The 4th Division’s 2024 Spring Meet will be held June 8th, 2024. The Spring Meet will be held at the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, WA.
The schedule will be: 7:30 to 8:30 am – Registration at the North Bend Depot 8:30 to 9:00 am – Train Ride from North Bend to Museum 9:00 to 9:10 am – Gathering Time 9:10 to 10:00 am – Clinics 1 and 2 10:10 to 11:00 am – Clinics 3 and 4 11:10 to 12:00 noon – Clinics 5 and 6 12:00 to 1:00 pm – Lunch and Annual Meeting 1:00 to 1:30 pm – Free Time at the Museum 1:30 to 2:00 pm – Return Train Ride to North Bend 2:00 to 3:00 pm – Travel Time 3:00 to 5:00 pm – Layout Open Houses
Additional information will follow as plans are finalized. Mark your calendar now and plan to attend.
The great Early Bird convention rate will expire on January 15th, register now to not miss this offer. The 2024 PCR Convention will be hosted by the Coast Division at the Sonesta San Jose Hotel from April 24-28, 2024. The Sonesta is ideally located for great layout tours, prototype visits, and other activities. The hotel has great convention facilities, enabling a vendor and swap meet.
To encourage members to register early, we are offering two prizes in a give-away drawing for all in-person attendees registered by January 15th. Register now so you do not miss out!
Early Bird Give-Away
All PCR 2024 attendees that have registered by midnight on January15th will be eligible for a drawing for two great prizes. Prize 1 – Free Upgrade to a Sonesta Suite for up to 4 Nights This prize will let the winner upgrade their room from the normal $139/night hotel room to a suite. This will be valid for up to four ($) nights during the convention. Win and you can not only sleep in style, but have a party with your friends in your suite! Prize 2 – $50 Gift Certificate This prize is a $50 gift certificate that can be used to purchase any item in in the Vendor, Swap Meet or PCR Consignment Depot. The prize will be in the form of 10 – $5 certificates that can be used with any of the vendors or swap meet sellers.
Hello members of the 4th Division—my name is William Messecar the Superintendent of 4D, and I am planning to attend the 2024 PNR convention next year in Surrey, BC.
The PNR convention Surrey Excursion 2024 is the annual convention of the Pacific Northwest Region of the NMRA. This year the 7th Division of the PNR is hosting the convention in lieu of the Railway Modelers Meet of BC. The Convention will take place May 22nd to 26th, 2024 and will have clinics, layout tours, operating sessions, displays and much more.
The 7th Division is looking for clinicians as speakers at next year’s convention. Marc Simpson is the Clinic Coordinator for the upcoming 2024 Surrey Excursion PNR Regional Convention. They have had an excellent response to their request for clinicians, however they wanted to spread the word that they are looking for clinicians for the program. They are looking for a broad range of topics that will appeal to convention attendees. Whether you are an experienced presenter or a new clinician, it doesn’t matter. All you need is an interesting topic that clinicians are interested in sharing with others.
In addition to the regular clinics, we are looking for people interested in presenting a tabletop clinic. This is a shorter time frame, more hands-on type of presentation for those who don’t want to prepare a full clinic presentation. Any assistance in making the Surrey Excursion clinic program a “can’t miss” event is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, please contact Marc Simpson, his contact information is listed below.
The 42nd National Narrow Gauge Convention is less than two weeks away! It will take place from September 1-4, over the Labor Day weekend, at the Hotel Murano in downtown Tacoma, WA. This is a national – international – convention being held in our backyard, sponsored by 4D, and it is NOT just for narrow gauge modelers – we will have 60 clinic sessions, many of which will appeal to standard gauge (and armchair) modelers, too! https://www.seattlenngc.com/clinic-schedule
The star of the show will be the Hangman Creek Lumber Company modular layout, which will be operating adjacent to our registration desk. This outstanding On3 layout won “Best in Show” at our 2012 National Narrow Gauge Convention (in Bellevue, WA), and has been extensively refurbished since then. It is a great opportunity to view this layout one more time, along with three other great display layouts (two On30 and one HOn3). Details of each are on our website at: https://www.seattlenngc.com/modular
Details on the Hangman Creek Lumber Company in On3Amazing trestles on Hangman Creek Lumber Company in On3The Palisades module, from the Arizona Division of the Mudhens, in HOn3
Standard registration for the full, Thursday – Sunday convention is $150, including a free spouse pass, but we are offering a special one-day rate for local modelers for $50 (available only on the day, at the registration desk) that will give access to all convention activities that day (clinics, contest viewing, vendor room, modular displays and 34 home layouts).
We are looking forward to seeing you in Tacoma in just a few days! Head to our website for full details. https://www.seattlenngc.com/
It’s official. The 2023 Pacific Northwest Region Convention—”The Prairie Line Experience”–will take place in Tacoma, WA on May 10-14, 2023. The host committee is working to put together an exciting set of activities for the convention, including multiple tracks of clinics, layout tours spanning the region, contests, AP evaluations, train spotting opportunities, tours and non-rail events.
2023 is the 150th Anniversary of the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad at Commencement Bay on the Prairie Line. It is also the 150th Anniversary of the City of Tacoma. Add to those significant dates the 50th Anniversary of the NTRAK modular model railroad standard, and you have exciting possibilities for celebration. The City of Tacoma and the Tacoma Historical Society have events planned throughout the year and we hope to leverage those activities to enhance our convention. Work continues on the Prairie Line Trail, which crosses the University of Washington Tacoma campus before continuing past the Tacoma Art Museum toward the original Northern Pacific Half Moon Yard.
Northern Pacific Railroad HQ: Tacoma Historical Society photoPrairie Line Crossing Pacific Avenue. UWT photo
The convention hotel is the Comfort Inn and Suites next to the Tacoma Dome and one block away from the AMTRAK, Sounder and Tacoma free light rail stations. This location provides quick access to downtown Tacoma with its many restaurants and museums, Seattle and points beyond. We will be opening hotel registrations as soon as possible. The hotel has given us a great deal on room rates for the convention. Standard rooms are offered as follows: two doubles at $119, two queens at $129 and single kings at $129. The hotel provides free breakfast and free parking. See their website for more information on amenities: Hotel in Tacoma, WA | Comfort Inn® Official Site | Comfort Inn & Suites Downtown Tacoma.
We are still finalizing the registration costs and will have registration open on the website soon. The convention website is located here: PNR Convention 2023 – Prairie Line Experience. We will populate the website as information comes available so check back often. The Host committee is dedicated to making this an affordable convention. We are working hard to keep costs down so everybody can afford to join us next year. Mark your calendars and reserve the dates now. We look forward to seeing you in Tacoma next year.
To all modelers! We need volunteers to help support the 42nd National Narrow Gauge Convention in Tacoma on September 1 to 4, 2022. You don’t need to be a narrow gauge modeler or even a train enthusiast to appreciate the high quality of this national (international) model railroad convention. If you are wiling to serve as a volunteer you will have a front row seat to a world class event.
I can use people that are registered for the event and others that would just like to see it first hand for a day. If you are a single day volunteer, you will not need to register, so even if you only have one day to share with us, we need you!
Please email me that you would like to volunteer. I will create a schedule that covers assignments in areas such as registration, clinic room, contest room, and vendor room. Feel free to call me if you have any questions. 360-870-9449
On June 18th, the city of Skykomish is hosting Tunnel Days, a city event honoring the GN railroad and James Hill. There will be a train swap meet included in the event. Vendors can bring their own table, one table per vendor, and set up at no cost. There is no admission fee and there is room for 20 vendors inside the fire truck barn with all others outside by the little train depot. The indoor sites will be on a first come basis. Table space can be reserved by emailing mawalcker@aol.com. The meet will be from 9am to 3pm, with a pancake breakfast at 7am and many family fun events planned for the entire day.
4D members, we need your help. We are scheduled to host the PNR regional convention next year. Putting on a regional convention takes a lot of work by a dedicated group of people. The convention will take place in Tacoma (tentatively May 18-21, 2023). We are two years behind schedule planning the event because of the pandemic, but we can make it happen if people pull together and step up to work as a team.
We still need volunteers for the following committee chairperson positions as soon as possible:
As we get under way, committee chairs will need help on their various committees. If you are willing to help or have questions about what is involved, please contact me at ananas99@klaidlaw.net or call me at 253-495-8351.
Kurt Laidlaw 2023 PNR Convention Host Committee Chair
Four members of the Olympia monthly clinic group travelled to Sacramento to the 39th National Narrow Gauge Convention in September. Two members brought models for the contest room and five of the six models won awards. Greg Wright won a second place in internal combustion. Harry Avis won a third place in maintenance of way, a second place in rolling stock and two first places, one in cabooses and one in special equipment.
Greg Wright and Harry Avis show their prize winning models at the September 20, 2019, Olympia Clinic
Harry Avis’ On3 scratch built boxcar
Harry Avis’ HO scale kitbashed RR barge tug
Harry Avis’ 1:32 scale scratchbuilt caboose
Harry Avis’ 1:24 scale scratchbuilt velocipede
Harry Avis’ 1:24 scale scratchbuilt velocipede
The Olympia Clinic meets on the third Friday of each month. Contact Greg Wright, gregorywright2002@yahoo.com for details. The group plans a review of the national narrow gauge convention at their February 21, 2020 meeting. Other topics in 2019-2020 include scratchbuilding, weathering and prototype photos tours.
The 2019 Sn3 Symposium is just around the corner. Come explore some of the finest Sn3 model railroads on the planet. There will be excellent clinics, a vendor room, world-class layouts on display, and a contest.
Sn3 Symposium – Bellevue Sheraton April 4 – 6 12 clinics featuring national instructors Local layout tours Check the website for details. www.sn3seattle.com
Other notable events coming soon:
Kootenay Express 2019 | May 29 – June 2, 2019
The Cranbrook History Centre is a museum and archive dedicated to the research, preservation, and restoration of heritage pertaining to the history of Cranbrook and the Canadian Pacific Railway. It is located adjacent to both active railway operations and the Convention Hotel. https://www.kootenayexpress2019.ca
