Click here to read the April 2020 issue of The Flimsy Board from the Bremerton Northern Model Railroad club.
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Author: Anton Faulk
Time Well Spent At Home
By Alex Brikoff
This time at home could very well be a blessing in disguise. While people might be concerned with the next COVID-19 closure or announcement, I’m happy to announce that my layout is a Coronavirus free zone and that work is continuing on various projects on the layout. Having said that, I’d like to share with you a couple of photos of a set of Accurail Refrigerator cars that I built up recently. They feature Kadee whisker spring couplers, Athearn metal wheels replacing the plastic ones that came with a kit. Also, all the car numbers are unique. I did have to change one of the car numbers using techniques that were presented in last month’s “Decaling” clinic by Nick Muff and Al Carter at the Eastside Get Together Clinic. Finally, the cars were weathered using Bragdon Weathering Powders applied using a dry brushing technique.
I hope you enjoy the photos and are encouraged to work on your modeling projects while spending your time at home. Stay safe, stay healthy!
Alex
Mt Vernon NMRA Clinic Special Interest Discussion Group
By Tom Buckingham
Jim Betz and Ted Becker have been discussing some kind of online activity during the current “lock down”. To that end, Jim has created a Special Interest Discussion Group called PNWRRModelers. It can be found at:
https://groups.io/g/PNWRRModelers/
PNW Railroad Modelers is a discussion group for model railroaders in the Pacific Northwest
The “host”, Groups.io is a “replacement” for yahoo groups if you are familiar with that. If you were a member of a yahoo group you have probably already learned how to use groups.io and are active in some groups. To gain access you will need to click the “Join The Group” button and then make a post to it to introduce yourself to the other members. The first post will go to Jim and he will approve it (this discourages scoundrels) and you will be live from then on.
The only thing you have to do is to choose which type of notice for posts you will get from the group. Most will choose “Digest” mode which means that you will get one or at most two digests a day that will collect all the posts for that time period. You will get that in an email. You can read and forget, read and reply, or just ignore/delete.
According to Jim it’s really easy to use.
Tom
Bob’s Resignation And Gratitude
4th Division Membership Chairman Bob Rorabaugh steps aside from the role:
I must express my appreciation for the privilege of representing the NMRA and, in particular, our 4th Division (PNR), as the “face” to the public. My resignation was official at the end of February. These last five or six years went quickly by. It’s time to pass the baton to someone with fresh enthusiasm and ideas. It’s past time for me to actually build a layout!
Note well: I’m willing to serve and support our next Membership Chairman as others have assisted me. I’ve prepped ahead promotion material, put some procedures in place, and can actually “stand in” on occasion, if needed. Call any of the Board members you know (or me) if you are interested in what the role entails. My cell # is 206-948-9511
Again, I’m grateful for friendships formed with members of the 4D Board, help from some of you, and for this way to express my love of/interest in people. The many of you I’ve met made representing you and our shared hobby a delight.
Respectfully,
Bob “Stumpy” Rorabaugh
Scratch Building
By Russ Segner
Mark Hills is a long time local model builder focusing on D&RGW. He has weathered many of my collection of HO Rio Grande work equipment and cabooses. I saw this posted on Facebook and though it a great and complete article on scratch building. So, I am sharing it with his permission on the Grab Iron:
https://atlasrescueforum.proboards.com/thread/8014/building-rio-grande-covered-finished%C2%A0
Enjoy and post some of your model building now while we staying home.
Russ
Clinics For The Week Of March 16 Are Cancelled
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.
Tacoma Layout Tours Postponed
By Kevin Klettke
Hello Model Railroaders,
The Tacoma area layout tours which had been scheduled for the weekend of April 18th & 19th are being postponed until further notice. The current situation with the COVID-19 virus makes it imperative that we do our part to be responsible and take every measure possible to prevent possible exposure of our membership, our families and our community. We will discuss rescheduling this event when circumstances allow.
Please be safe.
Kevin
Clinic Cancelled – Eastside Get Together for March 2020
By Alex Brikoff
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!
Thanks for understanding!
Alex
Call For A Standard Gauge Group
By Ed Ives
Standard gauge trains were the premium toy/model trains in the interwar period, big, bold and tough. These have become quite the collectors items and a few of us are proposing that we form a Standard gauge running group using loose lay track and not, initially at least, a modular group. The idea is that we try out running these bold trains at shows and/or in retirement communities to see what the public reception is, understanding that these original trains may well predate the audience.
The BIG question is, are there any of you NMRA/PNR/4D members interested in participating with your Standard gauge trains and/or accessories in this exciting endeavor? If so please write to Ed Ives at Gresley7@gmal.com and do it soon, please.
Ed Ives
Bremerton Northern March 2020 Flimsy
Click here to read the March 2020 issue of The Flimsy Board from the Bremerton Northern Model Railroad club.