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Westside Clinic in Bremerton on Tuesday, April 12th

Written by Cliff Green
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Bill Hupé

The Westside Clinic is Tuesday April 12, 2016.

For this month’s clinic Steve Hauff will be presenting his latest African rail adventure – Rovos Rail, Capetown to Dar es Salaam.

Please bring a model railroad friend and an item you’ve been working on. As always we will have a “Model Contest” and “Show And Tell.” Coffee and cookies will be provided.

If you are visiting for the first time our clinics are held at the United Way of Kitsap Building in downtown Bremerton (647 4th Street) at 7 pm. Additional details (including a map and contact info) are on the Clinics Page.

Westside Local Clinic

Free Steam Train Ride for Moms on Mother’s Day at NW Railway Museum

Written by Cliff Green
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Peggy Barchi, Marketing/Events Manager

Northwest Railway Museum Hosts Special Mother’s Day Event May 7 – 8
Mothers Day at the Northwest Railway Museum

Mothers Day at the Northwest Railway Museum

Celebrate mom this Mother’s Day with a scenic steam train excursion through the Cascade foothills. You and your mom will journey to the top of Snoqualmie Falls and enjoy the view of the valley below. The Northwest Railway Museum invites mothers to enjoy a free ride aboard our antique train, when accompanied by a paying child – of any age. Passengers may board in Snoqualmie or North Bend. The round trip takes approximately 70 minutes. Passengers may get off at the halfway point, shop, eat lunch, or take a stroll before returning on any later train. Trains depart every 90 minutes beginning at 11:00 AM from the Snoqualmie Depot at 38625 SE King Street and at noon from the North Bend Depot at 205 McClellan Street. Roundtrip fares: $12 ages 2-12, $20 ages 62 and up, $22 ages 13-61, Under 2 are free!

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Northwest Railway Museum

A Welcome to New Members, Many Activities in the 4D Including Spring Meet in May

Written by Cliff Green
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Cliff Green, Grab Iron Editor

Welcome, new 4th Division (PNR) NMRA members (or former members recently renewed)! An e-mail notification is sent out to all subscribers every time a new Grab Iron post is made, so this may be one of the first messages you see from our Division. Our 4D web site has clinic info, modular group info, an events calendar, some excellent model train photos, and many pages of other related info as well as all of our Grab Iron posts – click here to navigate to the front page.

The 4th Division Spring Meet is on May 14th at Tacoma Community College, and there are three tracks of great clinics presented by multiple well known (and very skilled) 4D members. The clinic info is complete and up to date – click here to view. Lunch is included (if registered by May 1st) – click here to register and reserve a lunch.

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Grab-Iron, News

Ross Tabor Passes

Written by Cliff Green
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Rob Staples

Ross Tabor, one of the original members of the 4D HO Modular group, has passed. Services will be on Saturday, April 9, at 2 PM at Federal Way United Methodist Church, 29645 51st Ave S, Auburn, WA 98001.

His obituary at Cascade Memorial:

Ross Tabor was born on May 4, 1930 and passed away on April 2, 2016 in Des Moines, Washington. He is survived by his loving wife, family, and friends. He is and will be dearly missed.

News

5th Division Free-mo Activities

Written by Cliff Green
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Alan Ashton

Editors note: Thanks to the Free-mo e-mail list of Alan Ashton (to join, e-mail Alan at inwafreemo@gmail.com), here’s a sampling of Free-mo activities in the 5th Division.

On Sunday, April 3rd the Inland Washington Free-mo Modelers will join the Idaho Free-mo group for a layout at the Lewis Clark Train Club’s Model Train Show at the Nez Perce County Fairgrounds in Lewiston, ID, 1229 Burrell Avenue. The show runs from 9:30 am to 4 pm. Click here for additional event info including a map.

On Friday and Saturday, April 15th and 16th, the Inland Washington Free-mo-N Modelers are hosting their Spring open house at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave, from 10 am to 6 pm. Admission is free. Click here for a poster of the event.

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Free-mo

Day Out With Thomas Tickets Now On Sale at the Northwest Railway Museum

Written by Cliff Green
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Peggy Barchi, Marketing/Events Manager at NWRM

DayOutWithThomas

Start your engines! Thomas the Tank Engine invites little engineers to team up with him for a day of family fun at Day Out With Thomas: The Ready, Set, Go Tour 2016 (presented by Fisher-Price). Children everywhere can join Team Thomas when the #1 Engine pulls into The Northwest Railway Museum on July 15-17 & 22-24, 2016.

The Northwest Railway Museum is the only venue in the Pacific Northwest to offer this special event for little engineers to enjoy a day with Thomas the Tank Engine.

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Northwest Railway Museum

A Narrower View – Short Lines and Resources

Written by Cliff Green
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Syd Schofield

Editors note: Welcome to the 14th article of a series on narrow gauge by Syd Schofield. The previous article is available by clicking here, or by filtering with the category “Narrow Gauge”. Syd welcomes discussions and feedback, which can be made by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of the post.

Narrow gauge short lines can be isolated from or linked to other narrow gauge roads. Those linked may eventually be taken over by the main road or become divested due to business interests. Then there are the lines connected by rail and business interests but chartered and named differently. These arrangements often changed frequently and were reflected in subtle name adjustments. Physical changes range from destruction by natural forces, re-gauging to standard, surrendering to automobile and truck roads (often taking over the roadway) or played-out markets of mines or lumber.

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Articles, Narrow Gauge

Help Complete the Rails Meet Sails Exhibit at the Foss Waterway Seaport

Written by Cliff Green
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Bud Thompson

The work on the new HVAC System at the Foss Waterway Seaport (FWS, at 705 Dock Street, Tacoma, WA) has been completed over the “Rails Meet Sails Exhibit”, and we have received word that we can proceed with the completion of our exhibit. We are building an HO scale model of the Northern Pacific’s “Half Moon Yard” that is located across the street from the FWS. We are also building a G scale layout that visitors to the FWS can use to demonstrate their switching abilities.

We are still needing help! To expedite the construction process:

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Railroad History

Olympia Clinic March 2016 Report

Written by Cliff Green
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Robert Grove, Photo by Mer Manson

A tree created by Mer Manson following Walt Huston’s instructions. The penguins invaded after she took the tree home.

A tree created by Mer Manson following Walt Huston’s instructions. The penguins invaded after she took the tree home.

26 persons attended our Clinic in March. MMR Walt Huston brought “deciduous tree makin’s” to Olympia so we all could create a tree to take home.

This “Make N Take” used Azalea bush fall clippings as armatures to which we attached Woodland Scenics material of appropriate colors with Tacky Glue. When cutting the Azalea bush, trim it to suit the affect desired for the landscape. Save all the clippings. Big, small, short or tall – most can be used somewhere. Only after the layout scenery is “done” should we throw away leftover material.

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Olympia Clinic

Tacoma Northwestern Model Railroad Club Presents April Fun Fest This Weekend

Written by Cliff Green
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Larry Sloan, Peter Coulton

This weekend, April 2nd and 3rd, the Tacoma Northwestern Model Railroad Club is presenting April Fun Fest, a model train show with multiple layouts as well as vendors selling train-related items, at Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, Washington, Olson Auditorium. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Boy Scouts of America.
Any Scout in uniform will be admitted for free.

The show has been expanded to reach multiple hobbies. Attendees can rent time on a 1/32-1/24 scale slot car track. There will be military tech manuals, rockets, radio-controlled cars, vintage slot car set as well as trains (of course!). There will be many vendors selling both train and non-train items.

There may still be tables left (the status will be known Friday morning at final setup). If you are interested in renting a table contact Peter Coulton (Show Chairman) at 206-550-4583 or petermcoulton@gmail.com.

Additional information including hours, maps, and directions is available at http://www.tacomanorthwestern.org/show.htm.

Model Train Show