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With May 18 fast approaching, we have less than twenty seats left for this event! If you want to attend, register right away as registration will close as soon as we fill the few remaining open seats. Only those registered are guaranteed a seat.
Remember: see the 4D Spring Meet website for full details.
The NMRA National Convention will be held in Portland in 2015 with PNR’s 2nd Division playing host for that event. Because of that, 2nd Division asked to be relieved of their obligation to host the PNR convention next year. Anyone who has ever been involved with a National convention can certainly understand that request, knowing what’s involved in putting on something of that magnitude. 4th Division has stepped up and volunteered to take 2014 off 2nd Division’s hands, even though we know we’re already at least a year behind in planning for such an event. (2nd Division will take over 4th’s next PNR obligation in 2018.)
I’d like to thank the Board of Director’s for voting in favor of putting on next year’s convention, and I’d especially like to thank those who have already raised their hands and said “I can help.” Russ Segner has agreed to take on the role of Convention Chairman (or at least co-chair) and planning is underway. Now here’s where the rest of 4th Division comes in.
Putting on a convention requires several people in key roles and Russ needs to start putting his committee together. The following list shows just some of the positions that need to be filled in order for us to pull this off. If you’d like to get involved in any of these areas, contact Russ at russseg@gmail.com. Some positions have already been filled, but there will be a lot of opportunity to lend a hand and help the division. And remember, you can always earn Volunteer points by helping out.
This month’s clinic was turned into an interesting experience for all who attended.
It, as always, was good to see the regular crew: Jack Hamilton, Armand Cyr, Jim Byerley, Pete Rowe, Steve Neupert, Steve Avery, Bud Johnson, Glen and Corey Walls, Reed Cranmore and new member Jerry Enders. Surprise visits from the Superintendent Ken Liesse and the rest of the Liesse clan, Ed, Gay and Dave, made the clinic special.
Our scheduled clinician had to cancel at the last minute, which left me wondering how the clinic would progress.
We started off the meeting with reports from around the NMRA. Reed reported that the Bremerton Northern Model Railroad Club had set up the small configuration of their new layout for the Veterans out at Retsil Veterans’ Home. Said it worked well and once again was appreciated by the Vets. He said they are now working on completing the scenery by the Kitsap County Fair in August. He also said the fair is talking about moving them to the Pavilion from the Presidents Hall.
I then passed the floor to Ken, who brought us up-to-date on 4th Division business. Ken also introduced his clan. Most attendees had not met Ken’s family, so it was good to have this opportunity. Ken also brought up the thought of us hosting layout tours on this side of the “Sound” in conjunction with a 4th Division event.
I then passed the floor to Jack Hamilton, who brought us up to date on the NMRA. Jack presented Merit Awards to Jim Byerley for his Structures – Jamestown Station and Lumber Yard. Jim also was awarded a Civil Merit Award for his dual-gauge turnout. Jack then presented Pete Rowe with Merit Awards for his structures: Coaling Tower, Pennzoil Service Co. and Cycle Shop. Pete doesn’t have a home layout, but his structures show up on other modelers’ layouts.
Jack also brought a couple of new modeling items to share. First was Balsa Foam, an amazing plastic foam that carves like butter and paints like wood. It’s ideal for sculpting and model making because it can be carved, chiseled, sawed, textured, or embossed with sharp-edged detail. He also shared a set of brushes: “Special Brush Set” from Micro-Mark™ that appeared to be a set of make-up brushes.
Glen Walls entered his first scratchbuilt building, a freelanced engine shop, in the Model of the Month contest. And Pete Rowe shared a diorama created to showcase a trestle built by Dennis Hill (past 4th Division Superintendent) which will be presented to his widow.
We took a short break where the Liesse Clan spent time with clinic members.
Following the break, Jack Hamilton presented a clinic on “Building a Resistance Soldering Machine” based on an article from October 1995 Mainline Modeler™ “Resistance Soldering” by Karl Eiler.
The clinic wrapped up with a drawing for door prizes.
Come join us April 12th at United Way of Kitsap County, 647 6th Street, Bremerton. Clinic starts at 6:30. Clinician Walt Huston will present a clinic on DCC Decoder installation.
Nominations for three positions on the 4D Board are now open. There are two Directors spots and the Assistant Superintendent position open in this year’s election. Al Lowe and Stu Rogers are both seeking re-election, but the Asst. Superintendent is an open field. If you would like to self-nominate for any of these positions, please send a candidate statement to Ed Liesse (eeliesse@aol.com) no later than March 30. Ballots will be mailed to all eligible 4th Division members after Ed gets the ballot made up and sent to Mike Slease for publishing.
The next 4D Board of Directors’ meeting will be Saturday, Feb 23, at 1:00 P.M. at Mitzel’s, on Central Ave. (84th), just off the Valley Freeway in Kent. Any 4D member may attend the meeting.
If you have anything for the agenda, please get it to Superintendent Ken Liesse by Wednesday, Feb. 20.
The next Board of Director’s meeting of the 4D will be held at 1:00 on Saturday, Nov. 17th. However, the location has changed from our normal spot. We will be meeting at Mitzel’s on 84th in Kent. From Hwy 167, take the Central Ave./84th exit and go north one stoplight. Mitzel’s is on the right.
Any member of 4D is welcome to attend the BOD meeting. If you have business you’d like to bring before the Board, send an agenda item to either Secretary Jean Melvin or myself by the Wednesday before the 17th.
It would probably be a good idea to get the report of last month’s meeting out before this month’s takes place.
JJ Johnston welcomed everyone back from summer break and gave us a recap of the Narrow Gauge Convention that was just ended. There were about 1,700 folks who attended, representing 17 different countries and 41 states. Dave Woodrell did a tribute to Brian Ellerby, which JJ will try to get for one of our clinics. Thanks to the core group of about 20 people who came together to put the convention on.
In our gathering were brothers Walt and Allan Scotson, who were in the area visiting. Allan is from Finland and was having a grand time touring railroad attractions in the area. Both brothers are also ministers, so they felt right at home sitting in front of Pastor Bob Rorabaugh.
Roger Ferris and Bobj Berger presented the Mart and Stu Rogers provided the video library. Di Voss won Model of the Month by default, since he was the only one who brought anything. Guess folks were having too much fun in all the sun we had over the summer to do any modeling. For the tip of the month, Mike Murray showed us the Pricom Dreamplayer, a sound playing device that works off an ordinary SD memory card.
After the break, Eastside favorite Dave Hikel gave us a wonderful clinic on making water using Envirotex. Envirotex is a commercial product that can be found at Ace Hardware, TruValue or on the Internet. The product is a two-part epoxy that cures clear in about three days with zero shrinkage. It is a sensitizer, so gloves, a respirator and a well-ventilated area are a must when working with Envirotex. Dave showed us how to mix the parts together and how they self-level once poured. Special effects can be done by agitating the mixture at various times during the curing process, including forming waves or ripples on the water. The water can also be colored by adding plastic coloring during mixing. Another option is to paint the river (or lake) bed before hand as the water does dry clear. All in all a very neat product for making realistic water for your layout.
Eastside’s next meeting will be held October 18th.
26 hearty souls found their way to the Spanaway branch of the Pierce County Library system for an unusual meeting: it was in a different place on a different night. Due to scheduling conflicts, the clinic had to find another home for the month of June and this is where it ended up. First on the agenda were announcements and there were several. Gene Swanson, MMR, informed the group of a great estate sale he had visited, with lots of tools for sale. Jim Sabol then mentioned that the Greater Olympia Prototype History & Engineering Research Society was having an outing and picnic at the Jensen Antiques Museum near Kapowsin. Jim encouraged anyone interested to attend. (Note: apologies for this info not getting out sooner – the author misplaced the notes from the meeting.)
The Kitsap Live Steamers are back into their normal operating season and can be visited on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of every month through October. Hours are 10-4.
Supt. Ken Liesse reminded everyone of the upcoming “Spring” Meet in August, to be held at the Hilton Garden Hotel in Issaquah. Details on this event will be coming soon in the Grab Iron and other 4D communication devices. Ken also mentioned that a new N Scale modular group is being sponsored by 4D, called omNi-Rail. (See previous article in the Grab Iron.) Ed Liesse gave a quick follow-up on the PNR convention in Medford and said all who attended seemed to have a good time. 4D had a large presence at the convention, including staff, clinicians and volunteers.
Gene gave a recap of the recently completed Tacoma Layout Tour and said there was a pretty good turnout (the fact that we had the best weather in a long time on that day didn’t hurt). Everyone is looking forward to the next tour. Mike Shaw presented the Video Library, and in the absence of any representatives from Tacoma Trains, there was no “What’s New at the Hobby Shop.”
Herb Buhl officiated the Bring and Brag contest, which was won by Tony Bentley with his model of an HO Office Building and Pump House. These models are part of a larger lumber yard complex that Tony has been working on. We were all spoiled with the presentation of the models as the library had a high-definition TV in our meeting room.
Since the regularly scheduled clinician (and normal Tacoma scribe) Al Babinsky could not attend due to last minute out of town guests (Germany is way out of town), Gene stepped up and presented a clinic on the Great Northern pool train 459/460 that ran between Seattle and Portland. The model version of the pool train resides at the Puget Sound Model Railroad Engineers’ layout at the Washington History Museum in Tacoma, but Gene had it stretched out on the table for all to see.
The engines on the train are both Proto 2000 units while the cars in the train are all Walthers kits, with some of the cars being kitbashed. Details set these cars apart from out-of-the box kits, and extras such as grab irons, coupler lift bars, diaphragms, window shades and figures really make a difference. The train consists of nine cars, including a Union Pacific through sleeper. Gene gave a neat tour of the whole thing, pointing out the little things that were done along the way. It was a great clinic.
Summer is here and that means no Tacoma clinics in July or August. Enjoy the hiatus and we’ll see you back in Tacoma on September 13.
At the last 4D Board of Directors meeting, the Board gave approval to sponsor a new N Scale modular group – omNi-Rails. This new group will have different standards than the current 4dNTRAK Modular Group. However, as a 4D sponsored group, any member of 4D is welcome to join.
As stated in the group’s proposal, the objective of omNi-Rail is to “promote the model railroading hobby by providing a prototypical modular concept. Our goal is to combine our favorite aspects of N-trak, oNe-trak, bend track, and free-mo.” OmNi-Rail modules will be compatible with existing modules with minimum effort.
If you’re interested in joining or would like more information, contact Rob Jones at 206-498-4886.
Due to a mix up somewhere along the way, the ballots for the 4D elections were labeled to be postmarked by June 30th, 2012 instead of the intended May 15th. 4D will honor the June 30th postmark date and the ballot committee will count the ballots sometime in early July. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused anyone.