By Jeff Moorman

February 3 marked a milestone for the Seattle-North group. We were able to run our first train on a continuous loop of T-TRAK modules. Our guest speaker, Lowell Smiley from United Northwest Model RR Club (UNW), brought along a couple of modules we were able to connect with Dennis’ modules.

They left the train running all meeting long. Every time there was a lull in the conversation, you could hear the train over at the side of the room circling around the “layout.” It was music to our ears (or my ears anyway). I have some pictures that I am not going to have time to get posted. But, I will include them next time.

Lowell is a model railroad advisor for 4H. UNW started doing this as an outreach program for youth. He explained that their program began with just three 3 kids, 10 to 13 years old. Using T-TRAK made it easy to start a program and the small module size made it easy for every participant to take a piece of the railroad home with them. Not every kid is interested, but those that are really like the hands on aspect. Plus, building a T-TRAK module is not as intimidating as building something larger, although most participants end up with more than one module.

The program has been growing and they have monthly meetings in addition to a few scheduled shows. And now that things are up and running, the emphasis is to look beyond the plain track and scenery, and use the program to learn about history and geography. He ended his discussion by talking about the potential for yards and junctions so that they could do more than just run trains in circles.

It was interesting to see that some of the T-TRAK aspects that were appealing to the 4H program are also appealing the Seattle-North attendees, especially ease of start-up, simple wiring, and small module size.

Thanks, Lowell, for sharing with us.

Show and tell was mostly talking about the modules that Lowell brought and how they linked up with what we had. There was also discussion about what some members learned about T-TRAK by talking to exhibitors at the Science Center Show.

The evening ended with a brief chat about what sort of operation was possible on modules and what type the group might prefer.

Our next meeting promises the continuation of the operations discussion just mentioned, a little track planning exercise, and a mini-mini clinic on determining the color of something before color photos. Plus, of course, whatever you bring for show and tell.

Also in March come prepared to let us know if you want any T-TRAK module kits (straight or corner, N or HO). We will try to get these by the April meeting.

Our next meeting is March 3 and the one after that is April 7.

We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) just north of 175th Street, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Note that there is still a lot of construction along this stretch of Aurora. Therefore, it might be best to be going southbound so you can make a right-hand turn into the church driveway immediately after passing the Deseret location.

Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. Enter the lower level of the church from the parking lot at the rear. Doors open around 7:00 PM, announcements at 7:15, and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.

Happy St Patrick’s Day!