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April 12’s “Second Saturday” Layout Tour Zoom to feature Mike Stepner’s HO mining layout

Written by Burr Stewart
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Join us on Saturday morning, April 12, 2025, for a layout tour of Mike Stepner’s HO scale mining layout. Mike is an experienced layout builder in Puyallup, and his present layout hauls ore to a copper smelter, as well as interchanging traffic with the SP, somewhere in the desert. The meeting opens at 9:30am and the presentation will start at 10:00am. To join the meeting, here is the Zoom info:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87210657142?pwd=ZHhIWnZGMUU0YnAwNVUvMENheEZSUT09

Meeting ID: 872 1065 7142

Passcode: 805577

Layout Tour

Layout Tour on Saturday, March 8

Written by Burr Stewart
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By Burr Stewart

The March 2025 4dPNR Zoom Layout Tour on Saturday, March 8, will feature Jerry Boudreaux giving a presentation on layout planning and paperwork for operations. His agenda will be: 1) Recap of his (HO Santa Fe) layout with map, 2) track planning for ops, 3) track planning for auto-staging, 4) supporting paperwork, and 5) time for discussion.

As usual, we will open the meeting at 9:30am and his presentation will begin at 10:00. Here is the Zoom info to join the meeting:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87210657142?pwd=ZHhIWnZGMUU0YnAwNVUvMENheEZSUT09

Meeting ID: 872 1065 7142
Passcode: 805577

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Reminder of this Saturday morning’s Zoom layout tour!

Written by Burr Stewart
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Join us for Bill Messecar’s last presentation on his fine Santa Fe HO layout, before he demolishes it next year! Bill will show us how he built both the building and the layout, and how he plans to take it apart. The Zoom meeting will start at 9:30am for chit-chat, and his presentation will start at 10:00am, on Saturday, December 14. Here is the Zoom info to join the meeting:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87210657142?pwd=ZHhIWnZGMUU0YnAwNVUvMENheEZSUT09

Meeting ID: 872 1065 7142
Passcode: 805577

Layout Tour

“Second Saturday” Zoom layout tour, postponed to October 12, will feature Kevin Wills

Written by Burr Stewart
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September’s “Second Saturday” Zoom layout tour has been postponed a month, due to the joint NP/GN convention layout tours taking place across the region on Sept 14. The next Zoom layout tour will be held at 10am on Saturday, October 12, featuring local modeler Kevin Wills. Kevin’s layout is a freelanced mainline extension of the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific lines through the western Sierra Nevada mountain area roughly set in the 1980s.  His 33’x13′ basement layout transits three levels, with staging, main yard with turntable and engine maintenance facilities, switching in various towns and long mainline stretches of track.  A train can take up to an hour to transit the entire layout at scale speed. The mainline is fully signaled with a full-hardware CTC panel.  A branch line is included in dark territory just to make it more interesting.  Scenery is about 75-80% complete. Please plan to attend if you can.

As usual, we will open the Zoom meeting at 9:30am for fellowship and tech rehearsal, and Kevin’s presentation will start at 10:00am and last about an hour. We plan to post a recording of the event afterwards on the 4dPNRMovies YouTube channel.

Here is the Zoom info to join the live meeting on Saturday morning:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87210657142?pwd=ZHhIWnZGMUU0YnAwNVUvMENheEZSUT09

Meeting ID: 872 1065 7142
Passcode: 805577

Layout Tour

May’s “Second Saturday” layout tour Zoom is Jerry Boudreau’s briefing on operations

Written by Burr Stewart
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Join us next Saturday, May 11, for a continuation of Jerry Boudreau’s informative and humorous briefing on his HO Santa Fe layout in central Oregon. He will start with a brief overview of the layout, followed by details on how he organizes and runs regular operating sessions. He shows some interesting forms and methods that could you help take your own operations to a new level.

The meeting will open at 9:30am PST and Jerry’s presentation begins at 10am and runs for about an hour. We will also record it and post it to the 4dPNRMovies YouTube channel. If you missed his first presentation in March, here is a link to that presentation, well worth watching if you haven’t seen it (it is so good, it has already been watched over 3400 times!): https://youtu.be/sGjaFgxJeUA

The link to join his second presentation on May 11 will be posted here in the Grab Iron a few days before the meeting.

Layout Tour, Operations

April’s Second Saturday Zoom Layout Tour on April 13 on Todd VonStup’s N scale MRL

Written by Burr Stewart
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Join us at 10am on Saturday, April 13, for an update from Todd VonStup on his operations-oriented N scale MRL-era layout. The Montana Rail Link’s Columbia and Palouse 14th and 15th Subdivisions is an N-Scale multi-deck loop to loop proto-freelanced layout from Connell, WA to Missoula, MT with a division yard in Moscow, ID.  Mostly prototypically modeled from the Palouse River in Hooper, WA across the Palouse to Troy, ID, where it’s then freelanced as if the NP had found its pass over the Bitterroot Mountains into Missoula, MT.  Started in May 2021, this will be a progress update on benchwork (95% done!), working ABS signals, a large yard, and operations as the MRL would have worked this line based on their practices.

As usual, we open the meeting at 9:30am and start the formal program at 10:00am. Here is the Zoom info:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87210657142?pwd=ZHhIWnZGMUU0YnAwNVUvMENheEZSUT09

Meeting ID: 872 1065 7142
Passcode: 805577

Layout Tour,

March’s “Second Saturday” Zoom now posted on YouTube

Written by Burr Stewart
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If you missed the March 9 “Second Saturday” Zoom layout tour by Jerry Boudreaux, on his HO Santa Fe layout near Corvalis, OR, it is now posted on YouTube at this link: https://youtu.be/sGjaFgxJeUA

It’s well worth watching! Not only does he walk through his track plan with illuminating photos and videos, he also explains in some detail a number of his benchwork, wiring, scenery and trackwork techniques. It’s a layout tour and useful clinic rolled into one. We plan to have Jerry back for a “part 2” presentation on his operations techniques at the September 14 “Second Saturday” Zoom meeting.

Layout Tour

March’s “Second Saturday” Zoom features Jerry Boudreaux’s large HO Santa Fe layout

Written by Burr Stewart
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March’s 4dPNR Zoom layout tour is going to inspire you for sure! Long freights often exceeding 50 cars and 6 units, 14 car passenger trains with sparkling warbonnets in the lead, and southwest mountain scenery punctuate the Pasquinel Division of the Santa Fe Railroad.  This 1200 square foot HO scale model railroad running thru the wilds of 1967 Arizona features a 650 foot mainline, large yard, and a number of smaller towns.  The Pasquinel is fully operational and 14 person crews keep it humming once per month.  Come join us next Saturday (March 9) for a trip  thru the red cliffs and distant mountain vistas of northern Arizona.  Jerry Boudreaux will show us his framing, track plans, electrical, scenery techniques, trains, operations forms, and even Santa Fe’s definition of a “Shooter!”  This Zoom-only presentation will start at 10:00 am PST, and we will open the meeting at 9:30 for meet and greet. Here is the Zoom info to join the meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87210657142?pwd=ZHhIWnZGMUU0YnAwNVUvMENheEZSUT09

Meeting ID: 872 1065 7142
Passcode: 805577

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