Cliff Green, Grab Iron Editor

The 2015-2016 4th Division (PNR, NMRA) model railroading season is under way and I anticipate another good year of clinics, train shows, layout tours, meets, and conventions. If you haven’t attended one of the many excellent clinics in this Division I highly recommend them – the presenters are skilled modelers and most of the clinics have at least one (if not more) MMR (Master Model Railroader) attending. More information on 4D clinics is available here.

Every month I add new (or re-newed) 4D members to the Grab Iron subscriber list. If you are seeing a Grab Iron post (or e-mail notification) for the first time: Welcome!

Alaska is part of the 4th Division and being geographically separated from the rest of the Division in Washington state it’s easy to overlook the strong model railroading presence in Alaska. Thank you, Marty Quaas for keeping us informed of the activities in the 49th state. Click here to see his web site.

I also want to thank the volunteers who provide clinic reports, articles, prototype trip accounts, photos, and other content for the Grab Iron and 4D web site pages. We can always use more – please e-mail me with your ideas (or finished articles and photos, etc)!

Here is a personal selection of posts from this year that I have enjoyed (whether good writing or photos or both):

Many members attended the NMRA National Convention and Train Show in Portland last month. Russ Segner (our 4D Superintendent) collected some member experiences which I will post soon.

The 4th Division is a volunteer organization. There are many ways to help out, no matter what your interests or skill levels or hobby experience – it’s all about your enthusiasm and available time. As an example I could use more help with keeping the 4D events calendar updated (as well as other 4D web site content). The Volunteer Page has more information on ways to contribute.