The Model Railroading Guide for Train Enthusiasts from age 3 to 93!
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Category: Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic
The Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) monthly clinic, serving communities on the east side of Lake Washington (Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland, Issaquah, Sammamish, Bothell etc)
The Clinics for the week of March 16 are cancelled due to the situation with the COVID-19 virus. As the situation changes day to day, the events calendar is being updated as needed.
Clinics cancelled this week:
Mount Vernon Clinic, Monday March 16th
Eastside Clinic, Wednesday March 18th
Olympia Clinic, Friday March 20th
If you have a question about the status of an event, you can check the events calendar or contact the clinic organizer who can be found on the clinics page.
Due to the health risks associated with the current COVID-19 Coronavirus epidemic, the City of Redmond is acting on King County Public Health’s latest recommendations to close the Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village until, at least, the end of March. All events and meetings have been cancelled until such time that the Center reopens.
Consequently, the Eastside Get
Together Clinic on March 18, 2020 has been CANCELLED due to the Redmond
Community Center being closed for health concerns
associated with COVID-19. The Eastside
Get Together Clinic will return as soon as possible when these health risks have
passed and the Redmond Community Center reopens! We will stay current on all developments
regarding this and forward them on to you through the Grab Iron.
Meanwhile, stay healthy and, hopefully,
all this will soon be behind us!
Don’t Forget: Starting in February 2020, the Eastside Clinic will be held on the 3rd WEDNESDAYof every month at least through June. (Time and location remain the same.)
The NMRA/PNR Fourth Division Redmond Clinic for February was held Wednesday evening at the Redmond Community Center, Alex Brikoff presiding. The gathering was brought to order at 7:05 PM. Notable and new attendees were introduced followed by upcoming events of interest being announced. Refer to the Grab-Iron calendar for details.
There were numerous Show and Tell (Bring and Brag) items. Several outstanding dioramas were presented. A Sn3 caboose and a 2×5 foot blank/starter module were among those shown. A showpiece for kids at the regional train shows, made up from foot square CNC milled “rails” panels in their own carrying case, was offered to get the young folks interested and occupied. This was possibly the most relevant attraction for the future of the hobby to be seen at our shows.
The
program for the evening were two modelling clinics presented by our counter
parts at the Mt. Vernon Clinic.
The
first was presented by Ted Becker as part of our Mini Clinic Event scheduled
for March. Ted showed us how he installs
and utilizes small, inexpensive RC model servos to operate as switch machines
for turnouts. Ted brought several items to show the details in adapting servos as
switch machines.
The second clinic was a joint presentation by Nick Muff and Al Carter about creating and applying model railroad decals and graphics. Nick first showed us how to create custom decals by researching the graphics online on Google. He then showed how to import the graphics into a popular graphics program on your computer such as Auto Sketch and scale the graphic to the correct size along with how to edit the graphic to enhance the visual quality. He then showed us how print the decal onto decal paper using an ALPS printer. Al Carter then showed us the techniques and tools he used to apply the decal to the model after preparing the surface. He also discussed the pros and cons of the various tools that he uses to apply the decals.
Please
note that the Model/Photo of the Month Contests and Door Prize Give Aways have
been suspended due to lack of donations for prizes.
Refreshments (coffee and cookies) were provided by C. J. Turner.
The Eastside Get Together Clinic on January 15, 2020 has been CANCELLED due to the inclement weather conditions. The Eastside Get Together Clinic will return next month on February 19. Please watch the Grab Iron for an announcement about next month’s Clinic. Stay warm and drive safe!
The January 2020 Eastside Get Together Clinic will have its monthly meeting on January 15, 2020. Please note: that the third Wednesday is our new meeting day going forward until the June 2020 clinic.
The Clinic will meet at the: Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village 6505 176TH AVE NE, Rm. 202 REDMOND WA 98052-4930
Doors open at 7:00 PM and meeting starts promptly at 7:15 PM
We will begin by mentioning any noteworthy, upcoming model
railroad and railfan events in the area.
Let’s start off the New Year by bringing our best models and photos to
the clinic for our Model of the Month
and Rail Photo of the Month contest and show off what we’ve been up to in
our train rooms so far this winter! The
results from our voting last month have been tabulated for the “Mini Clinic Event” topics. The top four most voted for topics are:
Wiring for DCC, Bus and feeder wires, Accessories
Servo switch machines
Fine-tuning and maintaining locos
Weathering rolling stock and/or engines
I already have a volunteer for the DCC clinic but, at this point,
I still need three more volunteers to step forward for the other three
topics. Here is your chance to share
with your fellow modelers your knowledge in a particular topic. So, please, let me know if you are interested
in presenting a short, 15-minute, high level clinic on one of the above topics.
This month’s program will be presented by John Morrison. John will present three short programs about the rack railways in Switzerland. The three presentations will be titled:
Brienz Rothorn Bahn
(Railway):
A rack railway in central Switzerland that climbs 7500 feet through some
spectacular scenery.
The Locomotives and System ABT Rack
Riggi Rack
Railways:
Vitznau-Rigi Bahn and Arth-Rigi Bahn
We will have refreshments and snacks available as always.
The NMRA/PNR Fourth Division Redmond Clinic for December was held Thursday evening at the Redmond Community Center, Alex Brikoff presiding. The gathering was brought to order at 7:17 PM. Notable and new attendees were introduced followed by upcoming events of interest being announced. Refer to the Grab-Iron calendar for details.
***PLEASE
NOTE:
An
important announcement was regarding the day change of the Eastside
Clinic. Beginning in JANUARY 2020,
the Eastside Clinic will be held on the 3rd WEDNESDAY of every
month at least through June. The
meeting room and start time will remain the same.
There
was no Model or Photo of the Month contest this month as there were no entries.
This
evening was the annual Dirty Santa gift exchange. The usual door prize
random pick format was used with modifications for the Dirty Santa twist.
Everyone in attendance brought a holiday wrapped model railroad-themed gift with
only the model scale marked, if applicable. Only the size, shape and
weight of the package disclosed the contents. Upon the gift pick, it is
unwrapped and revealed to the group, an important part of the process.
The
first drawing, perhaps the least beneficial, started the process and continued until
the last item is picked. Starting with the second drawing, “stealing”
previously picked items is allowed. Any gift may only be “stolen” twice
before the holder retains permanent possession. To even the process the original
picker can then “steal” any item, resulting in a fresh pick from the gift
supply or a trade with the “thief.” During and after the drawing and
“stealing”, side negotiations for redistribution occurred.
Seasonally appropriate (although non-alcoholic) refreshments (coffee and cookies) were provided by C. J. Turner and Di Voss. Stronger beverages were rumored to be available at undisclosed, offsite locations.
The December 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will have its monthly meeting on December 19, 2019.
The Clinic will meet at the: Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village 6505 176TH AVE NE, Rm. 202 REDMOND WA 98052-4930
Doors open at 7:00 PM and meeting starts promptly at 7:15 PM
We will begin by mentioning any noteworthy, upcoming model
railroad and railfan events in the area.
We will also have our Model of
the Month and Rail Photo of the Month contest. This year, our “Mini Clinic Event”in March
2020, will be done a bit differently.
This month, we will be voting as a group to select four Mini-Clinic
topics from the list of topics we put together last month. The winners will be
announced at the end of this month’s clinic.
We will be having our annual Christmas“Dirty Santa Gift Exchange” this
month. Everyone is asked to bring a
small gift to participate. It is
requested that the gift be inexpensive (less than $10 – $15 value) and gift
wrapped with ONLY the scale marked on it if necessary (no names).
We will have refreshments and snacks available as always. The winners of the contests will have first choice of gifts from the “Dirty Santa Gift Table”.
See you there!!
**Clinic Change Next Month**
Also, please note that starting in January, the Redmond Eastside Get Together Clinic will be moving to the third WEDNESDAY instead the third THURSDAY. This will be our new meeting day until the end of the clinic year in June. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but we didn’t have much say in the matter.
The
NMRA/PNR Fourth Division Redmond Clinic for November was held Thursday evening
at the Redmond Community Center, Alex Brikoff presiding. The gathering
was brought to order at 7:15 PM. Notable attendees were introduced and
upcoming events of interest were announced. The Grab-Iron newsletter will
furnish schedule and content particulars.
***PLEASE
NOTE:
One
important announcement was regarding the day change of the Eastside
Clinic. Beginning in JANUARY 2020,
the Eastside Clinic will be held on the 3rd WEDNESDAY of every
month at least until June. The
meeting room and start time will remain the same.
Model of the Month was by Dan Kellog. He showed an HO scale diorama of the Chittiden Locks railroad bridge that will be used on his layout. John Paschal showed three photos of steam locomotives at the East Broad Top Railroad repository/storage facility for Photo(s) of the Month.
The
evening’s clinic was by Russ Segner. He
presented an excellent clinic on the basics of model railroad scenery. He discussed scenery design and
considerations of technique based on his Sn3 home layout.
The
winners of the Model of the Month and Photo of the Month were the first to
select from many great door prizes that were available that evening. The
remainder were dispersed with the usual blind jar drawings, manned by Anton
Faulk.
C.
J. Turner was kind enough to once again provide our refreshments.
The
December gathering will be the yearly tradition “Dirty Santa” gift
exchange. Everyone is encouraged to bring a railroad-related, identified
by scale (if applicable) and unidentified on the wrapper. The random pick
drawing is for these items of approximately $10 in value. The somewhat
complicated and resultant, occasionally gentle chiding process will be
explained at the meeting. Side negotiations for redistribution are
permitted.
The November 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will have its monthly meeting on November 21, 2019.
The Clinic will meet at the: Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village 6505 176TH AVE NE, Rm. 202 REDMOND WA 98052-4930
Doors open at 7:00 PM and meeting starts promptly at 7:15 PM
Besides bringing everyone up to date on the noteworthy model railroad and railfan events coming up, we’ll also be announcing some major changes coming to our clinic after the first of the year. You’ll definitely want to make note of those changes! We’ll also have our Model of the Month contest and Rail Photo of the Month contest. So, please bring your models and photos for the contests! Winners will have first choice of many fine items from our Door Prize table.
This month’s clinic will be presented by Russ Segner and will be the first of our new “Back to Basics Clinic Series”. Russ’ clinic will be entitled “Basic Scenery Techniques: Theory and Practice”. Russ will present his thoughts and ideas about basic scenery techniques which will include “geo-forming” hills, rock cliffs, creeks and other water features followed by how he installs ground cover, ballasting, shrubs and trees. He will then actually demonstrate these ideas and techniques on a small module that he has been working on.
We will have refreshments and snacks available as always. We’ll also have a great selection of Door Prizes to give away at the end of the clinic.
The National Model Railroad Association Fourth
Division of the Pacific Northwest Region (4d PNR NMRA) Eastside Get Together
Clinic for October was held Thursday evening at the Redmond Community Center,
Alex Brikoff presiding. The gathering was brought to order and the
program began at 7:15 PM. At that time, notable attendees were introduced
and upcoming events of interest were announced.
The Grab-Iron newsletter will furnish event times, schedules and other
event details.
For the model of the month, Chris Cooney showed several HO scale buildings to be used on his HOn3 layout.
Syd Schofield had a photo of #478, the narrow-gauge steam locomotive, one of three ALCO K-28 type on the Durango and Silverton railroad, the prototype of an On3 model he showed earlier this year. Bob Rorabaugh showed a model tree typical of the massive trees brought down in the early lumber harvest in the Sierras and Cascades.
George Chambers presented pictures and stories of his summer trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad, and the Alaska Railroad.
Bob Stafford showed pictures of his recent Union Pacific 4014 “Big Boy” 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive excursion from Cheyenne, where it was restored, to Ogden for the 150th Trans-Continental railroad Golden Spike anniversary. There was a huge gathering along the entire way and massive attendance at the Promontory Point Historical Site.
First choice door prize selection model of the
month and photo of the month. The remainder were dispersed by the usual
drawing method, manned by Anton Faulk.
C. J. Turner was kind enough to once again
provide our refreshments.