Author: Jeff Moorman

By Jeff Moorman

Mark your calendars for Thursday, September 1. That’s the start of the 2011-2012 clinic season for Seattle-North (probably the start for all of Fourth Division as well).

Typically our September program revolves around “what did you do (railroad-wise) this summer?” If nothing else, you’ll hear about the National Convention. Several of our clinic attendee where there.

This is a quick reminder about the upcoming meeting. I know I still owe you a write-up from our June road trip and a few photos.  Sorry, I’ll get to those when I can.

If you got your T-TRAK kits or have decided to build your own, we’d like to see them (in running order) at the September meeting. By the way, I still have a few T-TRAK module kits. Contact me for availability and prices.

We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) between 175^th and 185^th Streets and, more specifically, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Note that there is still a lot of construction along this stretch of Aurora. You need to be going southbound (so you can make a right-hand turn into the church driveway immediately after passing the Deseret location) because you can no longer make cross-traffic turns on Aurora.

Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. However, in June we usually do a tour. For regular meetings enter the lower level of the church from the parking lot at the rear. Doors open around 7:00 PM, announcements at 7:15, and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.

Jeff Moorman / Photos by Jeff Moorman

After introductions and announcements, the May meeting started with a discussion of the tradition tour in place of the June meeting. Yes, we are going to do a tour this year and, like always, we are not going to tell folks where we are going ahead of time. There might be some last minute change, but right now the plan calls for model railroad-related destinations, a variety of scales, and maybe something more than just looking at layouts. Note that we need to know who is going ahead of time. You cannot just show up for the tour. If you have signed up, here is your official reminder:

VANS LEAVE FROM THE CHURCH PARKING LOT NO LATER THAN 7:00 PM, JUNE 2. IF YOU ARE LATE, YOU WILL MISS OUT.

Next, Bobj received his fabulous prize for being the first (and only) person to come up with documentation on the origin of the phrase, “The human mind is like a railroad boxcar, guaranteed to have a certain capacity, but often running empty.” Congratulations, Bobj; use your plastic parts box with pride.

A good part of the meeting was then devoted to the topic of “operations.” Here are some highlights: Operation is the running of a model railroad in a manner which simulates prototype activity. While there are reams and reams written about operation, they appear to be mostly concerned with designing a model railroad for operation and then implementing that design. But, it is all pretty daunting for those unfamiliar with the concepts. So, at the risk of gross oversimplification, here are some tips for trying to make sense of what’s going on, for those new to operating a model train like a prototype.

Some have called operation the ultimate board game. That is one way to look at it. But it is a board game where the players do not compete with each other; rather they cooperate to ensure smooth “operating” of the whole railroad.

Another way to look at it is that there are two basic processes: one is freight movement, and the other is train movement. Consider a semi-truck; deciding what to load it with, where to pick that stuff up, and where to deliver it, is fundamentally different from operating the truck itself, moving it safely over the road. For model railroading, freight movement is typically by carload. The entire car is filled with something going to the same place.

All sorts of “paperwork” is used to keep track of what is the car and where it is going. Some modelers even use the same forms used by the prototype railroads. Often the paperwork includes a card for each car; a train is represented by a deck of such cards. What cards go in the deck depends on what’s in the car, where it is going, how soon it needs to get there, how much the locomotive can pull, the capacity of any sidings along the way, etc. Fortunately, new operators don’t have to worry too much about the more intricate techniques of train makeup.

When it comes to running a train, there are two basic processes. One is the assembling separate cars into a train and their subsequent dis-assembly. This is often referred to as “yard work.” Moving the entire train across the railroad from one place to another is considered “road work.”

As with a semi-truck, there are rules of the road for railroads. You cannot run a locomotive/train anywhere you want to. For new operators, learning the rules of the road is usually the biggest hurdle to overcome. There are two categories of rules: one for movement of a train, basically when it is and is not allowed to proceed; and rules for real-sized people interacting with a model-sized railroad, such as are you allowed to touch rolling stock and locomotives or not. Some consider the latter type rules “owner’s rules” and they can be the most important to know.

Hopefully you now know enough about operation to be intrigued. So, if you get the opportunity, give it a try. As long as you are making a sincere effort to learn, the more experienced operators will help. Always remember:

• Know the owner’s rules
• Be considerate of others – it is all about cooperation and team effort
• Leave turnouts the way you found them
• Have fun

Once again, Show and Tell brought out some interesting stuff. Dennis had his T-TRAK modules there to show progress and hopefully inspire others to get out of their armchairs and start modeling. Chris had several paint projects in both HO and N. Stu had a nice little N sawmill with interior detail. And Rob had the latest MicroTrains fire car and an SP sky box.

Chris' Latest Paint Project

Rob's Latest from Micro Trains

Stu's Sawmill

As we were cleaning up several of us had an interesting conversation about clinic name tags. Whew! There were almost as many opinions about that as there are about what scale to model. If you want to influence my thinking on the subject, let me know your thoughts.

I still have a few T-TRAK module kits. Contact me for availability and prices. For those who have already gotten their kits or have decided to build their own, we’d like to see them at the next regular meeting in September. No, we do not want to see just the kits; we want the resultant modules, in running order.

Remember the next meeting is June 2, but only if you have signed up ahead of time. Otherwise we will see you (and your modules) the first of September.

We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) just north of 175^th Street, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Note that there is still a lot of construction along this stretch of Aurora. Therefore, it might be best to be going southbound so you can make a right-hand turn into the church driveway immediately after passing the Deseret location.

Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. However, in June we usually do a tour. For regular meetings enter the lower level of the church from the parking lot at the rear. Doors open around 7:00 PM, announcements at 7:15, and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.

Remember: for June’s trip, you need to be there by 7:00 PM!

By Jeff Moorman

Traditionally the Seattle-North Clinic takes a railroad-related tour instead of its June meeting. This year is no different. And, like always, we are not telling you where we are going ahead of time. Yes, we can promise some variety, plus maybe something a little different. Yes, it was arranged by a self-proclaimed professional railroad tour guide. And, yes, we still have some seats left.

The cost is $5 (bring it with you) to defer the cost of the vans and we will leave the church parking lot no later than 7:00PM on June 2. See directions below. We should get back to the church by 10:00.

There are a limited number of seats, so do not just show up on June 2 without me responding that we have room.

The clinic meets at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) just north of 175^th Street, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Note that there is still a lot of construction along this stretch of Aurora. Therefore, it might be best to be going southbound so you can make a right-hand turn into the church driveway immediately after passing the Deseret location.

Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. In June we usually take a tour. The tour is by pre-registration only and leaves from the parking lot at the rear of the church building at 7:00PM sharp. If you are late, there is no provision for you to join the tour in progress.

Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.

By Jeff Moorman, Photos by Jeff Moorman

Introductions and announcements included a pitch from Bobj about the Rails Northwest (RAILSNW.COM) excursions on the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad on May 21.

Talk then centered on the T-TRAK module kits. Those that pre-ordered picked up their kits and then we were able to find good homes for a few more, but there are still a couple left waiting for adoption. Those available are 2 HO corners, 2 N corners, and 1 N straight, which I will bring to the May meeting. They are $9.25 for the straight and $16.60 for the corners regardless of scale.

Show and tell brought out some interesting stuff. Rob had a beautiful brass N scale ditcher from Overland. He also had an old NP timetable and operators rule book. Michael showed a book about Lionel what was originally purchased in the Lionel store in New York City. Dennis had some N gauge electric locomotives and passenger cars from a Peruvian prototype. Finally Chris has some HO cars, but my notes don’t indicate what they were. Sorry.

After the break we got out the scissors and crayons and created some T-TRAK module designs. Everyone got a couple of one-half size outlines of N-gauge T-TRAK modules. The goal was to design the scenery and color it in using the crayons. Suffice to say it had been a long, long time since any of the participants had been to kindergarten, and it showed. There were some close calls, but everything got cut out without any blood being shed.

Then we started assembling the module drawings into various layout configurations. A couple of things became evident:

• Even with crayon-colored paper modules, things looked better when there was preplanning with regard to scenic theme and railroad operation.
• Some operation seemed possible even with a few modules, provided there were spurs and runarounds available. Furthermore, that operation could be point-to-point, not just around an oval of track.
• Adding what the T-TRAK folks call a “junction module” made for some interesting additional possibilities.

Right now there are 3 things planned for the May meeting. First, Bobj has promised us a new DVD to preview. I think I heard it is about the Empire Builder. Second, we are going to do a sort of Operations 101 mini clinic. And third, we will start taking reservations for the June tour.

Remember the next meeting is May 5 and the one after that is June 2. The June date is for our annual tour, so attendance requires an advance reservation.

We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) just north of 175^th Street, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Note that there is still a lot of construction along this stretch of Aurora. Therefore, it might be best to be going southbound so you can make a right-hand turn into the church driveway immediately after passing the Deseret location.

Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. Plus in June we usually do a tour. Enter the lower level of the church from the parking lot at the rear. Doors open around 7:00 PM, announcements at 7:15, and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.

By Jeff Moorman

After introductions and announcements the first topic at the March meeting was operation, specifically operation on modules. The 4D NTRAK experience at the Monroe show was cited as an example. Instead of setting up in a big circle and running laps, they set up end-to-end and ran back and forth. Everyone, including the spectators, seemed to enjoy it. Of course, without DCC, it would have been less interesting.

So, we shouldn’t automatically think continuous loops in our own module plans. For example, just 2 standard banquet tables end-to-end would provide a 16-foot long run. And, of course, L and U shaped arrangements are easily possible.

In order to make point-to-point running interesting you would need at least one passing siding (or runaround track) and some spurs for switching. Therefore we should give that type of trackage consideration as we build more modules.

Next up we talked about ways to find out what color things were, if you are modeling an era before the widespread use of color film. Generally that’s any time before the second half of the 20^th century. Here are some of the items suggested:

• Paintings are usually in color and can contain a wealth of information about what things looked like and what color they are. Luckily the Internet provides relatively easy access to artwork.
• Contemporary literature, including newspapers and magazines, can have references to the color of things, even though there might be no illustrations at all. National Geographic was mentioned as having color pictures before most others.
• Costume reference books as used for theater and costume design are a super reference as to what people wore at various times in history.
• Advertising posters and signs where done in color long before color photography. There are online and published collections of this material which can be very, very useful.
• Museums seem an obvious choice. And don’t overlook hobby groups, such as farm equipment or automobile enthusiasts. They can be as dedicated to and knowledgeable of the object of their passions as we can be about model railroading.

I have again failed to get the photos ready on time for this posting. So perhaps I shall do a special photo gallery posting sometime soon.

Right now there are 2 things planned for the April meeting. First, we will do the track planning exercise, scheduled for last time that we never got around to. And second, the module kits should be here. So, if you ordered one, come prepared to pay. They are $9.25 for straights and $16.60 for corners regardless of scale. A few are unspoken for, so if you didn’t pre-order, bring your money anyway.

Remember the next meeting is April 7 and the one after that is May 5.

We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) just north of 175^th Street, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Note that there is still a lot of construction along this stretch of Aurora. Therefore, it might be best to be going southbound so you can make a right-hand turn into the church driveway immediately after passing the Deseret location.

Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. Enter the lower level of the church from the parking lot at the rear. Doors open around 7:00 PM, announcements at 7:15, and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.

By Jeff Moorman

February 3 marked a milestone for the Seattle-North group. We were able to run our first train on a continuous loop of T-TRAK modules. Our guest speaker, Lowell Smiley from United Northwest Model RR Club (UNW), brought along a couple of modules we were able to connect with Dennis’ modules.

They left the train running all meeting long. Every time there was a lull in the conversation, you could hear the train over at the side of the room circling around the “layout.” It was music to our ears (or my ears anyway). I have some pictures that I am not going to have time to get posted. But, I will include them next time.

Lowell is a model railroad advisor for 4H. UNW started doing this as an outreach program for youth. He explained that their program began with just three 3 kids, 10 to 13 years old. Using T-TRAK made it easy to start a program and the small module size made it easy for every participant to take a piece of the railroad home with them. Not every kid is interested, but those that are really like the hands on aspect. Plus, building a T-TRAK module is not as intimidating as building something larger, although most participants end up with more than one module.

The program has been growing and they have monthly meetings in addition to a few scheduled shows. And now that things are up and running, the emphasis is to look beyond the plain track and scenery, and use the program to learn about history and geography. He ended his discussion by talking about the potential for yards and junctions so that they could do more than just run trains in circles.

It was interesting to see that some of the T-TRAK aspects that were appealing to the 4H program are also appealing the Seattle-North attendees, especially ease of start-up, simple wiring, and small module size.

Thanks, Lowell, for sharing with us.

Show and tell was mostly talking about the modules that Lowell brought and how they linked up with what we had. There was also discussion about what some members learned about T-TRAK by talking to exhibitors at the Science Center Show.

The evening ended with a brief chat about what sort of operation was possible on modules and what type the group might prefer.

Our next meeting promises the continuation of the operations discussion just mentioned, a little track planning exercise, and a mini-mini clinic on determining the color of something before color photos. Plus, of course, whatever you bring for show and tell.

Also in March come prepared to let us know if you want any T-TRAK module kits (straight or corner, N or HO). We will try to get these by the April meeting.

Our next meeting is March 3 and the one after that is April 7.

We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) just north of 175^th Street, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Note that there is still a lot of construction along this stretch of Aurora. Therefore, it might be best to be going southbound so you can make a right-hand turn into the church driveway immediately after passing the Deseret location.

Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. Enter the lower level of the church from the parking lot at the rear. Doors open around 7:00 PM, announcements at 7:15, and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.

Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Photos and Article by Jeff Moorman

The day after you hear all about Punxsutawney Phil it will be time for the next Seattle-North clinic. So, mark your calendars for February 3 and consult the end of this article for directions. We will be continuing our experiments with T-TRAK, hearing about how another group has used these modules, and discussing just what sort of ‘train running’ we want to pursue.

First up at the January meeting was Jim B who wowed us with his mini-clinic on handbrakes. We learned that Ajax, Champion, Equipco, Jemco, Klasing, Miner, Superior, Universal, and Ureco are not names of new rap groups, but just some of the manufacturers of railroad handbrake equipment. Before the late 1920’s most of the railroad handbrake wheels were on vertical shafts. For brakemen standing on the roof and operating the wheel was extremely hazardous. Mounting the wheel on the car end via a horizontal shaft was an attempt to make things safer, since the brakeman could stand on the ladder, hold on with one hand, and operate the brake with the other.

All the manufacturers listed above (and others) vied to show their equipment was safer, easier to use, and more cost effective to install. This led to a bewildering assortment of brake wheel designs. Some manufactures also offered a ratchet type “wheel” where the brakeman pumped a lever back and forth. Finally in 1959 the AAR standardized the brake wheel, so we do not see near the variety of these wheels today.

Brake wheels are a fairly visible part of a freight car, especially in HO scale and larger. It is a good idea to look at an actual prototype car (or a photograph thereof) to make sure your model has the proper brake wheel. And, like many car components, the brake wheel can be replaced, updated, or changed over time. For more information refer to the article on handbrake equipment in the Railroad Prototype Cyclopedia, No. 10.

Plus, we all discovered that Jim B once had a job designing railroad freight cars – 12 inches to the foot scale. How cool is that?

After the break I was time for show and tell. John had made good on his promise to build a demonstration T-TRAK module in HO scale. He could not find any Kato HO track, so did the example with Bachmann E-Z track. One problem he ran into was a warp in the plywood top  piece. We all thought a reinforcing brace under the top and between the two tracks would be helpful. [I have since learned this top warp is not uncommon and can even happen with N gauge modules. The secret is in carefully clamping the top to the sides and letting the glue dry thoroughly. Good quality wood is also of benefit and our brace idea doesn’t hurt either.] Three members of the group expressed a desire to work with T-TRAK modules in HO gauge.

Joel brought along what he calls his “DCC’ized gandy dancer.” Joel started with two of the HO gauge Bachmann gandy dancer handcars. He stripped one and made it into a trailer for the other. The stripped car served as a platform to carry to DCC decoder which was wired to the motor in the lead car. Joel explained some of the electrical issues encountered as well as trying to solve the operating problem of too little weight.

Rob J brought in two more of his seemingly endless collection of N gauge train sets. These were both from Con-Cor.  One was a military set and the other a Smokey the Bear Fire Prevention set.

Chris F showed two more of his in-process HO projects. There was a box car with contrasting roof walk. Chris says he doesn’t know if this is prototypical, but he likes the look anyway. And there was a partially painted F7 which looked pretty good even missing the black stripe and lettering.

Bob R had some train pictures of a recent trip to Zimbabwe. In some he was riding the engine of a steam locomotive near Victoria Falls. I am pretty sure, that given enough time, Bob could talk his way into a cab ride on the space shuttle.

Dennis fulfilled our promise to run the first Seattle-North train on a T-TRAK module. Note that despite my intention to help, it was all Dennis’ doing. He brought two straight and two 90-degree corners to make a U-shaped layout. He brought the locomotive and cars to make up the first train. And he brought the power pack to run that first train.

One of the issues he ran into was the need to make the track spacing on all the modules precisely the same. Otherwise the modules will not mate. This is something we will need to pay attention to in the future.

The recent Pacific Science Center Model RR Show went well. As this is written we do not have the final attendance figures, but the place was pretty jammed at times. I’d like to personally thank all the Seattle-North attendees that participated in the show.

Our next meeting is February 3 and the one after that is March 3.

We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) just north of 175^th Street, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Note that there is still a lot of construction along this stretch of Aurora. Therefore, it might be best to be going southbound so you can make a right-hand turn into the church driveway immediately after passing the Deseret location.

Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. Enter the lower level of the church from the parking lot at the rear. Doors open around 7:00 PM, announcements at 7:15, and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.

Happy Ground Hog’s Day

By Jeff Moorman

The next meeting of the Seattle-North clinic will be Thursday, January 6^th. See the end of this article for directions. Jim B is going to present a mini-clinic on freight car brake wheels. This is in response to attendees’ desire to learn more about prototype rolling stock. Also planned is an update on module research as a means to get us to actually do something as opposed to just talk about doing it. We’ll see if Dennis and Jeff can actually run an N scale train on a T-TRAK module. And we’ll also see if John has built a demo module in HO. Plus, some interesting things have been showing up for Show and Tell lately.

December’s clinic started with Al Lowe, the esteemed publisher of the 4^th Division Grab Iron (and the PNR Switchlist). Internet connectivity gremlins prevented the “show” part of his presentation, but the “tell” part was pretty informative. Al talked a bit about putting the Grab Iron online and the tasks involved with maintaining the 4^th Division’s website (of which the Grab Iron is just one part). Everyone should become familiar with what is on the website: https://www.4dpnr.com.

Next Al covered the Digital Grab Iron and how it is set up as a blog. The information here is generally less static than the rest of the website. The presentation puts the most current posts first, but the previous material is still out there. Everything in the Digital Grab Iron is assigned to a basic subject / topic. For example, the Seattle-North clinic is one such topic. The secret to utilizing the blogs is to ‘subscribe’ to the topics you want to be kept informed about. Then you will get an email notice whenever something new is posted in the topics you selected.

To subscribe use this link to go to the opening Grab Iron page: https://4dpnr.com/. In the right-hand column, under Administration, click the heading that says “Subscribe to Posts”. Then enter your email address, say you want to subscribe, and you will be sent a message with your subscription options. Hey, at the very least sign up for info about the Seattle-North clinic. Remember the Grab Iron is “where the 4^th Division shares news and ideas.”

Thanks, Al, for coming and bringing us up to date on the Division’s online presence and how we can participate.

After the break Show and Tell made up the rest of the meeting. Chris had a lightweight N gauge diorama he had picked up somewhere. He also regaled us with another chapter in his quest to find the perfect Union Pacific yellow. The examples he brought proved there may be no end to that quest. Lastly Chris showed us a stack of wire trimmings (snippets of wire and insulation) from an electrical job he was doing. These, he thought, had the potential to make a great gondola load.

Bob R brought one of his custom display cases which he was delivering to a client. That one was spoken for, but he said he’d be happy to make one for anyone who wanted one. They are a very elegant way to display rolling stock and motive power. Bob also brought along some pictures from a caboose ride on the Eastside Freight RR.

Jeff and Dennis brought example N gauge T-TRAK modules. These were standard short straight modules about the size of a sheet of paper and did not yet have any track or scenery. Jeff had one he made from half inch gator board (or gator foam). It proves you can build a module with just a utility knife, glue, and gator board. You can get this material in some local art supply stores or from Micro-Mark. It is a lot like foam core, but with plasticized sides instead of heavy cardboard. It is very rigid and lightweight.

Dennis brought 2 modules made with more traditional wood construction – quarter inch plywood on top with dimensional lumber sides. These had been painted and had sky boards installed. Some Kato track and gator board pieces were passed around for folks to get a hands-on “look.” Overall the group had no objection to continuing the T-TRAK experiment.

By the next meeting Jeff and Dennis want to try and actually run a train on a T-TRAK module and John agreed to build a demo module in HO gauge for all to look at.

Don’t forget that the Pacific Science Center Model RR Show is coming up on January 15, 16, and 17. This is the 4^th Division’s premier event and helps makes programs like the Seattle-North clinic possible. So, if you can possibly volunteer to help, it would be appreciated.

Next meeting is January 6 and the one after that is February 3. The Mart should be there and don’t forget that The Mart is an opportunity for everyone to participate on either side of the table.

We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) just north of 175^th Street, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Note that there is a lot of construction along this stretch of Aurora. It might be best to be going southbound so you can make a right-hand turn into the church.

Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. Enter the lower level of the church from the parking lot at the rear. Doors open around 7:00 PM, announcements at 7:15, and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.

Happy New Year!

Jeff Moorman / Photos by Jeff Moorman

The next meeting of the Seattle-North clinic will be December 2^nd. See the end of this article for directions. Two topics are planned. First, Al Lowe will be on hand to regale us with tales of the Digital Grab Iron. This is your chance to get a firsthand look at the direction the 4^th Division is going for its communications, publications, and documentation. Plus Al has been known to tell the occasional joke or two (or two hundred).

Second, we’ll continue our exploration of modules. See the summary of last month’s discussion below. We plan to have at least one example of a T-TRAK module to show folks, plus maybe a guest presenter on the topic.

November’s meeting started with a recap of our October discussion of what we wanted from the clinic. There was general consensus that we wanted to build something (or some things), and that we wanted to run trains, and that we wanted to have something to advertise ourselves to other modelers and especially to youth. That is a lot of things to do, but modules were mentioned as a potential way to fulfill the whole wish list.

Modules still seemed like a good avenue to pursue, but what module standards and in what scale(s)? We reviewed the model railroad module schemes we knew about: NMRA, NTRAK, oNeTRAK (a sort of branch line for NTRAK), Free-mo, and T-TRAK. Most attendees were familiar with NMRA and NTRAK, since the 4^th division has groups who use these standards. Free-mo was sort of familiar since we had a presentation on it last year.

T-TRAK was the biggest unknown, but it was mentioned that the United Northwest club was using it as a means to get kids involved in the hobby through 4H. T-TRAK modules are pretty small (about 8 by 12 inches in N scale) and simple. They are made to sit on a tabletop.

It seemed to boil down to this. They might be too simple and toy like for some modelers. And we do not have much experience with these modules locally. But the simplicity also makes them easier to construct, set up, and (most importantly) run trains. Plus there are standards for both N and HO, the primary interests of the clinic attendees.

It was agreed that T-TRAK was something that should be explored further. Jeff, Chris, and Dennis agreed to try and build a T-TRAK demo module by the next meeting.

Show and tell was an eclectic mix. Jeff had a copy of the basic T-TRAK specifications. There were some Milwaukee Road plans and articles. Rob showed another of his many N scale sets – a Great Northern steam locomotive and a string of matching insulated box cars from Con-Cor.

There were some recently-picked hydrangeas, which sparked a discussion of whether it was better to trim them down to the branches right away or let them dry first. There was no conclusion to this debate, but everyone agreed that they made excellent scale tree armatures. And lastly Roger showed a couple of bare generic frames from the early 4^th Division module builds

John’s mystery clinic was about calculating the dropping resister values needed for LED lighting. He got the idea when a couple of clinics at the recent regional convention referred people to web-based tables for the calculations. That makes it appear much more complex than it actually is. John’s handout and explanation made it look simple. One thing I didn’t know was that different color LEDs require different amperages. It is always a good idea to get the LED data sheet when you obtain your LEDs.

I made this offer last month, but still do not have a winner. I have a little prize for the first Seattle-North Clinic attendee that can show me documented proof of who first came up with this quote: “The human brain is like a railroad freight car — guaranteed to have a certain capacity but often running empty.” Some of the attendees thought this might be an appropriate unofficial slogan for the Seattle-North clinic.

Next meeting is December 2 and the one after that January 6. The Mart should be there and don’t forget to bring something for show and tell. And, speaking of the Mart, I bet you didn’t know that the economy is so bad that Santa’s off season job is helping out at the Mart.

We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) just north of 175^th Street, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. Enter the lower level of the church from the parking lot at the rear. Doors open around 7:00 PM, announcements at 7:15, and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.

Jeff  Moorman

First, I must apologize for no write-up last month. My computer and my wireless home network have declared war on each other. I am not sure it will last, but we are currently in a state of cease fire.

The big news from September’s meeting was that I would be taking over as conductor of the Seattle-North “train.” For the record, I distinctly said that this was not “forever,” like many of the 4D volunteer jobs seem to be these days. Dennis Terpstra graciously volunteered to be the assistant conductor and the rest of the crew were willing to continue their assignments.

We talked a bit about what we did this summer, railroad-wise, that is. There were several museum and convention trips; and one bike trip over an old roadbed that seemed to be more detour than regular right of way. Roger regaled us with tales from the NMRA national convention in Milwaukee.

To prove that DCC is really getting quite easy Roger brought the components of HO DCC layout in a cardboard box about 16 by 16 by 4 inches! When you opened the box there were a couple of turnouts, a few pieces of straight track, a DCC equipped diesel switcher, a DCC controller, and precious few instructions except for the controller. As technically challenged as the Seattle-North crew can be at times it only took about 10 minutes to have things running. Now that is pretty easy! By the way, all the components in the box were from Bachmann.

Here’s what happened at the October meeting. After the usual announcements and introductions we discussed the recent Regional Convention in Lynnwood. All those that attended thought it was a worthwhile experience. I have run into a couple of modelers who skipped the banquet because they had no interest in concrete ties. To many that presentation was the highlight of the convention.

Next was a mystery contest in which three groups were given random pieces of plastic and asked to come up with a good use for them on a model railroad. Most of these “parts” came from packaging for HP commercial printer toner cartridges. The group led by CJ Riley won for their rather fanciful mail crane. Although the plastic disposable bridge abutments was in the running.

There was some interesting stuff on display for show and tell. Jim Bainbridge, owner of Sound and Northwestern LLC, showed us the firm’s first kit. It is a HO scale kit for a Sears catalog home called the Rodessa. Many attendees didn’t know that Sears sold these homes as 12 inch to the foot scale kits via their catalog in the early part of the last century. They offered lots of different designs. The buyer could order supplemental kits for luxuries, like indoor plumbing or electricity. Jim’s kit has over 200 pieces and looks pretty interesting. The only local retailer currently carrying it is North End Trains.

Next up was Chris Fife who showed some partially painted UP passenger equipment. Chris’ point was that there doesn’t appear to be a standard UP yellow. Even the prototype exhibits different shades, especially if it has been out in the weather for some time. Model-wise the shade is dependent on the primer color, plus the brand and thickness of the color coat. All agreed that the primer versus final shade ‘thing’ could be the subject for a nifty future clinic.

CJ Riley, MMR, brought along his “Two Stumps” diorama, which won awards at the recent Regional convention. Since we meet in a church, we were not subjected to the authentic outhouse odor CJ used at the convention, but he did show us how he did it. He did explain how this diorama was his attempt to do a model with scratch built everything, except (maybe) the odor.

Rob Jones completed this part of the meeting with a bunch of 30 year old color photos of railroading around Tacoma and the Northwest. My, how things have changed!

Lastly, we discussed what we’d like to see happened in future meetings. The group was open to having a couple of mini-clinics each month instead of one bigger presentation, although the latter remains an option. The group also wants to continue the practice of visiting layouts for the June meeting, but maybe not stay out so late.

There was a considerable amount of rhetoric around doing something physical at the meetings, as well as trying to recruit new members (especially young folks) into the hobby. Both ideas were deemed worthwhile, but there was no consensus on how they could be accomplished.

Modules were proposed as a way to work on something at the meetings, which could also be used as a display to assist recruitment. So, we are going to explore that at the next meeting. Are modules something the group should pursue? If so, what are the options? Which scale and standards best met the group’s goals?

If you have strong feeling on the module approach and/or want to persuade us to use a particular scheme, come to our November meeting.

I ran across the following quote, but it was not attributed to anyone. I have a little prize for the first Seattle-North Clinic attendee that can show me documented proof of who first came up with it. “The human brain is like a railroad freight car — guaranteed to have a certain capacity but often running empty.”

Next meeting is November 4 and the one after that is December 2. In November one of our attendees has promised us a mystery mini-clinic. Our other mini-clinic will be an exploration of various module types and whether they might serve as the basis for a group project. The Mart should be there and don’t forget to bring something for show and tell.

We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) just north of 175^th Street, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. Enter the lower level of the church from the parking lot at the rear. Doors open around 7:00 PM, announcements at 7:15, and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.