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Clinic Report – Mount Vernon – May 9 2019

Written by Anton Faulk
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By Dale Bearden & Karl Kleeman

Nick Muff’s “More Than” An HO Layout

May’s meeting was hosted by Nick Muff at his residence. We were privileged to visit Nick’s incredible” train room” and his Kansas City Southern HO layout. First, the “MORE THAN.” Nick has a full size F3 cab front end in his train room. It has the cab interior with all the original equipment. And if that is not enough, he has recreated part of a passenger car. The car was recreated but has an all-original interior. And he has the furnishings and accessories of the proper era.

  • Nick telling his story
  • Cab interior

Now we know that most of you have seen Nick’s train room more than once but perhaps all of you do not know the whole story. When Karl and I arrived at Nicks, we met Jim Betz, a new member of our group, and just like myself, this was his first visit to the layout. I’m sure I wasn’t the first who wanted to hear Nick explain the story of how he came to have a complete F3 cab in his basement. He set out to buy a locomotive throttle tower quadrant and possibly a brake quadrant to display. Nick learned they were scrapping locomotives at a Seattle salvage yard. He went down just looking for the throttle and brake units and was told by the owner’s son that an F3 was waiting to be scrapped. As I recall Nick’s story, Nick and the scrap yard worker set about recovering the throttle and brake units for Nick. Nick inquired about what would happen to the locomotive, and learned that it would be scrapped, so he asked about purchasing a portion of the cab. The yardman said, why don’t you just take the whole cab? Nick was hesitant so he made a deal for most of the cab, minus the nose. On the way, home his wife asked what would become of the nose. Nick replied, probably just make Toyota parts out of it. They looked at each other, decided that they really didn’t want that to happen so they turned around, and went back and made arrangements to purchase the full cab and it’s interior equipment. In order to transport the Cab economically, Nick had it cut into 3 pieces, and brought it home on a U- Haul trailer.

I asked Nick, how he got it into the basement. He said he had a slab poured and he had a friend with a crane so they lowered it onto the slab. We learned the full story of how it was reassembled, welded and painted. The question was asked what would happen to it when they move? Nick commented that one wall of the basement was specially built such that it was not a supporting wall and could be removed so that the full cab could be removed. A project like this would be intimidating for most of us. But you get the feeling nothing intimidates Nick.

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Mt Vernon Clinic

Prototype Tour of Tacoma Link

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By Dan Peters

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t take up the hobby of Model Railroading to spend a sunny summer afternoon ( well, dreary and drizzly ) reviewing spreadsheets and annual financial statements from a non-profit that I just happen to belong to. I took it up because I fell in love with trains, I love watching trains since I was growing up, the sound and the smell, and the feeling of the earth rumbling when they roll by. I loved playing with toy trains as a little kid, I imagined how I could make those toy trains look and move more like the real trains that I watched. And I got to ride real trains, to and from work, and to and from vacations.

Well, when the Spring Meet in Tacoma was announced, I thought it would be fun to add a prototype tour of my own design to the weekend. I happily entertained the idea as an alternative to attending the “business meeting” part of the Spring Meet.

My employer closed their Tacoma office several years ago, so I haven’t been to Tacoma in a while. In looking for ideas, I reminded myself that Tacoma has built a downtown Streetcar line since the last time I was there. This is not the same as Sound Transit Central Link Light Rail; this is a separate line to get people to and from their jobs downtown, and to and from a satellite parking facility across from Freighthouse Square. Best of all, it’s free to ride. Downtown businesses pick up the entire cost of the system. It’s probably so the developers making millions on all those new office buildings don’t have to pay extra to provide parking.

Oh, well, you’re probably saying to yourself, that’s just a Streetcar. Like all those people I talk to who say “Oh, well, that’s just Amtrak”. Call it a Streetcar, or call it Amtrak, call it whatever you want; it’s a real train, it’s full size, it’s a passenger train, and you can ride it. It’s the reason passenger trains were invented. It’s what we’ve got in the 21st century. And it’s why lots of us got interested in trains in the first place.

So, after the last clinic in the morning session, I gathered up my box lunch and drove downtown. I parked for free at Freighthouse Square. And the Streetcar stop was right outside, and the train was waiting. Trips are scheduled just a few minutes apart, so I’d bet there’s almost always a train waiting. Being Saturday there were plenty of seats. And they’re comfortable seats, too, not like the plastic bench seats on a Metro bus.

The train was great, too. Besides cushioned seats, they have giant picture windows, and large doors, and plenty of room for people with bicycles. It was a little bit noisier than an Amtrak train, but quieter than a Metro bus. And I like that Sound Transit “Ride The Wave” paint scheme. You just know that’s not going to last long, it must be pretty labor intensive.

The cars themselves are imported from the Czech Republic. They match the cars built for the Portland Streetcar system, the two Seattle Streetcar lines, Tucson, and Washington DC. The nomenclature can be confusing. When Portland build their first streetcar line, the supplier was a joint venture between Skoda and Inekon. The cars were assembled in Portland by United Streetcar, a nameplate of Oregon Iron Works, to comply with the federal “Buy American” law. The joint venture has since dissolved, but each partner continues to use the same design. Skoda cars are model 10T, and Inekon cars are model 12-Trio, the “T” or “Trio” indicating they are articulated into 3 sections, to accommodate sharp curves on city streets. Besides internal electrical details, the cars are externally identical, whether they carry a Skoda, Inekon, or United Streetcar nameplate. Newer Seattle cars on the First Hill line were assembled in Seattle by Pacifica Marine, who previously assembled the imported Talgo trains for Amtrak.

Regional and National conventions have “prototype tours”. Fourth Division Mini-Meets have had them, too, from time to time. My suggestion is, if there’s not a “prototype tour” to suit you, you can make your own. It sure beats spreadsheets and financial statements, any day of the week.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Link

www.traveltacoma.com/plan/link-light-rail

Dan Peters

Articles

Clinic Report – June East Side Get Together

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By Syd Schofield

NMRA, 4th Division, Pacific Northwest Region, East Side Get-Together on 6/20/2019

The Thursday gathering officially started around 7:15, Alex Brikoff, presiding.  Notable attendees were introduced and upcoming events of interest were announced.

The presentation for the evening was by Dan Kellogg based on his experience with the BNSF Northwest Division.  He had a slide show of his N-scale three-tier shelf layout.  The spare(d) 10×10 home bedroom was configured for minimal disruption in consideration of future restoration.  The layout was built on a lightweight modular design with that in mind.  Dan showed the work-in-progress of the layout with one level, the downtown Seattle area, almost complete.     

Dan Kellogg Introduces his Clinic
Clinic Attendees

The model-of-the-month was awarded to J. J. Johnston for his multi-story apartment building.  Photo(s)-of-the-month was given to Syd Schofield for his pictures of the restored and operating Virginia and Truckee Railroad McKeen motor car in Carson City.

The meeting concluded with the door prize drawings with the MOTM and the POTM winners getting first choices.

The regular 4th Thursday of the month meetings will resume in September after the usual summer break of July and August.  The summer railroad-related pictures and stories will then be presented and discussed.

Syd

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

Upcoming Clinic – East Side Get Together – June 20

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By Alex Brikoff

The June 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will meet on June 20, 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 be making announcements about rail events that will be occurring in the next month and during the summer months.   We will also have our Model of the Month and Rail Photo of the Month contest.  Don’t pass up this opportunity to show off your modeling and photography skills!  Bring your latest scratchbuilts, kit bashes or plain cool looking models to compete with your fellow modelers for the coveted Model of the Month award.  Also, be sure and bring photos from your latest railfan trip!  Anyone go to Wyoming or Utah for the inaugural run of the UP 4014 to Transcon 150?  Remember, if it’s on rail and you have a photo of it, you’re good to go!!

This month’s Clinic will be: “Modeling the BNSF Northwest Division in N-Scale”.  Dan Kellogg will be here to present his clinic that shows how he is building an N-scale layout based upon the modern operations of the BNSF from Seattle to Bellingham and up to the Cascade Tunnel on Stevens Pass.  The layout will be a three level shelf layout connected by a helix.  The clinic will provide an orientation to the layout plan and update on progress to date.  The clinic will also feature the actual three-level fabricated aluminum swing-gate that will soon be installed in the layout room to allow access to the room, while still affording continuous model train operation on all three levels of the layout. 

We will have door prizes, refreshments and snacks available as always.  Alex Brikoff

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

North End Clinic’s Annual Home Layout Tour – June 6th

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By Lisa Murray

This Thursday, June 6, will be the NMRA 4th division’s north end clinic’s annual home layout tour.

We are pleased to announce that there will be 3 amazing layouts on our tour this year. While it *may* involve a bit of extra driving on your part, it will be worth it.

The tour starts at 7:00pm at the Swamp Creek and Western layout which is located at the Edmonds Amtrak station. They have been gracious to be open and operate trains for us. If you haven’t seen this HO scale layout, you will be impressed at the level of detail of many of the scratch built structures. 
Swamp Creek will be open from 7:00 to 9:00pm.

Here is a link for more information about Swamp Creek:  http://scwrra.org
Maps and information for the other tour stops at the Swamp Creek location. The other two layouts on the tour are open from 7:00pm to 10:00pm. Here is information about the layouts, which are both located south of Edmonds:

  • The first is Burr Stewart’s Burrlington Railroad HO layout. Many of you have visited Burr’s layout before, but as train layouts are always a work in progress, there is always something new to see when you visit.  Here’s a link to Burr’s blog about his layout:  http://burrlingtonnorthern.blogspot.com

These tours are open to NMRA members and a guest. If possible, please RSVP to Lisa Murray at mattinata@outlook.com or 206.310.6778 so we can get a sense of how many will be attending. 

Layout Tour

Upcoming Clinic – East Side Get Together – May 16

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By Alex Brikoff

The May 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will meet on May 16, 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 be making announcements about rail events that will be occurring in the next month and during the summer months.   We will also have our Model of the Month and Rail Photo of the Month contest.  Don’t pass up this opportunity to show off your modeling and photography skills!  Bring your latest scratchbuilts, kit bashes or plain cool looking models to compete with your fellow modelers for the coveted Model of the Month award.  Also, be sure and bring photos from your latest railfan trip!  Anyone go to Wyoming or Utah for the inaugural run of the UP 4014 to Transcon 150?  Remember, if it’s on rail and you have a photo of it, you’re good to go!!

Bob Rorabaugh will also have the “Buy ‘n Sell” table available during the evening.   So if you’ve got anything model railroad related you’d like to find a new home for, contact Bob and he’ll help you do that.

This month’s Clinic Topic will be: “Building Super Elevation into Trackwork”.  Robin Peel will be here to present his clinic that shows the techniques and methods that Robin uses to build super elevation into his track work to improve appearance and performance.

We will have door prizes, refreshments and snacks available as always. 

Alex Brikoff

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

Clinic Report – April East Side Get Together

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By Alex Brikoff

The April gathering of the Eastside Get Together Clinic at the Redmond Community Center was started promptly at 7:15 PM Thursday evening by Alex Brikoff.  VIPs in attendance (4D PNR Officers and Master Model Railroaders and new attendees) were introduced.   

Some of the significant gatherings and conventions coming up this spring and summer are:

Kootenay Express, PNR Regional Convention, May 29 – June 2, 2019 in Cranbrook, BC

4th Division Annual Spring Meet, June 22 at TCC Science Building (Tacoma Community College) from 9 AM to 4 PM

NMRA National Convention, July 7 – 13, 2019 in Salt Lake City, UT

National Narrow Gauge Convention, September 4-7, 2019 in Sacramento, CA

Bob Rorabaugh brought several estate sale model railroad items for adoption at the “Mart Table”.  He also mentioned that the “Mart Table” will be open at every Eastside Clinic going forward.  If you have something you’d like to sell or, possibly trade to contact Bob at the clinic for more information.

The evening’s clinic was a given by local model railroad craftsman, John Paschal, on “Building and Detailing Specific Scenes”.  John presented some of his acquired knowledge of researching and modeling specific scenes from prototype information.  He presented slides to demonstrate the more critical aspects of gleaning information from historical documents, photos and maps to accurately reproduce railroad-related scenes as is practically possible. 

  • Clinic Attendees

Mitch Schoonejans and John Owens each displayed several railroad photos.  Photographer and author, Alex Brikoff, brought in a copy of his published book on photographs of Kansas.

Model of the Month was awarded to John Paschal for his HO scale early 20th-century wood frame store. 

The next Eastside Get Together Clinic will be on May 16, 2019.  Don’t forget to check the 4th Division Grab Iron at https://www.4dpnr.com for more details!  

Alex

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society Meeting Saturday March 30th

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By David Yadock

Yes, this year starts off with celebrating the 165th anniversary of the Pennsy Horseshoe Curve!  At the time this was an engineering marvel and is still in operation today allowing freight to quickly move across the mountains of Pennsylvania.  The meeting is held at the Northwest Railroad Archives building in Burien.  The Archives location is at 425 SW 153rd Street in Burien.  The meeting will be held on Saturday March 30th and starts at 12:30 PM.

Al Baker will do the honors of presenting a condensed version of the History of the Pennsylvania Railroad from the perspective of an Altoona native.  This is the presentation he gave at the 50th annual meeting of the PRRT&HS last year.  He will also provide videos of the Horseshoe Curve as it was when he was in high school.  This presentation was well received at the Annual meeting and should provide a wealth of information about the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Horseshoe Curve, and the local Altoona area.

Mike Bergman will be bringing several books to the meeting.  These will all be for sale.  If you want books about the PRR, NYC, EL, B&O, or LV now is the time to get them.  The proceeds will go to the National Railway Historical Society.     

As always, everyone is invited to attend.  There is no cost to come to the meeting.  The meeting goes to about 5 PM.  After the meeting there is a no-host casual dinner across the street at Vince’s.

Railroad History

Upcoming Clinic – East Side Get Together – March 21

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By Alex Brikoff

The March 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will meet on March 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

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.    

Bob Rorabaugh will also have the “Buy ‘n Sell” table available during the evening.   So if you’ve got anything model railroad related you’d like to find a new home for, contact Bob and he’ll help you do that.

This month’s Clinic topic will be our much anticipated: “Eastside Get Together Mini Clinic Event”.  There will be four of us presenting six mini clinics on various model railroading topics.  These mini clinics are designed to give you a glimpse into some of our favorite modeling techniques.  Although they may be just quick techniques, it is still something that is useful to share with our fellow modelers.

Syd Schofield Wheels and Rails at the Interface  A close-up explanation of how rail and wheels interact with each other at point of contact.
Syd Schofield Rock Casting Tools and Materials Tools and materials needed for creating rock castings.
Syd Schofield Track Guard Rails Turnouts and Crossings Bridges, Tunnels and Trestles
Russ Segner Layout Design Designing layouts for operation
JJ Johnston Easy Roof Shingling Overview, tools and technique
CJ Turner Using Acrylic Paint Overview, preparation and use

We will have door prizes, refreshments and snacks available as always. 

Alex Brikoff

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

Venue Change – March 14 Mount Vernon Clinic

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By Al Carter

For this month’s clinic, we are unable to meet at our usual location due to circumstances beyond our control. Fortunately we have found an alternate location – a room in the Burlington Public Library.  Here are the directions:

Burlington Public Library
820 E Washington Ave.
Burlington, WA 98233

Highway 20 to Fairhaven Avenue,
East on Fairhaven Avenue (past Suzy’s old hobby shop),
Right on Anacortes,
Left on East Washington Avenue

Enter through the front doors, conference rooms are off the lobby.  We are in the Skagit River Side room.

Mt Vernon Clinic, News