Ed Liesse
Forty-five attendees were welcomed by host JJ Johnston to the Eastside Get-Together hoping to hear a presentation by the illustrious Al Carter, a former member of the group who opted for new surroundings after retirement and moved north. In fact, Al must have felt intimidated coming back for his presentation since he had several members of the Whidbey Island group with him! Bodyguards, perhaps! More on that later.
JJ did his usual introductions of notables including our MMRs CJ Riley, Max Maginness and Di Voss. There were several visitors in attendance that we hope will continue to join us. Announcements were made by Russ Segner about the upcoming Spring Meet at the Embassy Suites in Tukwila on Saturday, May 18 followed by Layout Tours on Sunday, May 19. You must attend the Meet to get the maps for the Layout Tours. The annual membership meeting will be held during the Meet.
Superintendent Ken Liesse had several announcements regarding 4D activities including the election of an Assistant Superintendent and two Directors (don’t forget to get your ballots mailed before the May 10 deadline!), and the need to keep your email address updated with the NMRA. More and more information from 4D, PNR and NMRA is being transmitted by email, so you don’t want to miss out. Email any changes to me, Ed Liesse. JJ also read a letter from the NMRA thanking the group for their $180 donation to the NMRA display at the CaliforniaStateRailroadMuseum.
There were a number of entries in the model contest this month. Rich Blake, one of Al Carter’s entourage and chair of the Skagit Valley and Whidbey Clinic, took the honors with his greatly kit-bashed On30 Bachmann Climax engine.
The feature of the evening was the presentation by Al Carter on “The Tabooma County Railway: Choosing a Private Road Name – Developing a Plausible History.” He explained how he created “Tabooma County” in Washington and developed his track plan based on materials and industries within that county and the surrounding ones. Throughout his entertaining presentation, he included some mini-clinics on how to do some of the effects he incorporated in his layout, such as streets, signs on buildings to look older and faded, using hollow-core doors as a layout base, etc. The presentation was well received even though there was a lot of good-natured ribbing between the presenter and the audience!
As usual, we had great door prizes, thanks to The Inside Gateway, recently moved to Woodinville. Steve Depolo gave us a box of half-off items, some with a $19 value, so don’t miss future door prize drawings!
We’ll gather again on Thursday, May 16 to hear a presentation by Mike O’Connell. We hope to see you there!
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