Skip to main content

Volunteers Please Sign Up For The PSC Show

Written by Anton Faulk
Leave a Comment

By David Yadock

Do you want to spread the joy of model railroading to the greater community of Seattle? You bet!

Yes, the Pacific Science Center Show is January 19–21, 2019 (MLK weekend) and we still need volunteers. This is a great way to help the Fourth Division and spread the love of model railroading with the public. It only takes a few hours.

To Volunteer You Need To:

There are many ways that you can help make the show a success:

  1. Staff the outreach table to convince new members to join the NMRA
  2. Tend a hands-on model railroad for kids
  3. Teach a short class in any aspect of modeling (rocks, trees, weathering, you name it!)
  4. Help us load-in or load-out. We need you during the time slots below:
    • Friday load-in: 5 – 9 PM
    • Saturday: 6AM – 6PM
    • Sunday: 9AM – 6PM
    • Monday: 9AM – 6PM
    • Monday load-out: 6 – 9 PM

Model Train Show, News

Happy Thanksgiving

Written by Anton Faulk
Leave a Comment

By Russ Segner

I attended the Annual Meeting of the Northwest Railroad Archive last Wednesday. The vision of Northwest Archive is to “Promote world-wide access to Pacific Northwest railroad heritage.” We share many common threads with this effort. Many of us model Northwest railroads, the towns and cities they served. So, we benefit greatly from the vast collection of information, photographs and maps the volunteers there make available to us on line. Where would we be if someone had not taken the time to make those photos and plans available to the manufacturers and writers of books and periodicals about railroads?

We, in turn have many opportunities to share our interest in railroading with the broader public when we take our modules to train shows and several public events. This year over Thanksgiving we will have three modular layouts plus a small On30 display of mine at MOHAI in Seattle. Like our annual show at Pacific Science Center, this effort will need lots of volunteers to help. Our modular guys build and bring their models, but they could use some help with the crowds and spell the operators for breaks.
So, if you have some time to give, Friday, Saturday or Sunday, give me a call at 206-200-2211 and I will put you in touch with one of the modular groups.

Russ

Model Train Show, News

Clinic Report – East Side Get Together, November

Written by Anton Faulk
Leave a Comment

By Syd Schofield

East Side Get Together Clinic Report, November 15, 2018

The November gathering of the East Side Get Together Clinic at the Redmond Community Center commenced promptly at 7:13 Thursday evening by Alex Brikoff.  VIPs in attendance (4D PNR Officers and Master Model Railroaders) were introduced as well as some folks that we haven’t seen for a while. Some upcoming events of interest were announced.

Clinic introduction by Alex Brikoff

The first annual Seattle MOHAI Train Show at the MOHAI Museum (Museum of History and Industry) on south Lake Union will be held over Thanksgiving weekend. There will be three modular groups in attendance as well as a small number of single person displays, all from the 4th Division.
The show hours are: 


    Friday 11/23 –from 10 am until 5 pm.

    Saturday 11/24 – the show from 10 am until 8 pm.

    Sunday 11/25 the show from 10 am until 5 pm.

Volunteers are NEEDED and are asked call Ed Ives 425-391-3313 or e-mail Gresley7@gmail.com.

The Pacific Science Center Train Show is at the Seattle Center during Martin Luther King Day weekend on January 18 through 21. Volunteers are also NEEDED and are asked to contact David Yadock for more information and scheduling.

The March 2019 East Side Get Together Clinic will be our Mini-clinic Event called “How I do Stuff on my Layout”. It will be a series of ten-minute presentations of favorite modeling methods presented by members and attendees of the Eastside Clinic.  Three of six slots are already taken, so we need three more volunteers to round out the evening. The signup sheet will be at clinic through February.

The evening’s presentation was “Create Scale Detail from Online Images” by Bob Rorabaugh. Online photos of “real” materials and details are printed to scale and used to replicate those same details in a representative model scene.  Bob showed his techniques and shared his thoughts on portraying a scene of activity with considerations for viewer perspective with a diorama. Bob also showed and passed around some actual samples of the items he used in his model work.  

Bob’s models with scale detail

Read More

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

Upcoming Clinic – East Side Get Together – November 15

Written by Anton Faulk
Leave a Comment

By Alex Brikoff

The November 2018 Eastside Get Together Clinic will meet on November 15, 2018.

As always, the Clinic will be 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 for the fall months ahead. We will also have a Model of the Month contest and Rail Photo of the Month contest. So, please bring your best models and photos for the contests! Winners will have first choice of many fine items from our Door Prize table.

Please note that we will also have a sign-up sheet for our “Mini Clinic Event” next March. We will only have enough time for six clinicians, so the sign up is going to be first come, first serve. Meanwhile, be thinking about any favorite modeling techniques that you’d like to share with the group.

This month’s clinic “Create Scale Detail from Online Images” will be presented by Bob Rorabaugh. Bob will show us how to add a lot of detail to our layouts, dioramas and models. He researches photos of the details online, printing them to the correct scale and then incorporates them into his model work. The result will add an incredible amount of interesting detail to anyone’s modeling. Bob has presented this clinic last spring at the PNR Regional Convention in Portland to a very well receiving audience. He is also a very detail-oriented model builder that has won several model of the month contests in recent times.

We will have refreshments and snacks available as always. We’ll also have a great selection of Door Prizes to give away at the end of the clinic.
Alex

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

Upcoming Clinic – Mount Vernon Clinic – November 8

Written by Anton Faulk
Leave a Comment

By Tom Buckingham

At our November 8 clinic Mark Malmkar will dazzle us with photos and information he gathered while spending 2 weeks on the other side of the world!

The full program for the evening will be:

  • Review of upcoming events and clinics
  • Display your work! We invite everyone to bring model railroad items to display in the Showcase. It can be a completed model, work in progress, new purchase, old favorite, photo, book or any other item model railroad related you would like to share. These will be displayed on the long counter space we now have available.
  • Tool & Tips: If you’ve found a tool or gadget especially helpful, bring it in and share the benefits with the group.
  • Build Contest: Bring your entry forms … and bring your projects for the build contest. Let’s see who’s doing what!
  • Clinic Topic: Russian Railroads and Railroad Museums

Meeting place:
Mount Vernon Senior Center
1401 Cleveland St., Mount Vernon
Time: 7:00 pm

Read More

Mt Vernon Clinic

Snohomish County Railfans Monthly Meetings

Written by Anton Faulk
Leave a Comment

By Mike Rubin

The Snohomish County Railfans group gathers monthly to enjoy slideshows and video presentations. Visitors are welcome.

WHO: Snohomish County Railfans

WHAT: Slide and video presentations.

WHERE: Hilton Lake Fire Station 12, 3525 108th St. SE Everett, WA 98208

Fire Station Website

WHEN: Monthly: Second Wednesday of the month – 7:30 P.M. October through June.
Remaining dates for 2018-19:
November 7, December 12, January 9, February 13, March 13, April 10, May 8, and June 12

FREE.

EMAIL: If you’d like to be placed on our email notification list, please email Bob Alkire

Mike Rubin

News

Volunteers – No It’s Not What You Think

Written by Anton Faulk
Leave a Comment

By Ed Ives

Years ago I used to shadow the 4D; attend a clinic or two; pay to go to the PSC train show; a train nut wannabe but never a member of anything. Well at one of those PSC shows I encountered Roger Ferris on duty at the membership stand. Roger grabbed me by the metaphorical scruff of the neck and convinced me that I really needed to sign up to the NMRA. You know Roger, he could sell ice to Eskimos and have them enjoy the experience. He made sure that I subsequently didn’t go off the boil so to speak and here I am so many years later.

I’ve slowly got more involved in 4D operations, the Hi-Railer’s etc., and from time to time needing help. Of course sending out a message for help, volunteers, realizes minimal response. My thinking was if I keep on making these requests the results would be different but sadly not so. I then got to remembering Roger saying to me, “You have to ask people face to face. You will get results that way”. Ah the very Rev. Roger Ferris. So imagine one cold frosty morning as you go out the front door you just might be approached by a fellow model railroader saying, “Would you not like to volunteer for ……….?” You just might say yes rather than freeze to death on the spot and who knows in the end you might enjoy the experience of being more connected to and more involved in 4D. Try it you just might like it.

MOHAI Train Show

Ed

Model Train Show, News

Clinic Report – East Side Get Together, October

Written by Anton Faulk
1 Comment

By Syd Schofield

The October gathering of the East Side Get Together at the Redmond Community Center commenced by Alex Brikoff promptly at 7:10 Thursday evening. VIPs in attendance were introduced and upcoming events of interest were announced. Alex also solicited the audience for possible nominees for the Golden Grab Iron Award. This is an annual award to be given to an exemplary 4th Division member at every year’s Spring Meet. Nominees and their bios are to be submitted to Ted Becker at rail.bird@att.net. See the Grab Iron for further details.

Alex also announced plans for an evening of Mini-Clinics, or “How I do Stuff on my Layout” for the March 2019 clinic. Here is a great opportunity, for everyone that wants, to share with us how you do something on your layout or in your model building. Although participation is optional, but if you do participate, these Mini-Clinics are to be no longer than 10 minutes each. We will only have time for five or six mini-clinics. They can be either a short demonstration or short PowerPoint presentation. They can be on any aspect of model railroading that you would like to share with us and tell how you accomplish a certain task or process during your model building, or, just a status report on how your layout is progressing. I will have a sign-up sheet for the Mini-Clinics at the next few clinics.

Clinic introduction by Alex Brikoff

The evening’s presentation was by Kevin Klettke on “Fleet Weathering” of model railroad rolling stock. The emphasis was to make a production line process to more efficiently and artistically treat the many pieces of equipment we have on our model railroads. In addition to the talk, Kevin showed slides and actual models with the weathering (with rust, dirt and graffiti treatment). He handed out a sheet of helpful hints for those of us not able to take good notes.

Read More

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

MOHAI Train Show – A New Show

Written by Anton Faulk
Leave a Comment

By Ed Ives

Do you remember with affection the Science Center train show when it was held at Thanksgiving, the start of the holiday season? Due to factors beyond our control that show was moved to a different date. Now we have a new show at a new location, MOHAI the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle over the Thanksgiving weekend and as always we REALLY, REALLY need your help. This is the first year for this show and we need to make a good example. There will be three modular groups in attendance as well as a small number of single person displays, all from the 4th Division.

How can you help? On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving we need folk to assist in directing on-site traffic and man the building doors to facilitate rapid and orderly load in. On the days of the show, Friday, Saturday and Sunday we need members to assist those running the displays so they can take a break from time to time. On the Sunday evening, from 5 pm we need help in directing on site traffic and manning the building doors for a quick and orderly tear-down and pack out.

The hours are:
Wednesday 11/21 – load in from noon until done.
Thursday 11/22 – turkey day, feet up.
Friday 11/23 – the show from 10 am until 5 pm.
Saturday 11/24 – the show from 10 am until 8 pm.
Sunday 11/25 the show from 10 am until 5pm and load out until approximately 8 pm.

We need your help for as little as two hours on any one day to all day each day at your discretion.
For their part MOHAI are providing us a break room and refreshments for our members on all days.
Offers of help, please call Ed Ives 425-391-3313 or e-mail Gresley7@gmail.com

With a successful show and your help we will be invited back next year and hopefully this will become a Seattle tradition as well as a needed revenue stream for 4D.

Ed

Model Train Show, News

Upcoming Clinic – October Eastside Get Together Clinic – Redmond

Written by Anton Faulk
Leave a Comment

By Alex Brikoff

The October 2018 Eastside Get Together Clinic will meet on October 18, 2018.
As always, the Clinic will be 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 for the fall months ahead. We will also have a Model of the Month contest and Rail Photo of the Month contest. So, please bring your best models and photos for the contests! Winners will have first choice of many fine items from our Door Prize table.

This month’s clinic “Weathering Fleets of Cars” will be presented by Kevin Klettke. We’ve all seen and heard of many techniques that modelers use to weather their locomotives and cars, but Kevin uses his methods and techniques to weather many rolling stock and locomotives at once in a relatively short amount of time. Kevin’s own Washington Northern Railroad in Tacoma is a great example of his outstanding modeling skills where he puts an incredible amount of realism in a smaller layout.

We will have refreshments and snacks available as always. We’ll also have a great selection of Door Prizes to give away at the end of the clinic.

Alex Brikoff

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic