now time to make plans to attend the 36th Annual Meeting of the Society, which is being held the weekend of October 10-12, 2008 at the Hampton Inn and Conference Centre, at 2201 W. Reelfoot Avenue (U.S. 51) in Union City, TN.

This is a great location for members from both the Northern and Southern Regions as Union City is just about an equal distance from Mobile and Chicago.  A more centralized location could not be found, and is truly the place to be the second weekend of October!

In order to help you plan for the Annual Meeting Weekend, we have the following list which will aid in your preparation for the event.

A)_____ Hotel Reservations: Make your room reservations directly to the Hampton Inn at (731) 885­-8850.  Please remember to mention the GM&OHS to receive the special reduced room rate.

B)_____ Friday Night Hospitality Suite: Plan to arrive on Friday night and spend some time with us in the Hospitality Suite.  This function is open to all members and non-members alike, and the best part is it is free of charge.  It is a great time to see old friends or make new ones as well as view some very interesting photos and slides.  Doors open at 7pm, so don't be late!

C)_____ Saturday Railroadiana Show and Sale: The swap meet starts promptly at 9am and runs through 3pm.  To date, we have commitments for nearly 50 tables of railroadiana and models from some of the finest dealers in the country.  Admission is $3.00 for adults and $2.00 for children 12 and under.

D)_____ GM&OHS Model Contest: The Annual Model Contest and Display will be held during the Railroadiana Show on Saturday.  Trophies will be awarded in several classes by popular vote of the members present.  Additional details are in the Modeling Committee Report on page 3.  This is a great opportunity to show off your modeling skills regardless of whether you are a beginner or an advanced craftsman.

E)_____ Saturday Evening Banquet: Our Social Hour begins at 6pm with a cash bar, followed by dinner at 7pm.  After a brief business meeting and intermission, David Johnston of Memphis will present his slide program featuring GM&O scenes from both North and South of the Ohio River.  Many of these shots have never been seen before by the general public making this a special presentation.

F)_____ Board of Directors Meeting: On Sunday morning, the Society will hold a Board of Directors meeting.  Drop by and meet the men that make your Society function so well.  The meeting begins at 8am and the exact location will be announced at the Evening Banquet.

Secretary's Report by Marc Liberta... Enclosed is your ballot for the election of Officers and Board of Directors for the 2009 membership year.  The offices of Secretary, Treasurer and Board of Director seats are one year terms, while 2009 will be the President's and Vice President's second year of their two year terms.  Please take the time to vote, as this is one of your privileges of membership.  Return ballots via one of two methods listed and by the stated deadlines.  If mailing the ballot please do not use staples to close, as they get caught in the machining process used by the post office and arrive damaged.

Publications Committee Report by Dave Wagner... I wish to thank all the members that responded to my last request for articles.  To date, six fellow members have taken it upon themselves to step forward, research and write a feature on a number of various topics for the NEWS.  To all of them, many thanks for taking the time to volunteer and give a little bit back to the Society.  The heartfelt thanks of both the Publications Committee and the Board of Directors go out to all of you.

Issue 119 of the NEWS is currently in production.  It will feature the second part of King of the Road: The SD40 on the GM&O by author L.N. Stourer, as well as an unusual story entitled The GM&O in the Realm of Mad Men.  We will have this magazine in your hands before Christmas!

2009 GM&OHS All-Color Calendar Update... The GM&OHS will continue its all­ color calendar program for 2009 following the fine response to last year's offering.  The only change will be the absence of personalizing your calendar with a birth date.

We have contracted Rochelle Printers of Rochelle, IL to handle the 2009 calendar run.  They are among the finest small printing houses in the entire country, yet the cost of this year's calendar will not increase over last year's price.  What you will get is a twelve month all-color calendar full of your favorite GM&O action from north and south, passenger and freight, spanning three decades from the 1950's through the 1970's.  As usual, most of these photos are previously unpublished, culled from private collections by the ­Publications Committee expressly for our calendar program.

Furthermore, the images for the calendar are already scanned and ready to go to press.  We only need the final number of orders as this will be a limited run item with very few extra copies available.       ­

Enclosed with this mailing is a pink flyer which will give you additional details for ordering a 2009 GM&OHS Calendar.  So get your calendar money out of your favorite piggy bank or coffee can and get your order in as soon as possible, or come to the Annual Meeting in Union City since we will be accepting calendar orders up until 3pm the afternoon of the swap.  If you have any questions, please contact Ken Donnelly at (815) 278-0384 or kennednn@aol.com.

Modeling Committee Report by the Staff... Thanks to all the members that supported the Society by their purchase of GM&OHS #33, the Front Range Products 40' box cars with 10' doors painted in the GM&O's dark green scheme with white arched lettering.  We have just about sold out of these excellent models, although we still have a couple of sets available for $85.00 postage paid.  Please see the Society web site for further details.

The Annual Meeting Committee, in conjunction with the Modeling Committee has commissioned a special run of models for the 36th Annual Meeting.  The set will represent five pieces of equipment from Gulf Transport, the trucking subsidiary of the GM&O.  The set will include two R190 tractors, one van trailer in the silver GT scheme, one side kit equipped flat bed trailer in the red scheme and a single axle straight truck with a red cab and silver GT body.  Only 40 sets in HO scale and 15 sets in N scale will be produced.  So stop by the modeling tables at the Railroadiana Show in Union City on Saturday, October 11th to pick up your set.

The artwork for these vehicles was drawn from period photographs of the Gulf Transport fleet. The final camera-ready art was created by renowned artist Mike Vickey.  Classic Metal Works will paint the trucks for the Society and Double "R" Graphics will provide the printing for this unique set of GM&O related equipment.

Annual Model Contest... Again this year the Society is sponsoring a model contest.  The rules are simple; 1) The model must be from the GM&O or a predecessor road.  2) All scales are welcome.  3) The painting, decaling and detailing must be the work of the entrant.  4) You can enter as many models in as many classes as you desire, however, previous winners of GM&OHS awards may not be entered.  Awards will be given based upon the popular vote of the members present.  So, when you are at the show, remember to pick up a ballot and vote for your favorite model.  The classes will be as follows:

 A) Steam Locomotive     B) Diesel     C) Freight car     D) Caboose     E) Passenger car     

 F) Maintenance of Way     G) Structure, scene or miscellaneous (i.e.; truck. trailer, bus, etc.)

We will also have a GM&OHS Model Display for pieces that are not entered in the contest or have previously won a GM&OHS award.  We are asking everyone to participate, so regardless of your level of expertise, bring your models and let everyone have a look at them.

Modeling Committee Report Continued… The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

First, we want to talk about the Good--actually the excellent.  We are speaking about the new Accurail 41', 11 panel gondola.  This model has been sorely needed by the transition railroad modeler for years.  This is a well detailed kit that assembles with minimal effort in about thirty minutes.  The best part is that Accurail offers the car in the 1949 GM&O delivery scheme.  The printing is sharp and though the car is austere in nature, it is prototypically accurate.  Kudos to Accurail for doing it right!  The MSRP is $12.98 which is a bargain for such a nice model.  Though only one car number is offered, decal sheets are available from Accurail, so additional models can be renumbered.

Now we need to talk about the Bad and the Ugly.  Well to be honest, not so much ugly as just plain bad.  The Athearn GM&O SD40 was just released in July.  At first glance, it appears to be a pretty sharp model, but then one begins to take a closer look.  Remember that the GM&O had what is considered to be Phase I SD40’s, unlike this model which would be seen as a late model SD40 with the longer nose and the outside mounted truck brake cylinders.  Putting these die work inaccuracies aside and trying to be fair to Athearn, we were at least hoping other aspects of the model would be correct.

On the bright side, the red used on the car body is actually quite good, although a very noticeable oversight is Athearn neglected to paint the walkways along the hood and end platforms black.  This is Very disappointing and a Very obvious error.  Next we go to the printing which is acceptable, but the artwork is just plain BAD.  The nose insignia, which is totally incorrect, looks like an oversized F-unit nose emblem.  The wings on the cab sides are properly located, but the engine number on the battery box is printed separately, and though centered on the battery box latch, is set forward about a scale foot farther than it should be so the middle number (which should be centered under the tip of the cab side wing), sits off-center.  This is very noticeable.

The bold "GM&O" on the long hood is mis-spaced.  On either side, the first letter forward is in the correct position.  As you move aft, the letters have too much space between them and the last letter on the car body side is about a scale two feet out of place.  This is in addition to the fact that the letters sit about twelve scale inches too close to the white hood stripe.  The triangle on the end of the long hood drops too far down and the angle of the slanted edges are substantially off from the prototype.

The Switchlist is a quarterly publication of the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Historical Society, Inc. and is provided as a benefit of membership.  The Switchlist is produced for the purpose of increasing communication between members and is edited, except where noted, by Dave Wagner.  Members with information suitable for publication in the Switchlist should forward it to; GM&OHS Switchlist, P.O. Box 1753, Marion, IL. 62959.