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The Footplate, July 2018

Written by Russ Segner
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Russ Segner

Bill Scheef’s Wind River Railway logging layout

Most of us spend a lot of time planning and building our dream layout. Sometimes, however, it comes time to tear one down and sell or give away special parts. What do you do with pieces of a marvelous layout which is being taken down?

The incline lands in the Wind River yard.

As your Superintendent, I get frequent calls from families who need to dispose of a layout. Right now, some of us are removing parts of one of the very finest logging layouts I have ever seen. Parts of it will go to the Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad and Logging Museum.  The mechanism, sound and lights are all intact.

Although it’s 11′ long, it is movable.

It has been moved once before and, although it is Sn3, changing the track to HO, HOn3 or On30 is all that is needed to make it the centerpiece of any layout. Contact me if you are interested at 206-200-2211.

The tram house is at the top of the incline.

Superintendent’s Message

Burien Clinic – June 28

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Russ Segner

HOn3, HOn3, HOn3

Have you looked at Hon3 lately? This scale was a longtime favorite of model railroaders who were challenged by space too small. The growth of HO and advent of N and On30 has pushed Hon3 into the background. Now, with the introduction of Blackstone Models, good flex track and tiny electronics, Hon3 is enjoying a resurgence.

Jim Vail was a great model builder in Hon3 and his Glenwood & Black Creek railroad became one of the very best layouts. Jim filled his large layout in Santa Cruz with hundreds of fine structures and trackage that made operation a real joy.

We will look at some of his work in videos and photographs. I am lucky that I was able to visit his layout twice, once just a few years ago. And now, I have three pieces of rolling stock from his layout now being dismantled following his death early this year.

Come and see what he built and shared with us in visits to the layout  and through the hundreds of articles he wrote over the years, particularly in the Short Line and Narrow Gauge Gazette.

Thursday June 28, Pacific Northwest Railroad Archives in Burien, 425 SW 153rd St

Doors open at 7:00 and program begins at 7:30.

Burien Clinic, Narrow Gauge

2018 Spring Meet on Saturday June 9th

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Russ Segner

The 4th Division’s 2018 Spring Meet will be held at the Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village (formerly Lake Washington Institute of Technology), 6505 176th Avenue NE, Redmond on Saturday, June 9th.

The Spring Meet web site is 4dSpringMeet.com, which includes an online registration page and venue details. The cost is a measly $20 for NMRA members. If you register by Tuesday May 29, you’ll get a free box lunch. You can register at the door, but you’ll probably not get a box lunch. Non-NMRA members are still welcome; if you haven’t been a member for a while, you join the national for a six-month “trial membership” for another $20.

There will be at least two simultaneous clinics, plus a Make & Take session. Click here for complete details.

Convention or Meet

Burien Clinic – May 24, 2018

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Russ Segner

The Burien Clinic will meet this coming Thursday at The Pacific Northwest Railroad Archives in Burien. The meeting will begin at 7:00 PM.

David Yadock will lead a program about helpful hints for structures, easy to make bridge abutments, and layout scenery. Dave’s large HO layout features many interesting scenes inspired by John Allen and he has incorporated many clever solutions to separate scenes and bring focus to his many fine bridge structures.

Location:  425 SW 153rd St, Burien

Burien Clinic

BURIEN CLINIC REMINDER

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Russ Segner

 

We will meet again Thursday April 26 at 7:00 pm at the Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive located at 425 SW 153rd St, Burien.

We will view Volume Two of West Coast Railroad Logging from Catenary Video Productions. Volume Two covers challenges which faced railroad construction, including inclines, cableways, and powering through snow. Plus parbuckling, wrecks, log dumps, mills and the “end of the show.”

Geography and time have brought enormous changes to the art of transforming raw logs into useful lumber. Producer-archivist Don Olsen, spent over two decades amassing rare footage spanning 50 years, which detail logging by railroad on the West Coast – with a focus on equipment and techniques. His dream has become a reality, with the release of this Two Volume set of DVDs.

Jim Sabol spearheaded a team that provided research on the subject. Filmmaker Warren Haack directed this unique program, which is presented in 16×9 widescreen format with stereo sound.

This is the best information and imagery of western logging I have ever seen.  Join us.  Bring your models and/or photos to share.

Burien Clinic, News

Burien Clinic

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DCC and DECODERS
Installation/tuning/preparing decoders
by
Brian Pickering
The 4th Division of the PNR/NMRA will host Brian at our Burien Clinic at the Pacific Northwest Railroad Archives this Thursday March 22 at 7:00 pm.

Come and learn how to set up your locomotive for better operation with decoders. Brian Pickering is expert in electronics and ‘DecoderPro’ in particular. He will have a test track set up for HO locomotives and will demonstrate how to use your computer with DecoderPro to give locomotives realistic control and sound.

Location: 425 SW 153rd St, Burien next door to the Boeing Model Railroad Club.

Bring a model to share or a picture of a project you are currently working on.
So, join us and bring your questions.

Russ Segner – 206 200 2211

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Burien Clinic – All About DCC – March 22

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by Russ Segner


Our meeting this month features Brian Pickering presenting:
“Installation/tuning/preparing decoders”.

We meet at the Pacific Northwest Railroad Archives at 7:00.
Location:  425 SW 153rd St, Burien next door to the Boeing Model Railroad Club. The Program will feature lots of really great information on Digital Command Control, focusing on installation of decoders and how to set them up for your operation.   Brian is expert in electronics and ‘DecoderPro’ in particular.  He will have a test track for HO locomotives and I am bringing a new NP switcher to tweak for operation at the Boeing club.  He is very active with the HO Modular group.
Please bring a model or photographs to share.

Burien Clinic, News

Congratulations to Al Frasch

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Well done, Al, for all those years of fine model building, sharing your talents with so many of us in the hobby, being such a gracious host at many operating sessions and for being a really fine example for all of us.

We are going to miss you a lot. I want to thank you personally for your leadership, especially in organizing several years of Sound Rails.

The Golden Grab Iron is our top award for contribution to the hobby in general and the 4th Division in particular. It is well deserved.

Russ Segner, 4D Superintendent

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Saturday at LeMay – Marymount

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Saturday, the 17th, Jack Hamilton and Russ Segner will be at the Lemay Marymount Car Collections in Spanaway. We will be presenting about model railroading.

Jack will present on modules and his approach to model building. I will present on how I built my Sn3 layout, The Coal Creek Lumber Company.

We will be there from 10 to Two. Check it out.

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