O Scale Hall of Fame 1995

Frank Ellison was an O scale model railroader with no equal. His approach to model railroading was unique. He treated the layout as a stage and the trains as actors. He wrote articles about the roles the trains played on the stage. Ellison was one of the first to describe a card order system in order to “direct” his trains. Throughout his modeling career Ellison authored 116 articles about model railroading and inspired generations of modelers to come after him. Although he was first published in 1940, his seminal work was “The Art of Model Railroading” originally published in 1944 and reprinted in 1965 by O Scale Hall of Fame Model Railroader magazine.

Ellison was not just a theoretician. He used the systems he described. His O scale railroad, The Delta Lines, was constructed to facilitate operation, and, I seem to recall it was outside third rail.

One of Ellison’s legacies to the hobby is the scale mile or “smile” as he termed it. The length of a smile depended on the speed of the “fast” clock used. A train running at a scale 60 mph covers a scale mile in one real minute. It travels a smile in one “fast clock minute”. Divide a scale mile by the clock ratio to get the length of a smile. Ellison liked to use the “five minute hour” or a 12x fast clock. Ellison called his model mileposts “smileposts.”

Frank was elected to the O Scale Hall of Fame in 1995 at the O Scale National Convention in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Joe Gianovario - OST

Early importer of O scale brass, founder of Champion Decal Company.

Rollin Lobaugh was one of the pillars of the O scale community. He started his model business in 1931. By 1941 Lobaugh offered an astounding 11 locomotive kits ranging from a 4-4-0 to a 4-6-6-4 Challenger and just about every wheel arrangement in between. Lobaugh also offered over 120 freight car kits. Lobaugh offered a “Warrantee of Fine Craftsmanship: Any purchaser of Lobaugh equipment who is not satisfied will, upon return of the equipment within thirty days, receive a refund of the full purchase price, plus a refund of all transportation costs paid by the purchaser.” Mr. Lobaugh liked to boast that no one had ever taken him up on his offer.

Compared to today’s imports many Lobaugh locomotives may seem crude, and they were in regard to fine details, but they were mechanical masterpieces. Many are still running today. Lobaugh produced models from 1931 through 1965, first under Mr Lobaugh himself and then under Earl Allison, the chief engineer and designer after Mr. Lobaugh’s death. Since then the Lobaugh line has passed through many hands over the years, getting split here and there. It currently is divided among three concerns, Locomotive Workshop, Trackside Specialties and Stevenson Preservation Lines. This last company` probably has the most extensive collection and has resurrected the Lobaugh SP Mikado kit.

Rollin Lobaugh was elected to the O Scale Hall of Fame in 1995 at the O nationals in New Jersey. In 1996, he was enrolled in the Model Railroad Industry Association (MRIA) Hall of Fame.

Though long gone, Lobaugh remains a pillar of the O scale community both in material presence and in spirit.

Joe Gianovario - OST