Author: Russ Segner

By Russ Segner

The 4th Division Board of Directors conducted an online meeting last Saturday using the application ZOOM. It was very successful with a number of participants in addition to the Board members. The minutes of the meeting will be posted on the 4D website soon. Because there were no additional nominations to fill the one Director position and the Superintendent position, the Board voted to close nominations and submit the names of Ed Ives for Director and Russ Segner as Superintendent to the membership.

One of the actions the Board took was to amend the Rules and Procedures Manual of the By-Laws that related to the conduct of the election. We have in the past done this with a mailed ballot. The Board has decided to handle this election and future elections by electronic ballot to the 399 members who have email addresses on file. A paper ballot will be mailed to the 34 members who do not have email addresses on file.

Jack Hamilton will be sending the electronic ballots via email – a “PNR Special Run” email – and Mike Slease will send the paper ballots as done in previous election.

The email ballots and written ballots will have instructions on how to vote and return your vote. Please respond quickly so you do not forget. We have had great participation in all our elections and I hope this new method will achieve even greater results.

Russ

By Russ Segner

The report of the Nominating Committee is that Ed Ives has been nominated to another term as Director and Russ Segner has agreed to run for another term. Since there were no other nominations, an informal survey of the current Board supports the idea of not following the required formal sending of ballots by mail to membership. This will save about $500.

At the Board meeting on the 18th, we will open the meeting online using Zoom to receive any further nominations. If however, no further nominations are made, the Board will discuss a formal motion to forego the mailed paper ballot this election cycle. So, if you want to make a nomination on the 18th, be ready to join the meeting via the internet. The link to the Zoom meeting will be sent in a Grab Iron email, so keep an eye on your email. You can also contact me for the meeting link.

Russ Segner, 4D Superintendent
russseg@gmail.com 206 200 2211

By Russ Segner

The current COVD-19 crisis has certainly altered the way we interact at work and home. It is also forcing some changes in our hobby. We can’t run to the hobby shop or craft store for supplies and we can’t get together to work on or operate our layouts with others. Of course, our health is the most important thing right now. But there are some things we can do together anyway.

Many of us are using social media such as Skype and Zoom to share things over the internet. That’s the way our Board will conduct business for the next few meetings. It is also a way we can better communicate throughout the 4th Division. Distance and traffic have become big impediments to our clinics and train shows. So, we are exploring ways to do clinics over the internet. So, check your email frequently.

Our next Board meeting was scheduled for April 18 at 10 AM . We intend to use the application Zoom to conduct that meeting online. It worked well in a test run Saturday. The neat thing about this is that many of our members who want to participate can do so. Many of you already use this in your workplace. The link to the Zoom meeting will be sent in a Grab Iron email, so keep an eye on your email. You can also contact me for the meeting link. russseg@gmail.com

Invitees will be organized in a waiting room and the moderator of the meeting will invite you in. That way we can control participation to members only. You will be able to ask questions and view any documents or exhibits we are discussing.

If you have questions, please email me or call me at 206 200 2211.
Russ

Some of you may have received an email recently purporting to come on behalf of one of the 4D or PNR officers or board members. The email tries to persuade you to buy gift cards or send money electronically to help someone in distress. THESE ARE SCAMS. No one from the 4D Board or any PNR leader will be asking for money to be handled in a manner in which the funds cannot be traced.

Lots of folks at home right now, so these types of scam are common. Delete the email.

Russ Segner, 4D Superintendent

By Russ Segner

“I haven’t got time!” I hear that a lot. But now, many of us have a lot more free time than we planned. So, I’m asking everyone who now has time to share with the rest of us some of your current model railroading projects. It can be a model, a wiring project, decoder install or some part of your layout.

Larry Sloan has answered my call to member to share your current projects with this, a new control panel for one of his HO modules. Larry is a member of our HO modular group, the Seattle Pacific & Eastern, headed by Mike Slease.  Larry is also one of the leaders of the new HO Free-Mo modular group now joining the 4th Division. This is a group that was formerly located in the Tacoma Freight House, now the Amtrak station. They lost their permanent layout, so they went mobile.

Here is another shot of a demonstration Larry built to show at clinics which shows the various capabilities of DCC. He unveiled it at our recent Pacific Science Center Show.

Well done Larry. Let’s hope others will pitch in and share some of their work with the rest of us.

Russ

By Russ Segner

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a little shut in by the news. My wife, Susan, and I have plenty of supplies and are not venturing out for awhile. So, what to do? Susan has her knitting and we are both brushing up on our cooking skills.

I have decided to really get serious about finishing my MMR. So, time to build those four scratch built cars. It is also time to finish some detail work on structures and scenes that I hurried through when building my layout. Speaking of the layout, I really miss the time we had planned to share with the recent Sound Rails visit by model railroaders from out of our area. I also will miss our local layout tour in Tacoma.

The one other thing I am doing is preparation of a video presentation describing my layout and how it operates. This will let me share with those visitors who had planned to be here for Sound Rails and who will not get to see my layout. I am suggesting that many of you who have layouts also prepare presentations of your layouts to share by means of our 4D website.

This is an opportunity to share with all in the 4D what you are doing on your projects as well. How about a three to five minute video or a short article with photos?  Just send the link to your youtube video and a summary description to gi_editor@4dpnr.com.

I have posted some short segments on YouTube which will be a part of the larger presentation. Search for Coal Creek Lumber Company.

Russ

By Russ Segner

Why I signed up several years ago to serve as Superintendent.

Serving as your 4D Superintendent is a privilege. I get to act on behalf of all members in trying to enhance the experience of model railroading. So, I have tried to meet as many members as possible, ask them what their interests in the hobby are and what skills they were interested in sharing. I have learned a lot that helps me in my modeling and I am constantly surprised and challenged to do better in my model building. There are a lot of you out there who do share and teach others.

Recruiting remains the biggest challenge, trying to get others to share experience and expertise. Many have been willing to do so. That’s why we have such a successful schedule of local clinics and modular layouts. There are also very strong regional efforts such as Oly-Ops and the annual Tacoma Layout Tours.

The benefits to me include working with you and others on the Board and at the events such as MOHAI and Pacific Science Center shows. So, I thank all of you who do give time to the hobby through 4D activities.

Officers of 4D such as Superintendent are elected every two years. Several years ago, I ran successfully for Assistant Superintendent and then became Superintendent. After many years now, I became concerned that others might want to put their views forward and lead us to greater success. That’s why I said I would like to step away to give someone else the opportunity. So, I have recommended to the Board that we will extend the nominating period one more month to see.

If you want to serve or nominate someone else, contact Lisa Murray, Nominating Committee Chair, mattinata@outlook.com.

Thanks for reading.

Russ

George Bogatiuk, Director of Sales and Support for Soundtraxx will be at the Northwest Railway Archives in Burien this Sunday evening for a special presentation and clinic on Soundtraxx decoders.

Bring all your questions about installations and programing decoders for your specific locomotives.

The meeting will start at 6:30 at the Archives located at:

425 SW 153^rd St

Burien, WA

For more information or questions, contact me at:

russseg@gmail.com

206 200 2211

George Bogatiuk, in charge of Sales and Support for Soundtraxx will be at Eastside Trains In Kirkland on Thursday from 4p to close.

He will have a vendor table at the Monroe Show Saturday from 10a-5p and Sunday 10a-4p. He will be giving a clinic on Saturday morning at 10:45 “Introduction to Tsunami2 and setup.” Things the decoder can do for you and why you want it.

He will also give a clinic Sunday evening at 6:30 at the Pacific Northwest Railway Archives in Burien.  That address is:

425 SW 153rd St.

Burien, WA

Please email me if you are interested.  

Russ Segner

206 200 2211

russseg@gmail.com 

The February 2020 Eastside Get Together Clinic will meet WEDNESDAY, February 19, 2020. Please note that the third Wednesday is our new meeting day going forward until the June 2020 clinic.

The Clinic will meet 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

Since last month’s clinic was cancelled due to snow, let’s start off the first clinic of the New Year by bringing our best models, projects and photos to the clinic for the new “Bring, Show and Brag” portion of the clinic and show off what we’ve been up to in our train rooms so far this winter! Be prepared to talk to the group for a couple of minutes about the models or photos that you brought to show. The results from our voting have been tabulated for the “Mini Clinic Event” topics. The top four most voted for topics are:
• Wiring for DCC, Bus and feeder wires, Accessories
• Servo switch machines
• Fine-tuning and maintaining locos
• Weathering rolling stock and/or engines

Although I already have a volunteer for the DCC clinic, at this point, I still need three more volunteers to step forward for the other three topics.

This month’s program will be presented by Nick Muff and Al Carter from Mt. Vernon, WA. They will present their outstanding clinic on “Decaling”. I’m sure we’ve all, at one point or another, applied decals to our models. Sometimes with less than desired results. So, come to Wednesday’s clinic and learn about different techniques for applying decals of different types to various types of surfaces. This promises to be a very informative and interesting clinic.
We will also have refreshments and snacks available as always.
See you there!!
By Alex Brikoff, 02/12/2020