Category: Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

JJ Johnston

The illustrious Eastside Get-Together chair, JJ Johnston, welcomed 29 attendees to this first gathering of 2014. He had the usual introduction/recognition of his “VIPs” attending (officers and committee chairs of the 4^th Division and MMRs. He then gave an update on the distribution of the Christmas collection to the church. The monies were divided between two ladies in need of help with their rent and other expenses. He read thank you notes from each of them.

Announcements included David Yadock on the Pacific Science Center show this weekend and the continuing need for volunteers to help out with the unloading/loading at the beginning and end of the show plus relief for other volunteers during the show; Russ Segner on the upcoming PNR convention at the Tacoma LaQuinta hotel from June 18 – 21, get registered, select your tours, and work on those contest models; Roger Ferris on an upcoming giant sale of 12 estates, PFM collection and many of Jim Noonan’s cars and engines as well as his layout!

The “Model of the Month” had two entries: Russ Segner displaying several pieces of wood (for identification purposes) from the Snoqualmie museum (also part of his later presentation) and Di Voss displaying a bottle of “Bull Frog Snot” which he explained he was trying on one of his locomotives to get better traction (report next month). Russ ultimately “won” the “contest” (?).

After the usual break, Russ Segner did a presentation showing the reconstruction work being done on one of the passenger cars at the Snoqualmie museum. In this case it was a Barney and Smith Day Coach #210. He got interested in working on the reconstruction just prior to the National Narrow Gauge convention in 2012 after a visit to the museum  He said there are about 8 volunteers working on the car on a regular basis but there’s a lot more restoration work to be done and the museum would be happy to welcome additional volunteers. Russ had a power point presentation with many photos to show indicating what the car looked like before restoration started and the progress since then. Unfortunately, the computer with the presentation and the projector did not want to cooperate with each other very well, so all the photos couldn’t be seen.  Russ promises to redo the presentation at a later date. However, what was shown provided a great look at what can be done in restoring old equipment to usable condition.

Come join us February 20 for our next Get-Together with a special clinic to be presented by Lee Marsh of Issaquah discussing how he designed and built his fabulous GN Cascade Division layout. A photo of his layout recently appeared in “Trackside Photos” in Model Railroader magazine.

JJ Johnston

REMINDER:

There will be an Eastside Get Together, this Thursday, Jan 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the Bellevue Foursquare Church.

We will have a special presentation by Russ Segner. Our 4D Superintendent will reveal the amazing progress from start to finish in the reconstruction of SPS day coach #218. Russ has worked extensively on this project at our local Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie. With over 50 photographs, Russ will take us through the 6½ years of this historical car restoration. Come see local history being preserved in our backyard.

All the usual other stuff will happen, too. See you this Thursday. Happy New Year!

JJ Johnston

Remember: this Thursday, December 19, at 7:30 pm, is the Eastside clinic’s annual “Dirty Santa” Christmas Party at the Bellevue Foursquare Church.

Don’t miss your opportunity to get a special railroad gift. Or not. Or the opportunity to take a unique gift from one of your fellow modelers.  That is one of the rules for our annual gift exchange. The others will be explained at the meeting.

BRING A GIFT: In order to participate in the gift exchange, you only need bring a gift. It must be wrapped AND have the scale or gauge written on the outside. That’s it. Of course, “white elephant” gifts are also welcomed. Just kidding, but some do show up. What a fun evening to spend with each other.

DONATION: If you have not had the opportunity to make a donation to our annual collection for the benefit of a church member or two in need , you may bring your donation to the meeting. So far we have collected $599. Thanks to all of you for your generosity.

MORE: Of course CJ will bring Christmas donuts to go with the free Christmas coffee, Clay will be there to greet you, Stu may bring the library, and we’ll have a model of the month competition to see who goes first for the gifts. Maybe even some stuff for sale. See you there.

JJ Johnston

Thirty-two attended the Eastside Get-Together. We had the normal introductions of JJ’s VIPs and three new attendees introduced: Jack Hunter from Bellevue with American Flyer S gauge; Paul Koren, recently moved from Portland to Mount Vernon, in HO; and Aaron Hunt, getting started in HOn3. Aaron also became a door prize winner later in the meeting!

Announcements included: an update on Pacific Science Center show activities from David Yadock; Rob Jones is now working at Eastside Trains and offers a discount to NMRA members; Russ Segner commented that the 2014 PNR convention already has about 25 registrations, three prototype tours available, and the website up and running, including online registration; Russ also mentioned he was doing a model railroad presentation at the Newcastle Library on this weekend at the request of the library. As new 4D Superintendent, Russ said that he’s looking for way to improve communication among the 4th Division members and is setting up a small committee to look at ways to do it.

As usual at this time of year, the group took up a collection to help repay the Church where we meet for their great hospitality in providing the room and kitchen facilities for us. Our donation goes to help several needy members of the Church, especially at Christmas time.

JJ also reminded us that next month would be the Dirty Santa gift exchange and to bring our “gift” wrapped and marked as to category: N, HO, S, O, any or whatever.

George Chambers, MotM Winner

The contest had three entries: David Yadock with a modified HO Proto-Lifelike flat car with a corrugated pipe load made of aluminum foil wrapped around a carriage both and very carefully “unscrewed”; George Chambers with a modified Bachman On3 steam donkey mounted on a modified Rio Grande Models flat car; and Bob Rorabaugh with a UP switcher that needed a lot of work to get it working – hand-made handrails, clean wheels, rewiring, etc. The winner was George Chambers.

David Yaddock’s scratchbuilt freight station

David Yadock also brought in a scratchbuilt freight station model for AP assessment and earned a Merit Award after Di Voss, MMR, and Max Maginness, MMR, evaluated it. Congratulations, David!

Brian Pickering, Decoder Pro Expert

Our clinic was “Decoder Pro How To,” presented by Brian Pickering. He explained that Decoder Pro was a free program designed to take the mystery out of programming decoders. It translates Configuration Variables (CV’s) into English and uses various screens for the programming. An interface box of some kind (depending on your DCC system) is required to connect your computer to your DCC system. He used the example of assigning or changing the address of an engine. Using the computer and projector, we could see the Decoder Pro screen and the ease of making the change. He also demonstrated the changing the direction of the engine in case the wiring on the motor was reversed without having to rewire the engine by letting the decoder handle it. Brian answered any questions as they came up and also showed how the lighting on engines could be programmed using Decoder Pro. He emphasized that once the changes are done on Decoder Pro, they are saved in the program so you always have that record. There was more Brian wanted to demonstrate, but we ran out of time so he will reschedule a date in the next several months to continue.

Door Prizes

Here’s a picture of our door prize selection for the evening. Something for almost anyone!

Next Eastside Get-Together will be on December 19! Don’t forget your “Dirty Santa” gift!

Brian Pickering

At the last Eastside Get-Together Clinic I didn’t have time to complete the presentation on Decoder Pro, so I’m making it available online (it has been online before when I presented it for the HO Modular Group).

If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me (Brian) at bpickeri@gmail.com.

The presentation (in PDF format) is available by clicking here.

JJ Johnston

We collect donations at our November meeting to give to needy members of the Church where we meet in recognition of the Church allowing us to use the room at no charge for our monthly clinic meetings, use their kitchen and their donation of coffee and condiments at no charge, and provide a young man to set  up the room each meeting with our tables and chairs and then clean the room and return it to a classroom for the school which uses the rooms daily.

Each year we work with the Church to identify a family or an individual who can benefit from a financial boost. The stories we have shared about the amazing things we have been able to do with our modest amount is significant. I’m always asked what is a good amount to donate. Last year, our donations amounted to an average of almost $20 per person who attended the November meeting. It would be meaningful if we could do that again this year. Of course donations are tax deductible and checks can be made payable to Bellevue Foursquare Church. We appreciate your consideration. See you this Thursday for a great DCC clinic and more.

JJ Johnston

This Thursday, October 17th, at 7:30 PM at the Bellevue Foursquare Church, join your fellow modelers and local celebrity instructor Jim Sabol for his acclaimed clinic on the nuances of proper soldering techniques. Jim’s legendary humor, insight and always entertaining graphic displays make this a “don’t miss” evening. Find out how to do it correctly. Find out why there is an “L” in solder. Find out much more, too!

Of course, all the usual stuff will happen, including some very expensive door prizes donated by the Inside Gateway and Steve Depolo. Coffee, donuts, special event notices, stuff for sale, and the always-welcome Model of the Month displays. Congrats to last month’s winner Geoff Stippes for his 1:20 caboose and to Rob Jones, Ted Becker and Mike Kavanaugh for their excellent entries. Maybe even the video library will be there too. Weather looks good, Seahawks are on the NFL channel which most of us can’t see it, so let’s make this another well-attended get together. See you all down the track at church on Thursday.

Sherman Stevens

The first Eastside Get-Together of the season will meet next Thursday, September 19th, at 7:30 p.m. at our usual meeting place, the Foursquare Church in Bellevue.

Our program will be presented by George Chambers. You won’t want to miss this first meeting of the new season. Of course, we’ll have all the usual attractions: door prizes, model of the month, the Mart, plus coffee and doughnuts.

VERY IMPORTANT! Since JJ Johnston is out town, I will attempt to fill his very big shoes!

JJ Johnston

Very Important: The Eastside Get Together will meet this Thursday at 7:30 pm. Parking! Due to a graduation ceremony at the Church during the first part of our meeting, parking lot spaces will be very limited. You are asked to park stadium style on the North end of the Church lot past our usual entrance. You also have some parking available on the side streets outside the parking lot entrance. Our program is one of those not-to-be-missed presentations by Jim Sabol.

Jim, Don Olsen and Warren Haack are making the last of the Pentrex’s series of great logging DVDs. Two DVDs to be shown at the clinic will show how this is being done. And some always welcomed comments by Jim. Of course bring your models, have some coffee & donuts and win some of the expensive door prizes Inside Gateway is NOT putting in Steve Depolo’s new Woodinville store. Our gain.

Bob Beise update: Bob has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He cannot drive any more, although he would like to attend our Thursday meeting. Bob lives in Woodinville and his phone is 425.488.2494 if you are able to give him a ride. Bob, a longtime member of the HO Modular Group, has many modules and wishes to sell them. You can contact him at ho_module@hotmail.com. And let’s keep him in our prayers.

See you tonight!