Category: Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

JJ Johnston

JJ Johnston welcomed 40+ attendees to the first Eastside Get-Together for 2013. He introduced several visitors as well as his usual “dignitaries” (as defined by JJ!).

Frank Dekker reminded everyone of the Pacific Science Center show coming up on Martin Luther King weekend. More volunteers would still be welcome. Russ Segner talked about the tentative plans for the 4D Spring Meet on May 11 with clinics and annual meeting on Saturday and layout tours on Sunday (but only for those who attend Saturday). He cautioned, however, that these plans were still in the development stage and could change. Stay tuned.

JJ reported that the donations collected in November and December were used to help several members of the church and he read responses from the recipients. The recipients were most grateful for the help provided.

The Model of the Month again had several entries. An old California Scale Models (now Alpine Models) freighthouse kit, which was modified greatly by David Yadock, took the prize.

After a short break, David Woodrell, MMR, gave a presentation he had done at the National Narrow Gauge convention inSeattlein September honoring the life of Brian Ellerby.

Brian was founder and owner of Evergreen Scale Models, the fantastic styrene we all use in our modeling. The presentation showed Brian as a young man chasing trains for photos (as we have all done) and ultimately building his own layout. We had a look at some of the early projects he worked on in building his layout for controlling his turnouts. Surprisingly, they were made out of Evergreen styrene! Quite ingenious! Most of us think of Evergreen styrene being used largely by model railroaders, but the community of users is much larger! The styrene is shipped all over the world to practically any company you can think of for all kinds of uses; modeling, project design, prototyping of new ideas, etc. David did a wonderful job giving an insight to the person Brian was and what he did for the hobby and the plastic industry. Thanks, David!

Join us on Thursday, February 21^st for the next Eastside Get-Together. Watch the Digital Grab Iron for the announcement of the topic and presenter.

JJ Johnston

Please plan to attend our first 2013 meeting at 7:30 pm, next Thursday, January 17. Our special keynote speaker for the evening will be Dave Woodrell, longtime modeler and narrow gauge celebrity whose layout has been featured many times in print and video. You may recall Dave presented a scenery clinic previously to our group.

Dave will be presenting his wonderful eulogy on the life and times of the late Brian Ellerby, a renowned modeler and owner of Evergreen Styrene. Dave’s fabulous slide presentation was given to standing room only crowds at the recent narrow gauge convention. You won’t want to miss this significant part of our local modeling history on an amazing individual who touched the world with his contribution to our hobby.

Of course we will have the usual array of party favors, particularly door prizes from Steve Depolo, Inside Gateway; model of the month; stuff for sale and donuts with coffee. Also a report on our Christmas Fund recipients. See you there.

JJ Johnston

There were about 40 attendees at 2012’s last Get-Together. As usual, JJ Johnston welcomed everyone to the meeting. Frank Dekker reminded us that the Pacific Science Center Show over Martin Luther King weekend, January 19 – 21, 2013, is less than a month away and, as usual, help is needed Friday night for move-in and Monday night during load-out. There is always the need during the show for help, as well, relieving people at the various exhibits to give them breaks. Jeff Moorman, the co-chair, is still working on the exhibit layouts since Building 4 will not be available due to the King Tut exhibit. If you can help, let Frank know at rekkedrails@juno.com. He would appreciate being contacted! Frank also mentioned that he was giving up his position as co-chair of the show. He and his wife are looking at a vacation home inMichigan for more time visiting with grand-children.

JJ thanked everyone who donated to our Christmas fund to our host church and passed the hat once more for anyone who didn’t get the chance at the last meeting or wanted to add more. The money will be used to help several church members in need this Christmas. The final total of monies donated was $714! JJ will report more information on the two families selected for financial assistance at our January meeting. Thanks to all!

The Model of the Month had several entries and was won by David Yadock for his Interlocking Tower built from an old Campbell kit.

After the usual break, JJ outlined the rules(?) for the Dirty Santa gift exchange. A number of items changed ownership during the evening as one person decided the gift someone else had was better than taking a chance on selecting their own from the table! At the end of the evening, everyone seemed satisfied with their gift and, wishing everybody Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, the last 2012 Get-together came to an end.

Please reserve Thursday, January 17 for our next meeting, featuring Dave Woodrell presenting his fabulous eulogy regarding the life and times of legendary modeler and Evergreen Styrene owner Brian Ellerby. Dave gave this eulogy to a standing-room-only crowd at the recent National Narrow Gauge Convention. Don’t miss it!

JJ Johnston

Remember, our “Dirty Santa” party is this Thursday, December 20, at 7:30 PM, at the Bellevue Four Square Church. Bring a wrapped gift to participate in our annual gift exchange. Be sure to MARK THE SCALE on the outside of the wrapped gift. The rules will be agreed to at the meeting. Bring a model of the month, sell or buy something, video library, plus our free coffee and $1- donuts.

If you have not had a chance to make a donation to our annual church collection to support the less fortunate who are members of the church, you may do so at the meeting. Our collection last month was very generous, so we ask everyone to participate to repay the generosity of the Church in allowing us to use their space and supplies at no cost.

See you there. Don’t miss the fun!

JJ Johnston

Reminder: The Eastside Get Together meets this coming Thursday, November 15, 7:30 PM, Bellevue Four Square Church. An exciting evening is planned with a presentation from one our most popular clinicians, Jim Sabol. Jim will present his new clinic on “Plaster-Less Cloth-Shell Scenery” and as always his information, humor and displays are always entertaining.

We always ask this time of year for you to bring a small donation for our annual Christmas Donation Fund to assist in modest financial assistance for a member or two of the Church where we meet. This is in consideration for the Church providing us rent-free space for our meetings, room set-up and the free use of their coffee supplies. Over the past years we have been able to positively impact the lives of several less fortunate people who attend the Church and who have been recommended to us by the Church Pastor. We appreciate your consideration and gifts.

Bobj tells me he will be bringing some built European buildings for sale at the Mart. I have seen these structures and they are extremely well done. As always, video library, model of the month, free coffee, donuts and good times.

Ed Liesse / Photos by Ed Liesse

Click to enlarge

JJ Johnston welcomed a smaller than usual group of attendees this month (Presidential debate? Seahawks game?). Announcements included the Ravensdale Train Show, October 20–21, the 33rd Boeing Club Swap Meet in Kent, November 10, and the next 4th Division Board of Directors meeting, November 17 at Mitzel’s Restaurant in Kent.

There was no video library or Mart this month. There were three Model of the Month entries. David Yadock won (again) with his scratchbuilt King Truss trestle.

After a short break, Russ Segner gave a presentation on the DuPont Museum and the restoration work being done there. He said Fred Foreman, head of Public Works for DuPont, is leading the rehabilitation effort at the museum. The townspeople are also getting behind the effort and have provided a covered shelter and electricity for the on-going work. The current work is the rebuilding of a 3-foot, narrow gauge flatcar. There is a sibling car at Ft. Lewis that provides an overview of the finished product. Pictures of the DuPont car before reconstruction started revealed the extent of work to be done! The work crew is usually 4–5 people but more are welcome. It’s full scale, 12″ to the foot modeling! If you’re interested in helping out and getting experience rebuilding full-size railroad cars, give Russ a call at 425-228-7327 for more information.

The next meeting will be Thursday, November 15. This will also be our chance to make donations for our annual gift to the church for the support of those in need.

Ken Liesse

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.

JJ Johnston

The Eastside Get-Together will be this Thursday, October 18 at 7:30 p.m., at the Bellevue Four Square Church. Don’t miss this meeting featuring our very own Russ Segner with a slideshow presentation about the work he and others are doing on the DuPont Railroad. As Russ says, “We’re model building at 12 inches to the foot, restoring a narrow gauge flatcar from rotten boards and rusty steel to brand new.”

Also lots of stuff for sale, the video library, the Model of the Month, free coffee & donuts (donations accepted) and our great array of door prizes donated from The Inside Gateway, plus lots to talk about and new friends to make.

See you down the track!

JJ Johnston

Remember: Tonight, September 20, 7:30 p.m., in Bellevue, is our regularly scheduled meeting and this is one program you will want to attend.

Noted modeler Dave Hikel, who is in charge of Peter Hambling’s amazing layout we all visited in May, will present a clinic on modeling water in many forms using the two part product EnviroTex. Dave is always informative and we all can use some great ideas on how to add water effects to our layouts.

All the usual good stuff, too.

By Ken Liesse

On May 17th, members and guests of the Eastside Clinic had the privilege of visiting Peter Hambling’s layout, the Northwest Trunk Line, in Medina, WA. This tour was facilitated by 4D clinician and long-time worker-bee on Peter’s layout, Dave Hikel. 60 or so folks visited the layout, an awe-inspiring affair that covers the entire basement of Peter’s house. The 3200 sq. ft. layout is based on a John Allen design and encompasses both three-rail O and On30. Dave and his team have made extensive use of computers in designing and running the layout, making it possible for the computer to run trains for open houses without need of operator interference.

The basis for the layout are individual scenes taken around North America that have caught Peter’s attention. Detail is paramount and each scene is even completed with dirt garnered from the places the scenes represent. Sound is also a big component of the layout, right down to the station announcements made when our demonstration train pulled into a station. Even the earthquake braces on the basement support posts were painted to match the posts themselves.

We thank Peter & Laurie Hambling for allowing us to invade their home as well as Dave Hikel for setting up the visit.  A most enjoyable get-together.

For more photos from the visit, click here.